Videos are useful for email campaigns. Learn how to embed videos in your emails to inform your audience and keep them engaged.
Email marketing campaigns are a great way to create personalized messages tailored to your customers. With email marketing, you can easily gather feedback from your customers and use that information to make more informed business decisions.
One of the best ways to convey your message to your customers is with a video. More and more companies are using video as a marketing tactic, but integrating video into email campaigns can be tricky. Some email platforms don’t support video embedding, and the last thing you want is to send your customers a mass email with a video they won’t even open.
So, if you’re thinking about embedding video in your next email campaign, it’s important to know how to do it right.
Why you should embed videos in your email
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There are many reasons why you should use videos in email marketing campaigns .
First, embedding videos in your emails is a great way to increase click-through rates, which is the ratio of the number of users who click on a link to the total number of users who actually view it.
The goal of any email campaign is to have high click-through rates. You don’t just want your customers to click on the video link you’re including, but also to navigate to the page and watch the video.
Embedding videos in your emails is another great way to increase open rates. Subscribers are more likely to open an email that includes “video” in the subject line because it’s more interesting to them.
Most consumers don’t want to read a long email; they prefer to be informed through a video. Videos are also much more engaging than written text, so your subscribers are more likely to watch the entire clip.
Overall, embedding videos in your emails can help generate more leads because your subscribers will be more interested in what you have to say.
Why you shouldn’t embed videos in your email
Just as there are situations where you should embed a video in an email, there are also situations where you shouldn’t. Video marketing can be really effective in some situations, but that doesn’t mean it should be used all the time.
Your subscribers may be more inclined to watch videos than read something, but videos don’t always encourage greater engagement. Sometimes, consumers would rather browse written content to get the gist of an email than watch a full video.
If you embed a video in an email, your subscribers are likely to miss the CTA, which is, above all, the main goal of email marketing. Your subscribers may be so distracted by the video that they forget to do what you’re asking them to do.
Videos also don’t always look the same on a computer as they do on a mobile device. So your video email might be easy to access on your laptop, but when you open it on your phone, it doesn’t look as good.
If you decide not to include a video in your email, but still want to include it in your marketing strategy, you can upload your video to your own website and link to it in your email. This way, your customers can still view the video without it being the main focus of the email.
How to embed videos
Now that we’ve reviewed the pros and cons of embedded videos in email, let’s talk about how to add a video to your email campaigns. Embedding videos in your emails is quite simple; you just need to follow a few simple steps:
1. Create a thumbnail image
The first step in this process is choosing a thumbnail for your email. The video thumbnail is the first thing your subscribers will see, so you need it to be powerful. There are several ways to create a custom thumbnail. You can use a screenshot of the video or an animated GIF related to the video.
However, whether you use a static image or an animated GIF, your thumbnail is an opportunity to get creative and encourage your subscribers to click the video link. You’ll also want to include a play button image in the thumbnail so your users know to click it.
2. Find the URL
Once you’ve created the thumbnail, you need to get your video’s URL. There are several hosting sites where you can first upload your video, such as YouTube. Using a video hosting platform will make it easier to embed the video in your email, as you’ll be able to link directly to that site.
3.Embed the video in the email
Once you’ve located the video URL, you’ll need to embed the video in your email. Email providers have different instructions on how to embed a video in an email, so be sure to look for the instructions for your specific provider. However, most of the time, you just need to copy and paste the URL link into the email, and the video will automatically load.
4. Write some text
Okay, you’ve successfully embedded a video in an email, now what? You need to get your subscribers to open the video, which means writing some text.
It doesn’t have to be too long, just a few sentences that encourage your subscribers to click play. It’s also a good idea to include a call to action in this text so your subscribers know exactly what you’re asking of them. Be as direct and concise as possible with your text.
5. Test the email
Once you’ve completed all the steps above, you’ll be almost ready to send your email campaign. But first, you should test your email. You definitely don’t want to send an email campaign to your entire subscriber list with an email that doesn’t even play. Therefore, send a quick test email before sending the real one.
Best practices for embedding videos
Now that you know how to embed a video in an email, let’s look at some best practices you should follow.
You should always include a CTA in your email that tells your subscribers exactly what you want them to do.
The CTA should be short and to the point. You should also keep file size limits in mind. You don’t want to upload a low-quality video that slows down when you press the play button.
A 720p resolution is usually sufficient for embedded video in emails. You should also consider the different types of video formats and make sure your email service supports your type of video.
Another tip for embedding videos in your emails is to include subtitles. In case your subscribers can’t hear what you’re saying, it’s always a good idea to include subtitles so they can follow along.
You also don’t want to bombard your subscribers with too much information in your video. Of course, a YouTube video can be more interesting than reading a bunch of text, but you still want your video to be short and to the point.
Getting your users to press “play”
Video marketing for small businesses is a great way to engage with customers and increase click-through rates. However, embedding videos in your emails goes beyond creating video content; you also need to get your users to click play.
The first step to getting your users to actually press play is to develop a marketing strategy and produce a high-quality video that you can include in your video. If you need help designing a video marketing strategy, use Mailchimp.
Mailchimp is a marketing automation platform and email marketing service that helps small business owners create high-performing email campaigns . You can access a small business email marketing guide that can help you improve your email marketing strategy. With Mailchimp, you can use our email marketing best practices to create effective email video campaigns that help you achieve your business goals.
