What Should You Know About Video Email Marketing?

Matthew Watts

Industry Tips & Tricks
Jan 17, 2023
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Videos are everywhere. They're on social media, advertising, and most of your streaming platforms. There's a reason why video is so popular. Video combines visual and audio elements, drawing in more viewers. This is why 90% of digital marketing professionals use video in their campaigns.

An effective yet unique place to use video is in your emails. If you're investing in a video marketing strategy next year, you should consider optimizing your emails for video. Here's what you need to know about video email marketing.

What Is Video Email Marketing?

Video email marketing is the act of adding videos to business emails. On its own, video is a powerful marketing medium. And since there are over 4 billion daily email users, you're widening and engaging your audience even more by attaching videos to your marketing emails.

There are various video types, and some are better for email than others. You'll also want to seek help from high-quality video production services. Don't worry, we'll explain all of this in-depth later in the article.

Benefits of Email Video Marketing

The amount of time that users watch videos has increased by 249% in the last five years. Your receivers will consume your video emails more than other mediums. Video email marketing also comes with additional benefits, which may include:

  • More demand
  • Simplifies complex topics
  • Fosters long-term customer royalty
  • Builds a deeper connection

Plus, video is versatile. If your industry is complex or bland, you can create fun, animated videos to liven up your emails. You can also address certain pain points with video, especially for customers in the B2B sector.

Best Type of Videos to Add to Email

There are numerous types of videos out there, such as:

  • Branded
  • Documentary
  • Explainer
  • Corporate
  • Product
  • Animation
  • Commercials
  • Testimonials
  • Drone
  • And more

Which ones should you use in your emails? First, your videos should be short. Ideally, your videos should be under one minute long. The videos should also coincide with your message and target your audience. For example, if you're sending promotional emails, include a commercial.

Certain email templates also work better with specific types of video marketing. These emails include:

  • Invites
  • Welcome
  • Follow-ups
  • Nurture emails
  • Trigger emails
  • Newsletters

You can also collaborate with a video production company for more ideas when emailing videos.

How to Add Video to Marketing Emails

While video email marketing offers many benefits, it can be difficult to implement a strategy. That's because traditional email platforms aren't optimized for video. Most email platforms let users can link or embed videos into their platform. Depending on which email marketing platform you're already using, they may offer a way to easily add videos to your emails.

Other Email Video Marketing Tips

Do you need additional help with an email video marketing campaign? Here are a few extra tips.

Place Videos Below Written Copy

Your receivers will likely not watch the video unless they know what it's about. Add some written text to explain your email and emphasize this message with a video. The amount of written copy you add is up to you. Some businesses may not feel the need to add a lot of text, while others will want to. Adding more text can be beneficial; if the video doesn't work or the receiver doesn't want to watch it, they can read the text and get the entirety of the message.

Include the Word "Video" in the Subject

If your customers see that a video is attached to the email, they may be more willing to open the email. It's worth running an A/B test to see if you'll have more success when you add "video" to the title of your subject or if it won't impact your open rates.

What are some title examples? Here are a few ones to try:

You can try an A/B test by adding the term "video" in brackets at the beginning or end of the subject line. Or, you can try testing the subject without adding the word "video" and seeing your success.

Use Captions

There are many reasons why you'll want to include captions in your videos. For example, 38% of Canadian adults have hearing loss. Using captions in your videos becomes less of a simple convenience matter and more of a liability. Offering written copy and video captions can diversify the content that your deaf and hard-of-hearing customers have access to.

It's not just the deaf and hard-of-hearing crowd that utilizes captions. In a survey of students, more than half used closed captioning, even if they weren't deaf or hard of hearing. These students mentioned that closed captioning helps them focus, retain information, and potentially overcome bad audio. Even if you're not targeting students, your customers can absorb your marketing messages better with video captions.

Reduce the Thumbnail Size

Did you know that large images in your email can trigger a spam filter? A good way to avoid this is by reducing the size of your thumbnail. You can use a photo editing or compressing tool to reduce video thumbnail sizes. Which image size should you aim for? Even though we don't know for sure, 2.7 MB is a good goal.

Include Branding

Video encompasses all of the elements that can fit a branding strategy. What are ways to include branding in your videos? Have your host say your slogan at the beginning or end of your video. Add your logo and other video effects that coincide with your brand. If you can, create a backdrop using your color scheme or have your host wear a company t-shirt.

Are You Ready to Start Video Email Marketing

Before rushing into video email marketing, find a high-quality video production company that will offer the best videos to use in your email campaign. We are an award-winning video production company based in the Toronto area. We offer various services, such as corporate videos, commercials, and video social ads. Get a video production quote today!