Key takeaways
- Video in email is underused but can materially boost engagement and revenue: eMarketer found video increased time spent (44%), shares/forwards (41%), clickthroughs (55%), conversions (24%) and dollars per message (20%).
- Only about 25% of marketers currently use branded video in email, so doing it well can differentiate your brand.
- Historical barriers included file-size and plug‑in security issues, though HTML5 support in most email clients has reduced these problems.
- Practical best practices: make the video easy to find in the email, ensure solid production quality, include the CTA inside the video, keep videos short, disable sound on auto‑play and avoid bandwidths greater than 200kB/second.
- If you host on third‑party services (e.g., YouTube), include your CTA inside the video itself so you don’t miss conversions.
Introduction
When it comes to connecting with your audience, if a picture’s worth 1,000 words, just how much value does video hold in your marketing aspirations? While plenty of brands have tried to answer this question, the road to incorporating video content into marketed messages is littered with horror stories and failed attempts. To help you unlock the true potential of this strategy, let’s take a moment to learn a little more about the role of video content in email marketing, as well as what you should and shouldn’t be doing once you’re ready to take the plunge and add this approach to your next campaign.
Navigating Murky Waters
The history of video content in marketed messages has been a rocky road to say the least. As Lynn Baus of Marketing Land explains, plenty of hurdles have kept this practice from truly becoming the golden standard in the industry. Whether it’s file sizing issues or the former need of plug-ins to run video, which in turn exposed consumers to malicious script from shady emails, plenty of brands have come up short with this kind of content in the past. In fact, these issues are some of the main reasons that The Wall Street Journal reported that only 25 percent of marketers currently use branded video content in emails today.
Understanding the Appeal
While the number of campaigns using video is definitely in the minority, the advent of modern technology that protects and enhances the consumer experience – such as HTML5 support in most email clients – and the potential for massive returns on investment (ROI) signal a major opportunity for brands that can pull this off right. In fact, eMarketer’s study on video in email marketing from 2013 highlights this opportunity. For campaigns willing to incorporate video content, 44 percent saw an increase in time subscribers spent viewing the email, while 41 percent noted that shares and forwards of this content rose significantly.
As for clickthrough and conversion rates, video content accounted for a boost of 55 percent and 24 percent, respectively. Finally, a 20 percent jump in dollars generated by each message puts the notion that video can help an already great marketed message in terms of cold, hard cash. Simply put, if you can pull this one of right, the sky is the limit for your ROI and brand awareness.
Getting Off to A Solid Start
Of course, like most things, hitting the nail on the head with your video content is easier said than done. Thankfully, There’s a few key tips that can really make the process more manageable. According to Karen J. Bannan of Advertising Age, plenty of campaigns look over the simple things when trying to incorporate video content. For starters, make it easy to find the video in your email. If it’s lost beneath a wall of text or improperly formatted, it’s not doing your readers any good.
From here, be careful with the quality of your video. Sure, shooting it on your smartphone during a lunch break might save you a few bucks now, but Bannan notes that the vast majority of your audience won’t bother sitting through even the first few seconds if it looks like a cheaply made home movie. Once you have this under control, don’t forget your call to action (CTA.) By using YouTube or another video service to host your content, some brands fail to include this as part of the actual video. Unfortunately, all this does is ensure that you miss out on conversions that would otherwise come from including even a simple CTA.
Fine Tuning the Process
Once you have the basics under control, there’s still room for refinement and improvement in the video content process. Digging a little deeper into the specifics starts with keeping the video short, according to Tom Burke of Business 2 Community. Staying concise and focused with your message is a powerful way to maximize your time with an audience that doesn’t have the desire to watch long form videos. From here, don’t forget to turn off the sound on auto-play videos. Few things are as annoying as a loud message blaring while you frantically search for the source in a new email message.
When you’re setting up the video on whatever hosting service you choose, avoid selecting a bandwidth greater than 200kB/second. More is definitely better in some circumstance, but pumping up the bandwidth usage on your video is a great way to bog down the loading process for your viewers. If you can piece together all of these little tips with your already stellar traditional email content, you’ll be well on your way to unlocking the potential boast that comes from adding powerful and effective video content to your marketed messages.
FAQ
Campaigns that used video saw a 44% increase in time subscribers spent viewing the email, 41% more shares/forwards, a 55% boost in clickthroughs, a 24% increase in conversions and a 20% jump in dollars generated per message.
The Wall Street Journal reported that only 25% of marketers currently use branded video content in emails.
Past issues included large file sizes, the former need for plug‑ins (which exposed some users to malicious script) and playback compatibility. HTML5 support in most email clients has helped address many of these hurdles.
Make the video easy to find: don’t bury it under a wall of text and avoid improper formatting that hides the player or thumbnail.
Avoid a cheaply made home‑movie look. Most of your audience won’t watch past the first few seconds if the video appears low quality.
Don’t rely only on hosting links: include a clear call to action inside the video itself, because embedding or linking to a hosted video without an in‑video CTA can mean missed conversions.
Keep the video short and focused, turn off sound on auto‑play videos and avoid selecting a bandwidth greater than 200kB/second to prevent slow loading for viewers.
Ensure the video is prominent in the email, confirm production quality is solid, embed or host with the CTA included in the video, keep the runtime short, disable auto‑play sound and set bandwidth at or below 200kB/second.
