Loom vs. LoomDoc: When to Record a Video vs. When to Send an Interactive Document

In the world of remote work, Loom and LoomDoc are allies in the fight against unnecessary meetings and communication bottlenecks. They share a philosophy: empower people to share information clearly and asynchronously. But knowing when to 'show' with a video versus when to 'tell' with an interactive document is key to mastering async communication.

When to Use Loom

Loom excels when visual context is paramount. It’s about showing, not just telling. Choose Loom for:

• Visual Demonstrations: Perfect for software tutorials, walking through a design mockup, or explaining how to navigate a spreadsheet. If you need to say "click here, then here," Loom is your best friend.
• Personal Updates: Ideal for team announcements, daily stand-ups, or providing feedback on a project. The visual of your face adds a human touch that text can't replicate.
• Explaining a Complex Process: Use it to map out a workflow, explain a sequence of events, or give a tour of a new system. The combination of voice and screen recording makes complex processes easy to follow.

When to Use LoomDoc

LoomDoc shines when information is dense, detailed, and likely to generate specific questions. It's about enabling discovery, not just consumption. Choose LoomDoc for:

• Dense, Text-Heavy Information: Ideal for legal contracts, financial reports, academic papers, and detailed proposals. The AI chat lets users pinpoint the exact clause or data point they need without endless scrolling.
• Capturing Leads & Qualifying Prospects: Use it for sales decks, white papers, and marketing collateral. "Gated Access" captures lead info, and the questions prospects ask reveal their priorities and objections, helping you qualify them.
• Providing a Single Source of Truth: Perfect for brand guidelines, product specifications, and employee handbooks. The "Permanent Link" ensures everyone is always working from the most current version.
• Secure, Trackable Sharing: Essential for M&A data rooms, investor updates, and confidential client information where you need to control and monitor access strictly.

The Power of Both: A Winning Workflow

The real magic happens when you combine them. Imagine this sales workflow:

1. Record a personalized Loom video as a warm introduction, summarizing the high-level value of your proposal.
2. In the Loom video's call-to-action, **link to your interactive LoomDoc proposal**.
3. The prospect watches your friendly intro, then dives into the LoomDoc to ask specific, detailed questions about pricing and features on their own time.

You get the best of both worlds: Loom's personality and LoomDoc's precision. You've created a frictionless path from interest to understanding.

Conclusion: Show with Loom, Know with LoomDoc

Think of it this way: Loom is for broadcasting a guided tour, while LoomDoc is for providing an intelligent, searchable map. A great async communicator knows when to be the guide and when to provide the map. By adding LoomDoc to your toolkit, you complete your async communication stack.