Tag Archives: video in email

This is a guest post from Kevin Jan at Animoto.

Video is an effective tool for driving brand awareness, engagement, sales, and traffic. And it’s become more and more popular across all marketing channels, including email.

Research shows that marketers who’ve incorporated video in their campaigns have seen a 66% lift in qualified leads. In addition, video in email marketing can double your engagement rates.

Even with these impressive stats, incorporating video into an email strategy is still met with a fair amount of concern and trepidation. This post will debunk five myths surrounding video-based email marketing.

Check out our in-depth guide on using video in email

Myth #1: You can’t include video in email.

It’s true that most native clients won’t play an embedded video in your email. It’s one of the biggest reasons why more email marketers haven’t embraced the medium. But there are plenty of workarounds to use video to increase the effectiveness of your campaign.

Here are some ways to start delivering video content via email.

Link to a landing page.

Linking to a landing page that hosts a video is a quick and easy way to start using video in your email campaigns. As an added bonus, websites and landing pages that include a video are 53 times more likely to appear on the first page of Google.

Including an image from your video in the email with a play button overlay is a nice way to let people know they can click through to watch. This example from Oribe illustrates this technique.

PRO TIP: Don’t have the time or resources to build a landing page to host your video? You can link out to the video on YouTube or on your business Facebook page.

Use an animated GIF.

Bring the illusion of motion associated with video into your emails by using an animated GIF, created from a short section of your full video. With tools like Ezgif and Giphy, you can turn a snippet of your video into an animated GIF to embed in your email.

GIFs are a great way to grab a reader’s attention and entice them to click through to learn or watch more. Remember to include a clear, CTA so people know there’s more to watch if they click.

Cinemagraphs

Similar to GIFs, cinemagraphs are another way to get your message across effectively. Unlike GIFs, cinemagraphs only have one or two moving components, while the rest of the image remains static.

Source: Really Good Emails

If you’re on the more technical side, you can use HTML5 to embed videos in your email. Currently, it’s the best and most robust option out there, but make sure to check the list of clients that support it. Depending on your subscriber base and where they’re engaging with your email campaigns, it may or may not be the right way to go.

Myth #2: Video marketing is just for lead generation.

If you think video marketing is only good for lead generation, think again. It’s an effective tool at every stage in the customer’s journey.

Studies have shown that including the word “video” in your subject line can boost open rates by 19% and decrease unsubscribe rates by 26%.
Here are some ways to incorporate video into your email marketing strategy, outside of lead generation:

  • Tutorial videos: use video to teach customers about how your products or services work. These types of videos can be incorporated into onboarding or used as part of new launch campaigns.
  • Educational videos: share video education related to news or trends in your industry. These types of videos give you an opportunity to showcase your expertise while helping your customers feel like they’re in the know.
  • Teaser videos: get your customers excited about something that’s coming soon. Build a buzz by including a sneak peek video in your emails that goes behind the scenes to show what you’ve been working on.
  • Product launch videos: celebrate the launch of something new with a video. These videos can also be shared on your social media channels to let your followers know about your latest release.

Myth #3: Video requires a lot of resources.

Eighty-three percent of marketers say they’d increase their reliance on video if there were no obstacles like time, resources, and budget. But, with new tools hitting the market each day, video creation has never been easier or less expensive.

Looking to create videos without time, resources, or a big budget? Here are a few tips for getting started.

  • Use a DIY video solution: You don’t have to spend a fortune to hire a video producer. Today, there are many options out there for creating videos on your own. You can also save money by shooting on your phone and using natural light.
  • Repurpose photos and videos you already have: There’s no need to reinvent the wheel with every video. String together photos you already have of your products, services, or team. Then add text to tell your story and set it to music.
  • Use stock imagery: If you don’t have photos and video clips of your own, you still can create a video without taking out a camera. Stock images and video clips have come a long way, and there are lots of free stock options to choose from.
  • Use internal talent: Rather than hire actors and actresses, use your team. Today’s consumers are craving authenticity, and using your real employees is a great way for viewers to get to know the people behind your team.

Myth #4: Video is hard to scale.

Adding video into your email calendar and workflow can seem like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be.

You don’t have to create a brand new video for every email. In fact, you can repurpose a lot of your existing marketing materials and content that you’re already sharing on your social channels.

Plus, as a rule of thumb, you should only use video in your campaigns if it adds value. Don’t include it just for the sake of using it; it’ll have a greater impact when used appropriately. Always be testing to see what works best for your audience and incorporate video accordingly.

Myth #5: Video is a waste of money.

Another common misconception about video is that it’s only effective for building brand awareness. Videos highlighting the benefits of your products, how they’re made, and demos help customers learn more about you. But creating announcements, product update videos, and testimonials can help turn prospects into paying customers.

Ninety-three percent of businesses using video said it led to a new customer and 57% of consumers also said that videos gave them more confidence to make a purchase online. So, rather than being a waste of money, video can be an effective tool for helping drive sales.

Wrap up

We hope that debunking these myths has made video a little less intimidating. Ready to get started? Start experimenting with some of the ideas in this post. And, remember, always be testing to see what videos resonate most with your audience. Happy video making.

Kevin Jan is an email marketing professional with 8+ years of experience across several industries. Currently, as Animoto‘s email marketing manager, Kevin is helping others unleash the power of video.

This is a guest post from Leland Frankel at Lemonlight.

Every day, all across the world, we send and receive an estimated 239 billion emails.

From friendly reminders to quarterly reports, birthday invites to newsletters, emails are one of the most efficient ways to connect audiences to their content. And if you represent a brand or company, emails are also an ideal method to deliver essential information directly, both to existing and potential consumers. With billions of emails flitting around the globe, how do you make your messaging stand out in a sea of data?

The answer is simple: video marketing.

By incorporating video content, your brand can boost engagement stats across the board. But once you decide to include video marketing as a major element of your email content, how do you optimize your strategy and take full advantage of video’s impact? There are an array of simple tricks and complex techniques to finesse the way you utilize video content in your email marketing strategy.

Read on to find out what they are.

One simple word

Incorporating video marketing into your email strategy starts the second you place a video in your email. But remember, a change in strategy only affects those willing to engage with you in the first place, so getting consumers to make that initial click is arguably your biggest threshold to cross.

Luckily, research already shows that just including the word “video” in the subject line of your email will boost open rates by 19% and click-through rates by 65%. That’s a pretty serious increase for such a small adjustment. By promising video, you’re already creating anticipation and excitement instead of a run-of-the-mill email—a key difference that can set your content marketing apart.

Embed wisely

If this is your first time trying to include video content in your email marketing, you might just try copy/pasting it directly in your message and expect the clip to play. But despite the fact that over 60% of business use video as a marketing tool, many of the biggest email platforms, from Gmail to Outlook, still don’t support intuitive embedding.

To remedy this, study the popular mark-up language HTML5—while it’s far from universal, it still represents 62% of the market. Because of this statistic, HTML5 will be your best solution for embedding a video (one won’t need to click through to in order to watch).

If you don’t want to deal with HTML, the next best solution might be creating a still image thumbnail of your video (with either a static or animated play button acting as a mini call to action) that looks like it’s embedded.

In actuality, it will act as a link connecting viewers to the video on another page—hopefully your brand landing page, and not a hosting site like YouTube or Vimeo. But if, like those sites, you still want your video to autoplay upon their reaching that next page, just follow these easy steps.

Foo Fighters is an American rock band with a thriving following. When they wanted to get the word out about their new album and HBO special, ‘Sonic Highways’, they turned to video email marketing.

Answer the call

Sometimes opportunities are so simple that we overlook them. For instance, many brands new to video marketing forget you can simply just ask viewers to follow instructions.

Featuring a call to action (CTA) in your video marketing can lead to 380% more clicks, but each one of those clicks still needs to be carefully considered. Embedding your video without autoplay means that potential consumers will have to click twice: first to watch the video, then again on a link to your landing page.

Every click decreases the chance of conversion (hence Amazon’s famous one-click approach) so a compelling CTA is essential.

We recommend including both verbal and visual CTAs in your email video, for maximum effectiveness. Whichever style you prefer, make sure to place it right at the start of your content—studies show that only 25% of viewers watch through to the end of an embedded video, meaning that the more you delay your CTA, the more you risk (75% of your potential audience, to be exact).

Moving images

Maybe you have terrific video content you want to feature in your email marketing, but you’re feeling less-than-certain about integrating it flawlessly. Creating GIFs is another powerful way to add a touch of video to your email marketing strategy, without having to worry about embedding or double-click conversion. Just take that video, trim it into a few looping seconds, and without another minute of filming, you have a totally new piece of content to use.

Beck - Email Marketing Campaign - This is an example of using GIFs and video in your email marketing.

Though they may initially feel less impressive than a full-on video, GIFs can still have a potent effect on viewers. For example, when Dell used GIFs in their email marketing campaign for their convertible laptop-tablet, they increased revenue by 109%.

Even a little bit of movement will catch a potential consumer’s eye more effectively than a static image, but make sure to mind your file size—articles like this can help you optimize GIFs for smoother, faster load times and prudent data usage.

Old meets new

Email marketing continues to be a successful revenue source, and content marketing has shown to have lower initial costs and deeper long-term benefits than paid search. However, the integration of email and content—especially video content—can be truly dynamic for your business.

Wrap up

When you add video content to your email marketing strategy—whether it’s a high-production video or a fast-moving GIF—you build a bridge between the old way of doing things and the new.

Starting with a powerful, established technique like email marketing and accentuating it with video content can add a totally new dimension to your marketing strategy. And your audience will notice: Instead of just sharing information, you’re sharing content—creating something genuine people want to watch and enjoy.


Leland Frankel is an award-winning filmmaker and contributing writer for Lemonlight. Lemonlight is a Los Angeles video production company that empowers brands by crafting high-quality, affordable video content that enhances their marketing and tells their story in an inspiring, authentic, and unique way.

With email marketing practices changing by the day, marketing teams are always looking for new and better ways to improve their email campaigns. Gone are the days of static emails with just a bunch of text, and in are the days of interactive emails with attractive imagery and even videos.

Video email marketing examples aren’t all that new.

However, it’s always been a bit of a pain to include a fully functioning video in an email, given that they’re much larger in size than standard images and even animated GIFs.

How to use video email marketing to increase views (+ examples)

As technology continues to change, so does the ability of email marketers to add videos to their email marketing campaigns, and recent studies show that it can be well worth the time and overall investment.

Why use video in your email marketing campaigns?

Using videos in your email campaigns is more than just adding something fun to entertain the reader. Video campaigns are a great way to help introduce your subscribers to new services, products, or updates that may be happening with your brand.

They also can be used to create warm, inviting welcome emails for new subscribers, and they can be used to entertain your current subscribers simply.

Besides that, however, there are some statistical reasons as to why you may want to include some video email marketing examples in your future campaigns.

Atkins uses video in their email marketing to great effect.

Source: Milled

One reason is the fact that video email marketing leads to more action being taken by your readers. Research has shown that, when combined with email marketing, videos can significantly boost conversions—with click-through rates increasing by 200 to 300%.

It really doesn’t matter if you’re in the B2C or B2B business industry; your consumers prefer videos to standard content. Statistics show that 59% of business executives prefer digesting the message you have for them through a video over written copy, with B2C consumers 4x more likely to watch a video about your product than read about it.

How to use videos in your emails

When it comes to adding videos to your email campaigns, in most email clients, it involves having a solid understanding of HTML5 coding language. While HTML5 is your best bet for embedding videos into your email, it’s not supported by all email clients at this time.

Email clients that support HTML5 video playback in the email itself include:

  • iOS
  • Apple Mail
  • Outlook.com

Email clients that don’t support HTML5 video playback and instead display a fallback image include:

Alternative methods for adding videos to your email campaigns

Since having videos embedded in and playing in the email client can still cause various hiccups, it’s worth noting that there are a few other options for including videos in your email campaigns, without having to embed it directly into the email itself.

Linked video image

This is a popular method used by many companies because it keeps the email file size down considerably and allows users to click on an image or another call-to-action button that’ll lead them to the video on a separate platform, such as your website or YouTube.

Treehouse uses video in their email marketing to inspire subscribers to click through.

Source: Really Good Emails

GIFs

The Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is an excellent alternative to embedding full-length videos into your emails.

GIFs are short video clips made up of a handful of still images that are animated together into a single file. While they’re prevalent on social media platforms, more and more brands are incorporating them into their email marketing.

This is because GIFs are much smaller in size and take less time to load in an email than a standard video. They’re also more widely supported by email clients.

Campaign Monitor's chart that shows which email clients support gifs in email.

*Note: “info” results indicate that GIFs are not supported by this email client*

Source: Campaign Monitor

Combine the two

Some brands go as far as combining these two methods by providing viewers with a GIF and then link that image to the website where the video will play.

Using video in your Campaign Monitor emails

For those using the Campaign Monitor drag-and-drop email template builder, adding videos to your email campaigns is a breeze.

1. Click on the video content block located to the left of your email template and drag it to the desired section of your email where you want the video to appear.

the first step in adding videos to your email marketing in Campaign Monitor

Source: Campaign Monitor

2. Add the URL of your video into the Link box and add in Alt text, so, if the video fails to load in your subscriber’s email client, they’ll still know what it was you intended them to learn from the video.

Step 2 in adding videos to email marketing in Campaign Monitor

Source: Campaign Monitor

Your final product will look a little something like this:

Campaign Monitor can help you add video to your email marketing to increase engagement.

Source: Campaign Monitor

Video email marketing best practices

Choosing to use videos in your email marketing campaigns is a step in the right direction when it comes to increasing your reader’s overall engagement.

However, just like any other aspects of your marketing strategy, there are some best practices that you’ll want to keep in mind, so as to not overwhelm your readers.

After all, the point of these video email marketing examples is to increase engagement, not to put them off to the point they mark you as spam.

Host the video on your own platform

While it may seem easier to simply pull random videos from popular social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook, it’s better to embed or share videos that are hosted on your individually hosted platforms, like your brand’s website.

When you pull random videos off of the internet, you run the high risk of something happening with it, such as:

  • Playback issues
  • The video being lost or removed from the platform
  • The content being blocked

Not only is this majorly annoying for readers who were looking forward to the video, but it makes your marketing efforts look plain sloppy.

If you want to share a video with readers, then you’re better off creating your own or downloading it and re-uploading it to your personally hosted platform. This ensures that you have control over the content and that it won’t mysteriously disappear, for whatever reason.

Turn off autoplay

When embedding videos into your email campaigns, do the subscriber a favor and please turn off the autoplay option.

Not everyone wants to watch your videos, and, when they open your email and are startled by loud music or conversation that they may not have expected, they can be put off and/or put in a bad mood.

Add the video after your text

If you want to include video in your email campaign, it’s best to add it after your copy for the reader.

If the video doesn’t work, for whatever reason, you’ll at least have informed the reader about the topic of the email and they’ll know why they’re receiving it. If you add the video first and it doesn’t load, readers are more likely to delete the message, and you’ll possibly lose out on click-throughs or conversions.

Make the video short and to the point

Short and to the point is the best method of optimizing your video email marketing.

With subscribers spending less than 30 seconds reading your email, you want to keep the video nice and short. It’s a good idea to keep all videos under a minute. Otherwise, you risk losing the attention of your reader.

Keep the file size small

The shorter your video, the smaller the file size will be, which will help keep your email from lagging too much when it’s initially opened. The longer the video, the more time it’ll need to buffer, and, with reader’s short attention spans, you don’t have that time to waste before they throw you email into the trash file.

Stellar video email marketing examples

Now that you know how to insert videos into your email campaigns and how to optimize them for your subscribers, let’s take a look at some quality video email marketing examples.

1. Honda

This example by Honda makes great use of videos in their email to consumers because they don’t simply slap it in there for no reason. The point of this email is to inform the reader of the difference between this dealership when compared to others, and they make that point by taking readers on a journey. Each of the videos is carefully placed along the road and poses as billboards that lead the reader to the Honda Manhattan dealership.

The videos serve a valid purpose and lead the readers on a journey, helping to increase overall engagement.

Honda uses video in their email marketing and you can too, without needing Honda's resources.

Source: Delivra

2. Wistia

In this example, Wistia embedded their video directly into the email to announce a new tool. They followed the video best practices and turned off the autoplay option, so it doesn’t start playing the moment a reader opens it.

Better yet, they also added a quick and concise message right above the video, so, if the video in the email doesn’t play, readers still know what the message is about.

Wistia uses video in their email marketing very well, keeping the focus of the email on the video.

Source: Really Good Emails

Wrap up

Email marketers are looking for more and more ways to increase reader engagement, and adding a video to your email campaign is a great way to do just that. Just remember to keep these helpful tips in mind, if you choose to go this route:

  • Turn off autoplay
  • Keep the video short and to the point
  • Keep the file size small
  • Consider alternative video methods if HTML5 video embeds don’t work for the majority of your readers

 

If using GIFs is your choice of video alternative, then make sure you check out our guide to using animated GIFs in your email campaigns.

Article first published May 2016, updated May 2019

The first time I came across a video within an email was in 2011 when I received a Game of Thrones email from Sky TV in the UK. Even though I was using Outlook 2007 at the time and had images blocked, I was still pretty amazed to see a real working video when I clicked on the “Can’t view this email” link.

HTML5 video in email

As a fairly geeky email marketer, I viewed the source code to see what magic was going on.

I quickly identified something that looked like this:

<video width="640" height="360" poster="https://mysite.com/uploads/fallback.jpg" controls="controls">

<source src="https://mysite.com/videoname.mp4" type="video/mp4" />

<a href="https://mysite.com/"><img src="https://mysite.com/uploads/fallback.jpg" width="640" height="360" /></a> </video>

If you’re wondering what that code is, it’s actually HTML5 video tag, which was very advanced at the time. Campaign Monitor co-founder, Dave Greiner, blogged about this snippet of code back in 2009 and came to the conclusion that it was the best way to embed a video within an email, but it still lacks support from most email clients.

Can a video play in an email?

Research by Wordstream shows the power of video marketing. They discovered that marketers who use video are likely to grow their revenue 49% faster than those who don’t. This is what has fueled the implementation of videos in email.

But can a video play right within an email?

According to our friends at Email on Acid, videos in email will work in Apple Mail, older iOS versions of the iPhone, and Outlook.com. So, if you happen to have a high number of subscribers using one of those email clients, you can consider including a video within your emails. Otherwise, it’s not something we would recommend. You can easily check what the most popular email clients and devices are among your subscribers with our email client usage report.

To solve for all the other email clients, we have some alternative options for using video in email in this post.

Updates for 2019

If you’re looking to create impactful emails, video is an excellent choice for 2019. However, video in email isn’t something entirely new. Marketers have been trying to combine these two marketing tactics for quite some time now.

The reason for that is simple: Videos in email are known to increase open rates by 19% and click-through rates by as much as 65%. With such high engagement rates, videos should be included in your email marketing strategy.

How are successful email marketers implementing video in their emails? Let’s look at a few best practices that professionals are using today.

Host the video on your real estate

One clever way email marketers are avoiding the embarrassment of video playback errors in an email is through hosting the video on a dedicated landing page. Especially if the video is hosted on a platform other than your own (like YouTube), sending your subscribers there could result in them forgetting about your original email offer.

It’s recommended to host videos on your own website to not only drive additional traffic to your website, but also to give the user the ability to choose to play the video on their own time.

Turn off autoplay

Another good practice when you want to use videos in email is to always make sure autoplay is off. Most email opens take place on mobile devices, meaning your subscriber can open your email from anywhere, at any time.

This is why you should give subscribers control of video playback.

Embed your video after your text

Embedding videos in email, as we have seen, boosts open rates. However, there’s a caveat: The video might distract from your main message if not used well. This is why it’s advisable that you embed your video after your message.

Here’s a great example from Lego:

Embedding videos in email, as we have seen, boosts open rates.

Source: Really Good Emails

Notice how they pitch their product first before directing the reader to the video. In this example, the video is designed to beautifully seal the deal.

Utilize strong messaging first, and then embed your video to increase overall engagement, ROI, and brand awareness.

Test – before and after

Particularly if you’re new to embedding videos in emails, test to see how your audience will respond to video in your emails. Simply send two versions of the same email—one with an embedded video and the other with a static image. This split test should reveal how your subscribers will respond to your video marketing campaigns.

As with everything you do in your email marketing campaigns, testing how your video will work from the recipients’ point of view is important. Before sending out your blockbuster video email, test it as much as possible (and on as many devices) to ensure that it’ll play well.

Optimizing your video for email

If you determine that you have a large Apple Mail/Outlook.com subscriber base and you want to try embedding an HTML5 video in your email, there are a number of things you can do to optimize the experience for your subscribers.

Keep it short

It’s likely that half of the subscribers who open your emails spend less than 10 seconds reading them. Don’t bother trying to display a full feature film within your email. It’s a good idea to keep your video under 60 seconds.

Keep file size low

Another good reason to keep your video short is that you also want to try and keep the file size as low as possible so that the video doesn’t need to buffer to start playing. Keep in mind that many people open your emails on mobile devices, which might not have the fastest download speed.

Turn the sound off

People don’t expect sound to come out of their emails. So make sure that you turn the mute sound option on within your code.

Use video for the right reasons

Don’t use a video in your email just for the sake of doing it. Make sure that you have the right audience for the video and that it actually adds value to the email. Some good use cases might include event announcements, new product launches, exclusive interviews, etc.

What’s the alternative to embedding video in your email?

While embedding video in email isn’t a great idea for most, due to the lack of support across email clients, there are other solutions you can use to bring videos to your emails, including the following:

Animated GIFs

The obvious alternative to video within email is to use an animated GIF. These are easy to make, lightweight, and are supported by most email clients. That’s why so many emails you receive from retailers includes an animated GIF of some sort.

Static image with play button

Using a play button on top of a static image is an incredibly easy way to link to video content hosted on sites like Wistia, YouTube, or Vimeo. Like the animated GIF option, this is a great lightweight solution. And, unlike embedding your video in the email, you’ll be able to track your clicks to see how many people are viewing the video from the email.

We did this recently in our Campaign Monitor newsletter with a slick video for Jaybird.

Animated play button

To add a little extra emphasis to their play button, Harley Davidson of Australia & NZ used an animated play button to draw attention to the video in their email campaign:

Using these alternatives is very easy and has none of the drawbacks of embedding video in email.

Cinemagraphs

Cinemagraphs are another cool and very effective alternative to embedding video in email. These are simply images that have one or two moving elements that give the impression of the image being a video. The rest of the image is static. Here’s a really cool example from Squarespace:

Cinemagraphs are another cool and very effective alternative to embedding video in email.

Source: Really Good Emails

Cinemagraphs have a peculiar allure to them that many people just can’t resist, making them a powerful medium to help you convey your message effectively. And that, for a marketer, leads to more conversions.

How do you email a video that is too large?

What happens when a video file is too large to send the conventional way? With many email clients restricting the amount of data you can include in an email, sending large videos becomes a problem. And, because there’s no standard file size to dictate the limits across email clients, what may be an acceptable file size on one client can be too large on another.

By far, the easiest way to go about this is to save your video in cloud storage services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or any other cloud service you use. Doing this will allow you to share the link with your recipient, who can then either download the video to their computer or simply watch it from the cloud service.

Wrap up

Video in email is not just a gimmick you can opt to use. It’s quickly becoming a key factor to running successful email marketing campaigns.

Whether you choose to get more technical and use HTML5 video in your email or choose to use one of the alternatives outlined in this post, using video in email can be an engaging way to bring compelling content to your subscribers. Be sure to check out our video in email guide to learn more.

According to the latest research in 2018, one-third of all time online is spent watching videos. Most businesses are aware of this and that is why they are incorporating video into their existing marketing strategies. Whether it’s used for promotional or communicational purposes, video content is something that people clearly love consuming.

The level of interaction with video is constantly growing and your marketing strategy needs to be aligned to establish a connection with your audience and see ROI.

For companies, there are no limits when talking about places where video can be integrated: websites, landing pages, promotional material, newsletters, digital ads, emails, and many more. If implemented the right way, marketing and sales professionals can enjoy many benefits of a video platform.

Here are four ways you can experiment with using video in your next email campaign.

embedding video in email infographic

 

Integrating video in marketing is a powerful way to promote and grow your business. Video is effective in fostering engagement and positively affects results such as click-throughs, shares, lead generation, and sales.

In fact, SocialMediaToday published an article stating that people are more likely to buy a product online after seeing a video (64%). This means that video conveys your marketing messages in an effective way and customers respond to it by taking a certain action.

The benefits of video in email

Around 270 billion emails are sent daily across the globe. In other words, there is a risk of around 270 billion misunderstood messages and communication attempts daily. Believe it or not, sometimes just one misunderstood message is enough to hurt your business or career. An average office worker receives around 120 emails per day and sends about 40 of them.

Most email inboxes are overloaded with important, not so important and promotional content. Ensure your email catches the attention of your recipient by including a video in your email which increases click-through rates by 200-300%. Also, by mentioning a personalized video in the subject line the open rate increases by 272%.

Showing your product or service in practice has a much higher chance of convincing viewers of their benefits. Studies show that after watching a video, viewers were 64% more likely to make a purchase decision.

Obviously, there is a lot of potential for video integration. Not only does it fit perfectly into email and newsletter platforms, it can also be integrated into a company’s website or have its own video marketing strategy for your business.

So, what are the ways of including video in a personalized email communication that a company representative has with its audience?

4 video ideas for your next email campaign

When you are introducing yourself to someone, the best way to do it effectively is in person. Unfortunately, most business communication can’t be executed in person, so people use various communication channels to deliver the message to their audience. One of the most effective channels for marketers is email communication. But emails that your company sends out don’t have to be filled with only text. Why not start sending video emails?

Consider adding a video to your next company newsletter. Or even creating an email campaign that will include videos? Engage your audience by delivering creative material to your recipients. Giving a video review of current trends or inviting your audience to come check out your upcoming seminar, conference or any other event is a great way of connecting with your potential and existing customers.

Videos in your newsletters or any email campaign that you’re planning to launch should be creative, consistent, informative and well incorporated in the whole email. Before you start recording, be sure you know the purpose of your video and where it will be placed in your email.

If it’s a welcoming message from your CEO, it should be placed at the top of your email. Otherwise, if it’s a short announcement of an upcoming event which you will thoroughly announce in the next email, incorporate it at the bottom of the email.

Video in email - introduction example

1. Introduction videos in email

Implementing a video in your introduction emails increases the chance that your recipient will answer and research more about your company and products or services it offers.

These videos are not meant to be perfect or be of the best production quality because they aren’t a result of massive production. On the opposite, these are very easy, one-off videos that anybody can create with a web camera or a mobile phone.

An introduction video should always start with a company representative greeting the potential customer by his/her name. That way you will add a personal touch to the communication and grab your recipient’s attention.

The length of your introduction video should stay under 45 seconds. Say your customer’s name, thank them for their interest, and give them the information they requested. Let the information in your video flow and don’t forget to add a call-to-action in the end.

With this type of video, your potential and existing customers will be able to put a face to your name and feel like they know you. This is a crucial step in achieving a deeper relationship with your customers that could lead to closing the deal faster.

2. Support videos in email

Video can even be added into your support strategy.

Imagine your team sending a video to customers facing an issue rather than talking to them on the phone or over email about it. It’s much more effective and easier to explain via video message.

After all, video is a visual medium. It’s focus is on showing instead of telling. When trying to help your customers, it’s crucial to give them what they need. The goal of every support team is to eliminate the issue and satisfy the customer. Providing your customers with a step-by-step video on how to make the best out of their purchase will make you reach your goal easier.

Video in email messages helps nurture relationships with customers and clients. By adding that personal touch with video, your recipients will feel more confident and connected to you. Consequently, building relationships that are based on that will ensure your company knows its audience and provides it with products or services that their audience wants and needs. Don’t forget, it’s impossible to achieve business success without knowing your audience.

3. Explainer videos in email

Did you know that 95% of people have watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service? Explainer videos are very easy to record. Moreover, people love watching them. Almost 97% of marketers say a video has helped increase user understanding of their product or service. Gather the information your customers need in one video and show them how to use your product or service with a step-by-step approach. There are many ways to record an explainer video, but be sure to keep it creative, fun, simple and, of course, informative.

4. Testimonial videos in email

Email campaigns are a great place to share the satisfaction of your customers. People like reading customer reviews, but they love watching testimonial videos. Showing a customer’s happy face and letting them talk about their purchase and their experience will show your potential customers why you are the right company for them. For example, if you wish your target audience realizes numerous benefits your platform or software has for its users, customer testimonials are the way to go. Don’t miss out on many opportunities video integration has for your email communication.

Bonus: Search engines love video

What people want, Google and other search engines deliver.

For example, video content will always have a better ranking than photos and text, and nobody loves videos more than Google! Video is 50 times more likely to appear on the first page of search results than a traditional web page due to Google’s algorithm, which has completely transformed the search landscape, prioritizing rich and blended search results with unique content.

While emails aren’t indexed, videos that you create for email marketing can be repurposed on your website or on a video platform like YouTube. This allows them to be crawled, giving you the SEO value and giving your audience even more ways to interact with your brand.

Wrap up

Most people need visual aids to learn and this is why video stays in the viewer’s mind better than text. Viewers actually retain 95% of a video message as compared to 10% when reading the information. The body language and actions of people in a video convey messages in a different manner than text and have a stronger power of drawing emotions and reactions. Emotions and reactions play a big role in retaining information. The stronger the impact the video has on the viewer’s emotions, the higher the level of retainment. The higher the level of retainment, the better business results the company will achieve.