MarketBetter's HeyGen Integration: The Complete Guide
MarketBetter's integration with HeyGen is one of the most powerful capabilities in the platform — and one of the biggest differentiators from every other sales engagement tool on the market.
While other platforms treat video as an afterthought (or don't offer it at all), MarketBetter has built AI-powered video generation directly into its workflow automation engine. The result: personalized AI avatar videos for every prospect in your pipeline, generated automatically, embedded in your emails with animated GIF thumbnails, and tracked as part of your complete outreach sequence.
This guide covers everything you need to know about the integration — from initial setup to avatar selection, script writing, workflow configuration, and performance optimization.
What Is the HeyGen Integration?
HeyGen is an AI video generation platform that creates realistic talking-head videos using digital avatars. Instead of recording yourself on camera, you select an avatar, write a script, and HeyGen generates a video where the avatar speaks your words with natural lip sync, facial expressions, and gestures.
MarketBetter integrates HeyGen's technology directly into its Play Builder — the workflow automation engine that powers all of MarketBetter's outreach sequences. This means video generation isn't a separate tool you use alongside MarketBetter. It's a native action within your workflow, just like sending an email or enriching a contact.
What This Means in Practice
Instead of:
- Log into HeyGen separately
- Create a video
- Download it
- Upload it to your email tool
- Manually embed it in your email
- Track views in a separate dashboard
You do this:
- Add a "Generate Video" step to your MarketBetter workflow
- Configure the avatar, script, and personalization
- The workflow handles everything else automatically
Videos generate. GIF thumbnails get created. Emails send with the video embedded. Engagement is tracked. Follow-ups trigger based on whether the prospect watched the video or not.
It's the difference between using video as a tactic and using video as an integrated channel in your sales motion.
Getting Started: Connecting Your Account
MarketBetter supports two ways to connect with HeyGen:
Option 1: API Token
If you have a HeyGen account, you can generate an API token from your HeyGen dashboard and enter it in MarketBetter's integration settings. This is the quickest way to get connected.
Option 2: OAuth Authentication
MarketBetter also supports OAuth-based authentication with HeyGen. This provides a more seamless connection experience — click to authorize, and the accounts are linked.
Both methods give you full access to HeyGen's video generation capabilities through MarketBetter.
Choosing Your Avatar
The avatar is the face of your video outreach. MarketBetter gives you several options for selecting the right one.
HeyGen Avatar Library
HeyGen maintains a diverse library of professional AI avatars. These are realistic digital presenters of various ages, genders, ethnicities, and styles. You can browse the library directly within MarketBetter and preview each avatar before selecting.
When to use library avatars: When you want to get started quickly, when the outreach is brand-level rather than rep-level, or when you want a polished, professional look without creating a custom avatar.
Custom Talking Photo
This is one of the most compelling options. Upload a high-quality photo of anyone — your sales rep, your CEO, your customer success manager — and the AI turns it into a talking avatar. The photo is animated so the person appears to speak naturally, with realistic lip movements and expressions.
When to use custom photos: When you want the outreach to feel like it's coming from a specific person. When a rep wants to "scale themselves" — letting AI handle the recording while maintaining their personal brand.
Photo tips for best results:
- Use a high-resolution, well-lit headshot
- Face the camera directly
- Neutral expression (slight smile works well)
- Clean background
- Avoid glasses with heavy reflections
Avatar Styling
Once you've selected your avatar, you can customize how it appears in the video:
Frame Style:
- Circle — The avatar appears in a circular frame, similar to a video call bubble. This is casual and conversational — great for first touches and warm outreach.
- Normal — Standard rectangular framing. Professional and versatile. Works for any use case.
- Close-up — Tight framing focused on the face. Maximum eye contact. Best for short, high-impact messages where you want to create connection quickly.
Position and Scale: You can adjust where the avatar appears in the video frame and how large it is. Want the avatar in the bottom right with room for text on the left? Done. Want it centered and full-frame? Also done.
Setting Up Your Background
The background behind your avatar sets the tone for the entire video. MarketBetter offers multiple background options:
Solid Color
Clean and professional. Choose any color — match your brand palette for consistency across all outreach videos. This is the simplest option and works well for most use cases.
Custom Image
Upload any image as your background. Popular choices include:
- Your company's office or workspace
- A branded graphic with your logo
- A product screenshot or dashboard view
- An industry-relevant image
- A city skyline (if you're targeting prospects in a specific location)
Video Background
Add a looping video behind your avatar for a more dynamic, high-production feel. Subtle motion — like a blurred office scene or gently moving abstract graphics — adds visual interest without distracting from the avatar.
Prospect's Company Website
This is a killer personalization feature. Set the background to display the prospect's own company website. When they watch the video, they see their site behind the avatar — an immediate visual signal that says "I did my research on your company."
This isn't a generic trick. It's genuine personalization that prospects notice and appreciate.
Writing Your Video Script
The script is the heart of your video outreach. MarketBetter's script editor supports dynamic variables that automatically populate with prospect-specific data.
Dynamic Variables
You can include any of these personalization tokens in your script:
- {{first_name}} — Prospect's first name
- {{last_name}} — Prospect's last name
- {{company_name}} — Their company
- {{job_title}} — Their role/title
- {{industry}} — Their industry vertical
The variables are pulled from MarketBetter's prospect database, which is enriched through the platform's built-in data capabilities. If you've identified a website visitor, enriched a lead from an import, or connected your CRM, the data is available for personalization.
Script Templates
MarketBetter provides templates to get you started, but the best-performing scripts are customized for your specific offering and audience.
Template: Cold Outreach
"Hi {{first_name}}, I was looking at {{company_name}} and noticed you're growing the team in {{industry}}. We help companies like yours book 3x more meetings from outbound without adding headcount. I'd love to show you how — are you open to a 15-minute call this week?"
Template: Follow-Up After Website Visit
"Hey {{first_name}}, someone from {{company_name}} was checking out our platform recently, and I wanted to put a face to the outreach. We're helping {{industry}} companies automate their prospecting and see 85% higher open rates. Would love to walk you through it — does Thursday work?"
Template: Re-Engagement
"Hi {{first_name}}, I reached out a while back but know things get busy. I wanted to send a quick video instead of another email. We've been helping companies similar to {{company_name}} transform their outbound — and the results are pretty impressive. Open to a quick chat?"
Script Best Practices
Length: 30-60 seconds (80-120 words). Short enough to hold attention, long enough to deliver value.
Opening: Always lead with the prospect's name. It's the strongest signal that this message is personal.
Tone: Conversational. Write how you'd talk, not how you'd write a formal email. Short sentences. Natural rhythm. This is a person speaking, not a press release.
CTA: Specific and low-friction. "Are you free for 15 minutes on Thursday?" beats "Let me know if you'd like to discuss further."
Avoid: Jargon, buzzwords, overly salesy language. The video format already signals effort and personalization — you don't need to oversell.
Selecting a Voice
The voice your avatar uses is almost as important as the script itself. MarketBetter lets you choose from multiple voice options within the HeyGen integration:
- Gender — Male or female voices
- Accent — Various accents and regional variations
- Tone — Professional, casual, energetic, calm
- Language — Multi-language support for international outreach
Tip: Match the voice to your avatar's appearance and your brand's personality. A youthful, energetic startup brand might choose a warm, upbeat voice. An enterprise-focused company might go with a calm, authoritative tone.
Building the Workflow in Play Builder
This is where MarketBetter's integration truly shines — video generation as a native step in your automated outreach workflow.
The Play Builder
MarketBetter's Play Builder is a visual workflow automation tool where you create multi-step outreach sequences (called "plays"). Each step is a node that performs a specific action:
- Audience selection — Define who enters the play
- Research/enrichment — Automatically gather prospect data
- Video generation — Create a personalized AI avatar video
- Email send — Deliver the email with embedded video
- Follow-up — Additional touches based on engagement
- Multi-channel — LinkedIn, phone, and other channels
Setting Up a Video Email Play
Here's a typical workflow:
Step 1: Audience Define your target audience. This could be a saved list, a segment from your CRM, website visitors who match certain criteria, or accounts showing intent signals.
Step 2: Video Generation Configure the HeyGen video node:
- Select avatar and style
- Choose background
- Write dynamic script
- Select voice
- Set video dimensions and format
Step 3: Email Compose your email with the video embedded:
- The animated GIF thumbnail is automatically generated and inserted
- Add email copy around the video
- Set subject line (consider including the prospect's name)
- Configure sending schedule and delays
Step 4: Follow-Up Create conditional follow-ups:
- If they opened but didn't click → send a nudge email
- If they clicked/watched → send a different follow-up referencing the video
- If no engagement → try a different channel or message angle
Batch Processing
When your play runs, MarketBetter generates videos in intelligent batches. The system processes prospects in groups, managing throughput to ensure quality and reliability. It also handles retries automatically — if any video fails to generate, the system tries again without any intervention from you.
This means you can launch a play targeting thousands of prospects and trust that every single one will receive a personalized video.
The GIF Thumbnail
One of the most important technical details of the integration is the automated GIF thumbnail generation.
How It Works
When a video is generated, MarketBetter automatically creates a short animated GIF from the video. This GIF shows the avatar in motion — speaking, gesturing, making eye contact — in a 2-3 second loop.
The GIF embeds directly in the email body. When the prospect opens the email, they see a moving image of someone who appears to be talking to them.
Why It Matters
Email clients don't support video playback. You can't play a video inside an email. The GIF thumbnail solves this by:
- Catching the eye — Motion in a text-heavy inbox is impossible to ignore
- Previewing the experience — The prospect can see it's a personal video message
- Driving clicks — Animated thumbnails get 2-3x more clicks than static "play button" images
- Building curiosity — "What are they saying to me?" drives the click
When the prospect clicks the GIF, they're taken to a hosted page where the full personalized video plays. For a deeper dive, read our article on why GIF thumbnails outperform static images.
Video Storage and Delivery
Generated videos need to be stored somewhere reliable and delivered fast. MarketBetter handles this automatically:
- Cloud storage — All generated videos are stored on high-performance cloud infrastructure
- Fast delivery — Videos load quickly for prospects anywhere in the world
- Persistent links — Video URLs don't expire, so prospects can re-watch at any time
- Analytics tracking — Every view, click, and watch duration is tracked and reported back to your MarketBetter dashboard
Credits and Usage
Video generation is part of MarketBetter's credit system. Each video generated consumes credits, which are included in your MarketBetter plan. This ensures fair usage while keeping costs predictable.
Credit tips:
- Start with your highest-value prospects to maximize ROI per credit
- Use shorter scripts to optimize credit usage
- Monitor generation success rates — failed videos that get retried don't consume additional credits
- As your team grows, upgrade your plan for more credits
Video Editor: Post-Processing
MarketBetter also includes a video editing capability as part of the workflow. After the AI generates your avatar video, you can apply post-processing adjustments:
- Add branded intro/outro sequences
- Include text overlays or captions
- Adjust video formatting for different channels
- Combine multiple video elements
This is an optional step — the raw AI-generated videos are polished and ready to send. But for teams that want extra branding or customization, the editor provides additional flexibility.
Measuring Performance
MarketBetter tracks video performance as part of its unified analytics:
Video-Specific Metrics
- Videos generated — Total count and success rate
- Video views — How many prospects watched the video
- Watch duration — Average percentage of the video watched
- GIF clicks — Click-through rate on the email thumbnail
Outreach Metrics
- Open rate — Email opens (video emails typically see 85% higher than text)
- Reply rate — Responses (3.2x improvement with video)
- Meeting conversion — Replies that turn into booked meetings
- Pipeline influence — Revenue influenced by video outreach
Workflow Metrics
- Play completion rate — Percentage of prospects who complete the full workflow
- Step-by-step conversion — Drop-off at each stage of the play
- A/B test results — Compare video emails against text emails
All of this data lives in one dashboard — no switching between tools to piece together the picture.
Best Practices for Maximum Results
After seeing thousands of teams use this integration, here are the patterns that consistently produce the best results:
1. Lead with Personalization
Scripts that mention the prospect's name in the first 3 seconds get 40% higher watch completion. Don't bury the personalization — make it the opening line.
2. Keep Videos Under 60 Seconds
The data is clear: 30-60 second videos outperform longer ones for cold outreach. Save the detailed demos for prospects who've already expressed interest.
3. Use the Prospect's Website as Background
Teams that use the prospect's company website as the video background report higher reply rates. It's a visual proof point that signals genuine interest.
4. Pair Video with Strong Subject Lines
Even the best video won't matter if the email doesn't get opened. Subject lines that hint at video content — "Quick video for you, {{first_name}}" — consistently outperform generic ones. Our guide on improving email open rates has more tactics.
5. Follow Up Intelligently
Use engagement data to inform follow-ups. Someone who watched 80% of the video is warmer than someone who didn't open the email. Tailor your follow-up based on their behavior.
6. Test, Iterate, Optimize
Try different avatar styles, scripts, backgrounds, and CTAs. The beauty of AI generation is that testing is cheap and fast. Run A/B tests on everything and let the data guide you.
7. Integrate Video Into a Complete Workflow
Video shouldn't be a standalone tactic. It performs best as part of a multi-step sequence that includes research, email, follow-up, and multi-channel touches. That's exactly what MarketBetter's Play Builder enables. For a step-by-step guide, see our article on building a video-first cold outreach workflow.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a separate HeyGen account? You'll need HeyGen credentials to authenticate the integration. MarketBetter supports both API tokens and OAuth for flexible setup.
Can I use my own face as the avatar? Yes. Upload a high-quality photo and the AI will create a custom talking avatar that looks like you.
How long does video generation take? Generation time depends on video length and current demand. Most videos are ready within minutes. The system processes in batches and handles everything automatically.
Can I preview videos before they send? Yes. You can generate a test video with sample data before launching your play to ensure everything looks and sounds right.
What if a video fails to generate? The system automatically retries failed generations. You don't need to do anything manually.
Do video emails hurt deliverability? No — the GIF thumbnail is a standard image embed, which email clients handle normally. The video itself plays on a hosted page, not in the email. High engagement rates (opens, clicks) actually improve your sender reputation.
Can I use video in follow-up sequences too? Absolutely. You can have video at any step in your workflow — first touch, follow-up, re-engagement, or anywhere else.
The Bigger Picture
MarketBetter's HeyGen integration isn't just about sending video emails. It's about fundamentally changing how your team approaches outbound sales.
When video generation is native to your workflow — not a separate tool you paste links from — it becomes a standard part of every play. Every prospect gets a personalized video. Every email stands out in the inbox. Every follow-up is informed by video engagement data.
This is the difference between teams that use video as an occasional experiment and teams that use video as a core channel that drives meetings consistently. AI in B2B marketing works best when it's deeply integrated, not bolted on.
Ready to see it in action?
Book a demo and see MarketBetter's HeyGen integration live — from avatar selection to video generation to automated email delivery. No credit card required.
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