How Do You Create Personalized Video Messages with Hippo Video?

Key Takeaways

• Hippo Video is an AI-supported video platform for creating personalised video messages and landing pages in response to enquiries and offers.
• The basic idea: build one professional landing page and swap only the individual video and the salutation for each enquiry.
• An Outlook add-in (PC and Mac) and an iPhone app embed the link in emails with an automatically generated GIF preview.
• A fully professional video message can be sent from a smartphone on the road, for example while on holiday, with no extra equipment.
• Tracking shows who opened the video, so you can follow up in a targeted way.
• Hippo Video was bought through AppSumo as a lifetime deal for a one-off price of around 200 US dollars, compared with BombBomb at roughly 500 euros a year and DupDub as a cheaper subscription.
• The tool suits more than speaker enquiries: creative birthday greetings and personal customer communication work just as well.
• Technology pays off when it helps you become more productive or sell more, in line with the principle: switch on your brain first, then the technology.

Introduction

Nice to have you back for another episode of Digital 4 Productivity, where I show you how you can become more productive with technology. And I also regularly show you which tools I work with in practice and most of the tools I describe here, if they are relevant to me, are ones that I either use myself on a daily basis or have at least tested.

AI-based video platform Hippo Video

One tool that I use every day is Hippo Video. So Hippo Video, you're thinking: Well, Nielpferd kind of video, what's that? The situation with me, and perhaps you can relate to this to some extent, is that I regularly receive requests. For me, it's mainly for lectures. And how do you respond to that? And when someone books a lecture, perhaps from someone who doesn't know me yet, but to whom I've been recommended, they want to know first and foremost: Can they somehow say three or four coherent sentences? Where has he spoken before? Has he perhaps had other customers who can tell me what he's like and where he fits in as a testimonial? That's exactly the idea behind Hippo Video.

The idea of Hippo Video

The idea of Hippo Video is that you create landing pages, i.e. websites with Hippo Video, where you say, for example, if you receive a request for me to be a speaker, I have several websites. For example, one is called Request TJ as speaker in German. There is a text on it: You are very welcome to have my support at your next event. Below this video you will find some of the testimonials of my enthusiastic participants, excerpts and complete speeches. Under this video you will also find a button where you can book an appointment with me or my speaker management at any time. I look forward to your event, Thorsten Jekel. The text is the same. What is individual is the video, which is then above it and the salutation. And the great thing is that I can, if I want to in the office, because I'm here - I had a request for a presentation this morning. Then I briefly set up my studio here, put up my green screen roll-up and then simply recorded a short video and said: "Dear Heinz, you spoke to my speaker management and talked about this and that event, this and that topic. I'm happy to get involved with the content and the main points. I'd like to say two or three words about my background and that I'm someone who gets people from digital know-how to digital do-how. So I don't just talk, I also implement. That's my strength. Yes, that's what I say there in a very personable and professional way. The cool thing is, this landing page, I don't just have to send it as a normal link, there's an add-in for Outlook on the PC and on the Mac and also for the iPhone, it works the same way. I can now send the link and this program automatically generates a GIF preview. GIFs are those moving images that you might sometimes send in WhatsApp as funny, moving short videos. The idea is that it automatically turns your video into a small GIF. You click on a moving image like this. So, when you click on it, it's like this in the video, in the e-mail there is practically this preview and link. If you don't want it to be displayed, you can click on all four links and then the person on this page will see it.

The functions and possible uses of Hippo Video

The brilliant thing is, I set up the videos below once. And the brilliant thing is, I can also do it on my cell phone, there's an app. I do it partly from my hotel room. I did it once on my most extreme vacation, when I was asked by a tourism association. I was sitting in a restaurant with my wife in Italy and while I was waiting for my food, I just switched on my iPhone and took a quick video. It was just right for the topic and then I simply said in the app: Send it to my speaker management and behind the link was exactly the 100% professional webpage, even though I only had my iPhone with me. That means you get a professional video message, you can use it to answer inquiries, you can even use it to send offers. I have a template on my PC where I can integrate a PDF at any time. And the nice thing is that I can also see when someone has clicked on it. In other words, you can call them and say: "Wow, we've seen the video here. Let's talk about your specific requests, for example. So it's a very, very powerful tool and I often get feedback where people say: I haven't seen that yet, because what's important?

It is important that they respond quickly. It is important that they are friendly, competent and ideally answer as many questions as possible. And that's what I do with these services. And maybe I'll mention it again, I always mention it regularly, it's a service that I bought via AppSumo at some point. I got the recommendation once in the British speakers' association and there to the tool BombBomb and that cost about 500 € a year. Then at some point I switched to the DupDub service on recommendation. It can do the same thing, but for half the price. And then at some point I got Hippo Video, which AppSumo once offered for a one-off price of 200 USD. In other words, here's another opportunity to significantly reduce the subscription fee with a one-off service. So Hippo Video, even if it's not currently available at AppSumo. I've just recommended it to my friend, Bernhard Wolf, the backwards speaker, and he uses it, for example, to make very clever birthday greetings, which he records in such a way that he sinks them backwards, then brings them forwards the other way round, i.e. conveys his core competence in a funny personal way as a birthday message, and he has already been able to win a lot of orders with it.

Conclusion

And then technology makes sense if I can become more productive, if I can automate, as we looked at in the last episode on GetMyInvoices, or if I can sell more. That's when technology makes sense, because you know, first switch on your brain, then technology, but then simply use technology - that's my idea. And please let me know which areas you have further questions about, where you have more tools for this. Feel free to send me an e-mail at t.jekel@jekelteam.de.

Until then, we wish you every success.

Yours, Thorsten Jekel.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Hippo Video and what is it used for?

Hippo Video is an AI-based video platform for personalised video messages. Thorsten Jekel uses it daily to answer speaker enquiries with an individual video on a professional landing page.

How does the landing page in Hippo Video work?

In Hippo Video you set up a landing page once, with fixed text, testimonials and a booking button. For each new enquiry you only swap the personal introduction video and the individual salutation; everything else stays the same.

How is the video shown in an email?

An Outlook add-in for PC and Mac and an iPhone app automatically generate a GIF preview of the video that appears directly in the email. Clicking the GIF opens the full landing page with the video.

Can you use Hippo Video from a smartphone?

Yes, Hippo Video has a mobile app. Thorsten Jekel has recorded video messages while on holiday using nothing but his iPhone and sent them professionally through the app.

Can I see whether someone watched my video?

Hippo Video offers tracking: you can see who clicked the link and opened the video. That allows targeted follow-up by phone or email.

How much does Hippo Video cost?

Thorsten Jekel bought Hippo Video through AppSumo as a one-off lifetime deal for around 200 US dollars. For comparison he mentions BombBomb at roughly 500 euros per year and DupDub as a cheaper subscription alternative.

What is the difference between Hippo Video, BombBomb and DupDub?

All three services enable personalised video messages. BombBomb costs around 500 euros a year, DupDub offers similar features at half the price, and Hippo Video was available through AppSumo as a one-off purchase, which cuts recurring subscription costs considerably.

Who is Hippo Video particularly suitable for?

Hippo Video suits anyone who regularly responds to enquiries, sends offers or wants to deliver personal messages. The podcast names speakers, trainers and creative professionals as examples.

Can you embed documents such as PDFs in Hippo Video?

Yes. On the PC there is a template that lets you integrate a PDF into the landing page, so an offer can be sent as one link containing both a video message and the document.

Where can you buy Hippo Video cheaply?

Thorsten Jekel acquired Hippo Video through the AppSumo platform as a lifetime deal. AppSumo regularly offers software at one-off prices, which saves subscription costs in the long run.

Tools & Resources Mentioned

• Hippo Video – AI-based platform for personalised video messages and landing pages
• BombBomb – video email service previously used by Thorsten Jekel (around 500 euros per year)
• DupDub – alternative to BombBomb at half the price
• AppSumo – platform for software lifetime deals, where Hippo Video was purchased