A superb and inexpensive piece of software, Loom allows you to record quick videos using your screen or web cam (or using your phone), and then send them to your contacts with a simple link.
This software is a huge time-saver because there’s no messing about with editing or editing software. You record the video and it’s ready to send to your contacts instantaneously.
Designed for asynchronous communication, the purpose of the tool is to reduce the need for meetings. That’s why there’s a ‘comments’ feature, and why the tool is so easy to send video replies. You’ll also receive email notifications when the video is watched or someone leaves a comment.
However, we use the tool for a number of different things:
What we use it for:
- Showing clients how to do something when they have a support issue.
- Sending a short message to previous contacts we’ve not heard from in a while.
- Showing clients a demo of something we’ve created
- Asking a client a question using video to help them understand what we’re asking.
- Saying “thank you” to someone when they’ve done us a favour
- Saying “happy birthday” or “well done!” to contacts and clients.
The tool is surprisingly inexpensive starting at $10/month, with a free option and a discount for annual billing. There are competitors to this software who charge 3x-4x more for less functionality!
Other features we like:
- The automatically-generated closed captions are really useful for contacts who don’t have speakers switched on
- You can generate an animated gif thumbnail so you can use the videos in emails
- Reactions and comments are timestamped and can really help with conversations relating to your video
- The paid plans are so generous, you’ll be recording videos daily
