Simian hits the ground running in 2016 with a look back at the year that was with our third annual installment of Simian Reel Insights 2015, or as we like to call it, “The State of the Reel”.

As an owner or executive producer, it’s no secret that successful sales reps are vital to your video production company’s bottom line. Plain and simple, if your sales representatives aren't winning bids, you aren't making money. With numerous production companies emerging daily, the competition is stiff and agencies have less time on their hands. That’s why it’s more important than ever for both you and your sales reps to understand how to optimize output, so that your work consistently rises to the top – and that’s exactly what Reel Insights is designed to do.

By analyzing and highlighting key current industry stats, trends and best practices for 2015, these valuable action points set the groundwork for 2016 and potentially, beyond. We anonymously analyzed thousands of reels from our database and feel that these findings and recommendations hold the key to keeping your sales team accountable and ultimately, growing your business.

Ready? Let’s get Reel…

Insight I: Reel Anatomy

No engagement issues here, that’s for sure. As a matter of fact, with an average runtime of 6.82 minutes getting an average view of 4.8, it’s clear that Simian has the most impressive engagement rates in the industry with an open rate of over 80 percent, of which, 70 percent of each reel was viewed. Bravo!

Where to improve? In order to impress but not overwhelm when it comes to building reels, Simian suggests dropping from the trending 6 spots per reel to 4-5 spots, as per the feedback we received straight from some of the top agency producers in the biz.

Learn more about what they had to say here.

Insight II: Tidy Titles

Once again, stats prove that taking the time to develop an impactful title is key. The sweet spot for title length is between 21-30 characters, with an average length of 24, so it’s crucial to make every character count, especially when it comes to consistency with what’s being pitched and content.

Insight III: How, What and When to Send

How
Short Links are a convenient way to send reels and while sending them via a personal email account may seem like an added bonus – think again. Agency spam filters are often an obstacle for public email providers (like Gmail). If you're still using Hotmail or AOL, #forghedaboudit. This is the reason for the slowly upward creeping unopened rate. To avoid this potential obstacle, it’s always best practice to send via Simian.

What
Upload BIG or go home…
With 1080p and 720p resolution on the rise, with most agencies looking for 720p at minimum.

In fact, bitrates have been steadily increasing annually:
2013: 1600 kps
2014: 1909 kps
2015: 1981 kps

What does this mean? With higher speeds, comes the expectation by agency producers for higher quality video, so go for it!  The bonus? Better viewing experience for the agency. ($$$!)

When
Even if a producer asks to view a reel immediately, stats show that more than likely it’s actually being viewed on Tuesday, from 10AM until 2PM. Monday blues? Maybe… Wednesdays too busy celebrating hump day? Nah… Who knows but the fact remains that this is peak, peek time across the board, so best to stick to it as your set window.

Insight IV: Engagement, Sales Force and Analytics

Of course you think your work is great (and you should!), but do your clients? Chances are, you don’t really know until you hit send and then…you wait. (crickets?) Tip: Use Real Time Analytics and Reel Reports to analyze your sent reels, so that when it comes time to pitch for your next big job, you can be 100% confident that your output is optimized.

In addition to tracking reel performance, analytics also play a key role tracking sales force performance. Knowing first-hand how many reels are being sent and opened, you can keep teams accountable and discover where improvements need to be made at any given moment. By using this information as baseline, reps can track their individual performance but more importantly as an owner, you can track how each rep measures up to company averages.

Bottom Line: Analytics RULE! Train your teams and reps on how to use them today, because growth is inevitable when you are consistently improving on weaknesses.

SO, take charge in 2016 by acting on these key insights and watch your business… BOOM!