Adding videos to your emails can be a great way to stand out in a crowded inbox and get your message across quickly.
Videos allow viewers to quickly and easily understand the context of your message, making it more likely that they’ll stay engaged.
Great, huh?
But if you’ve never done it before, the process can seem a bit daunting. Fortunately, there are some easy ways to embed video in email.
This article will explain how to email a video and provide tips to maximize the value of your email marketing.
Contents
The state of email video marketing
Adding videos in emails looks very promising. Email marketing is still one of the most effective digital marketing tools, with a steady 4 billion user base expected to grow to 4.5 billion by 2025.
That’s a lot! And you can reach many of them as more and more people watch videos in emails.
Shorter emails tend to perform better, and video content is a great way to compress a lot of information into a small space.
6 benefits of using video in email
- Increase engagement
Using video in email marketing can significantly increase engagement, as it is far more likely to be interacted with than plain text. Although you can write emails like a pro, videos have the added advantage of being more engaging and interactive.
The human brain is attracted to motion, and videos are more dynamic than other forms of content.
Videos help to capture the audience better than any other kind of content. It also gives you more opportunities for personalization and storytelling.
Plus, many companies use videos to showcase products or services more interactively.
- Boost click-through rates
Click-through rates are a crucial metric for email marketing success.
They measure the number of people who click on a link from your email and indicate how engaging your content is.
Studies have shown that including videos in emails can increase click-through rates by up to 65%.
That’s a massive boost that can mean more conversions and better ROI for your campaigns.
It’s also easy to track the performance of your video emails, so you can fine-tune your strategy to maximize your results.
- Raise open rates
How can using video in email improve open rates? Not even text and images can compare with video in opening your emails.
The mere presence of “video” phrase in a subject line can have a 6% open rate boost.
By providing an engaging and interactive experience for your subscribers, you can encourage them to open your emails and keep them interested in your content.
- Improve customer understanding
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a video is worth much more.
Videos can quickly and easily explain complex concepts in a way that is engaging, efficient, and easy to comprehend.
By including videos in emails, you can make sure your customers understand the message of your emails and that they can easily access the information they need.
This will help to avoid misunderstandings and confusion and create a better customer experience.
- Help differentiate
Videos provide customers with an engaging, visually compelling way to learn more about your products.
They help to break up the monotony of plain-text emails and stand out in a crowded business email inbox.
Videos can be used to showcase customer testimonials, introduce new products or services, highlight technical features, walk customers through a step-by-step process, and much more.
Additionally, videos are more likely to be shared and talked about on social media and other digital channels. This increases exposure and builds trust in your brand.
- Create a stronger emotional connection
Videos can create an emotional connection with your customers and build longer-lasting relationships.
They have the power to do just that!
By showing your potential clients what your company stands for, you can establish a closer bond with them.
A combination of sound and visuals with some customization options allows you to create a sense of immediacy and intimacy.
Videos can evoke strong feelings like happiness, excitement, and nostalgia in your customers and help showcase your brand values.
This will make your emails memorable and encourage them to act.
How to send a video through email?
1. Edit the video
Although it’s not the primary focus here, you may want to edit the video before sending it.
This is particularly important if your video is of a sensitive nature or contains information that should not be shared widely, or you simply want to make it more presentable for your recipient.
MP4 is the best email video format as it is widely supported and helps maintain a balance between quality and size.
You can use any MP4 editor to trim and crop the parts you don’t want, add transitions, titles, and music, or make more complex edits like background removal, color correction, and animation.
2. Upload your video on an email marketing platform
Most email marketing platforms offer the ability to automatically upload and store videos within their platform so that you can access them easily when sending a video email.
You can upload a video from your computer or add a link from an external source such as YouTube. Make sure your video is in an accepted format before uploading it.
3. Compose and design your email
Now comes the fun part.
Start crafting the rest of your email to best represent your message. Think of a catchy subject line, write your name and an email address.
You can add text and headings in the body of your email to explain what viewers can expect and direct them to take a certain action.
Depending on the platform you’re using, you can customize the placement of each section of your email.
Pick the template that works for you, or create your own responsive design. You can also change the font type and size, add images or banners, and social media buttons, and change the background color scheme.
4. Test and send
Once you’re happy with your design, it’s time to preview the email.
Make sure your video is playing correctly and that your email looks the way you want on both desktop and mobile devices.
Finally, it’s time to hit the “Send” button!
Don’t forget to send test emails to yourself or other recipients before sending out the real thing. This is the best way to make sure your email arrives without any issues and looks as great as you intended it to.
8 tips to enhance your video email campaign
1. Personalize the subject line
The subject line is like a small preview of your message, so make sure it’s something that will pique their interest.
Keep your subject line short and to the point. Remember, people are busy and have many emails to read, so if it’s too long or overly complicated, it will just be ignored.
Incorporating your customer’s name or using catchy phrases like “It’s Time to Act” or “A Video Just for You” can better introduce your content and draw attention.
Avoid spam words or phrases like “Free” or “Limited-time Offer” at all costs. People’s spam filters will pick up these words, and they could send your email straight to the junk folder before it reaches them.
2. Segment your email list
Interests and demographics vary from person to person, so why send the same email to everyone?
Segmenting your list lets you customize emails according to the needs of specific groups, creating more targeted emails.
You can differentiate based on age, gender, location, or other factors that can help you better identify what interests your customers.
This can result in higher engagement rates and more meaningful interactions.
3. Test different file sizes & formats
Sending out a video via email can be tricky regarding size and format. Depending on the type of video, it can take up a lot of data and make your emails slow to load.
If you need to reduce the file size, try to use a simple online video converter to compress the video without reducing its quality.
Here is the table of formats popular email clients accept:
| Email client | Format | Size limit |
| Gmail | MP4, WEBM, MOV, AVI, WMV, FLV, GIF | 25 MB |
| Outlook | MP4, GIF | 20 MB |
| Apple Mail | MP4, MOV, AVI, M4V, GIF | 20 MB up to 5 GB |
| Yahoo! Mail | GIF | 25 MB |
4. Tell a story
A story helps to capture attention and interest and can communicate complex topics in a more accessible way.
By creating an emotional connection, stories have the power to encourage people to take an action.
You can create a video series to tell the story of your brand or product, raise awareness for a cause, or share customer success stories.
5. Include a CTA
Watching videos is quite pleasant, but if it’s the only thing you offer, it’s all for nothing.
Your recipients should clearly understand the reason behind your video and what you expect them to do.
Be it signing up for an event, buying a product, or subscribing to your channel – make sure you have a CTA embedded in your video.
That extra spark motivates your audience to look deeper into your offers and makes sure your video is not just a “one-time thing.” Do some A/B testing to find the right approach to engage your customers.
6. Update regularly
Your audience gets bored quickly, which means you need to keep them engaged by providing interesting content regularly.
Keep an eye on the trends in the market, create themed campaigns for certain seasons or holidays, and experiment with different types of videos.
When you keep things fresh, your subscribers will look forward to receiving new content from you.
Regular updates also reduce the risk of people forgetting who you are and what you offer. Showing that you care about their time and that you value their support is key in building successful relationships.
7. Create a feedback loop
Feedback can help you understand your customers better and improve the quality of the content you provide.
Don’t be afraid to ask your customers what they think of your emails.
Encourage them to leave comments, review your content, and suggest ideas for improvement. You can also ask them to rank videos based on how useful they find them or how interesting the content is.
The more feedback you get, the better your emails will be in the future.
8. Measure the results
As with any other marketing campaign, you should track how successful your video emails are.
Look at essential metrics like open rates and click-through rates to see if clients like your content and if it’s doing its job.
You can also analyze how many recipients completed a task or made a purchase after watching your video.
This way, you’ll have data that will help you better understand your target audience and make smarter decisions in the future.
The 3 most effective video email examples
1. Dropbox
Dropbox keeps its videos short and straightforward, using catchy phrases and personalized messages to target the right audience.
It uses video emails to showcase its products, give updates, and announce new features.
By making their videos more exciting, it’s easier for them to draw attention and maintain customer engagement.
2. Vimeo
Vimeo makes its videos more interactive by using GIFs and animation to grab attention and bring life to the content.
The company uses video emails to share tips, feature its latest updates in the video platform, and promote new releases.
3. Airbnb
Airbnb uses videos to communicate its brand story and connect with customers on a more personal level.
Their lifestyle-oriented videos demonstrate the unique experiences that customers can have with the company, helping to increase loyalty and trust.
Airbnb also uses video emails to provide customer support, informing them of their rights and addressing any concerns they may have.
Are you ready to start using video emails?
All of this seems like a lot of work, doesn’t it? But it doesn’t have to be.
Try to get creative with unique ideas and stories that capture the essence of your brand and don’t forget to use email templates for inspiration.
The key is to experiment, measure, and tweak until you find what works best for you.
If done right, video emails can be a great way to engage your customers and build relationships with them.
So, why not give it a try?