Kitchener-based video marketing platform Vidyard has acquired Switch Merge, a San Francisco-based startup specializing in automated video personalization, for an undisclosed sum.
Switch Merge’s technology enables dynamic insertion of customer information and graphics into video messages that marketers send to prospects and clients. For example, when preparing an email campaign featuring a video demo of a new product, the marketer can add a placeholder for the client’s name and logo. That way they can message hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of clients, and each one will see their personal details included. Vidyard has debuted a new Personalized Video product based on the technology.
Vidyard director of product marketing Jeff Gadway said the technology was an ideal addition to its video marketing and automation platform, which assists B2B marketers in producing and distributing video campaigns.
“With so much more video content being produced, it’s critical for marketers to use video to build one-to-one relationships, and not just create mass assets,” he said. “Making it personalized is a great way to do that.”
He said Vidyard has tested the technology over the past two months with its own video marketing campaigns, and discovered that just including a thumbnail for their videos that included the marketer’s name and contact would increase engagement by 16x over a standardized thumbnail. Top-performing campaigns see click-through rates as high as 30%. “It’s a step change in email marketing performance,” Gadway said.
Vidyard made the announcement at its annual Space Camp video marketing conference in San Francisco. The event drew 500 attendees and was headlined by Canadian astronaut and YouTube celebrity Chris Hadfield, who spoke about how to create engaging video to drive education and brand awareness.
