With its ability to create a consistent channel of contact with target audiences, email marketing stands out as a powerful tool for digital outreach. But when your competitors are pulling out all the stops to garner the market’s attention, sending a simple text-based email may not cut it anymore.
That is where video email campaigns come into the picture. By including this immersive form of media within your emails, you can easily take your email marketing campaigns to the next level with better engagement and higher user interest.
With that being said, it is important to note that sharing videos through promotional emails is a double-edged sword. If you use video messages wisely, they can work wonders for your overall goals. But utilizing such videos without proper care can cause disruptions in audience engagement or issues with your email clients.
To guide you through these nuances, here is a detailed outlook on why, when, and how to use video email marketing to your advantage.
Why use videos in email marketing?
Using videos in email marketing brings a host of advantages to the table. In addition to helping you boost your existing audience’s engagement, the approach may increase your chances to create new business leads. Besides strengthening your brand profile, the practice can also improve your return on investment (ROI).
Whether you are sharing a personalized video message to thank your customers for their business or sending a screen recording to showcase your new product interface, the right video can enrich any core message with its visuals. This assists your existing and potential customers in consuming detailed information, while also taking very little time from their busy schedules.
Due to these reasons, using videos in email campaigns has become a sought after practice by marketers and businesses across a variety of industries. As long as you are mindful of best practices for sharing videos within your emails, you can reap all of these rewards without any trouble.
The benefits of using videos in emails
In order to make an informed decision about adding video files to your emails, you can take a look at the most common benefits of using videos as a part of your email marketing plans.
Build a comprehensive digital marketing strategy
Apart from email marketing that is known for retaining customers and engaging audiences, videos are crucial for building a comprehensive digital marketing strategy. By combining both avenues, you can build an ideal marketing path for your brand. This contributes to improving the efficacy of your email campaigns.
Increase engagement with audiences
When it comes to emails, some recipients may feel overwhelmed by big blocks of text. Since videos do all the work for their viewers, recipients can feel more receptive to clicking through and consuming content. This increases your overall engagement with your audiences.
Improve your brand’s positioning
Besides being interesting in their information delivery, videos also incorporate a variety of powerful branding tools, from visual effects to sonic branding. This improves your brand positioning to your audiences and paves the way to creating stronger connections with them.
Enhance the effectiveness of your email campaigns
Videos offer a more immersive experience than text, which makes them a great tool to grab the attention of hard-to-please audiences.
By using the right email templates, layouts, and design strategies, you can appeal to several audience segments at once. This enhances the overall success of your email campaigns.
Retain your existing customers
Driving traffic to videos that include business updates, future plans, and product showcases can go a long way towards engaging your existing audience.
This not only helps with audience retention, but also allows you to improve customer loyalty over time. In turn, email marketing becomes a sturdy bridge between your customers and your brand.
Generate new leads
Whether you are trying to scale your business by touching base with previous customers or expand your horizons by onboarding new buyers, you need to give them good reasons to consider your pitch.
Through the use of videos that shed a light on your current value proposition, you can get the most out of your sales and welcome email efforts.
When to use videos files in emails
Now that you understand why you should be sharing videos through your email marketing campaigns, it is time to learn how to use them for maximum benefit. This helps you steer clear of any adverse effects, while also potentially contributing to an increase in your ROI.
Marketing goal | Recommended video type | Best placement in funnel | Why it works |
Brand awareness | Brand story / culture video | Top of funnel (Welcome series) | Humanizes the brand and builds an immediate emotional connection. |
Lead generation | Educational webinar teaser | Top/Middle of funnel | Offers high value in exchange for a click or registration. |
Product education | How-to tutorial / demo | Middle of funnel | Reduces friction by showing exactly how a product works. |
Conversion/Sales | Customer testimonial | Bottom of funnel | Uses social proof to overcome last-minute purchase hesitation. |
Customer loyalty | Personalized thank you | Post-purchase / Retention | Increases "surprise and delight" and long-term retention. |
Re-engagement | "What you missed" recap | Retention / Win-back | Quickly catches up inactive users with high-energy highlights. |
How to embed videos in emails
Because most email clients don't support embedded video, Mailchimp’s Video content block provides a better alternative.
Rather than embed a video, this content block automatically pulls a thumbnail, or preview image, from the video and links it to the video's URL. That way, recipients can click the video thumbnail to view it in a separate browser window.
You can also use Mailchimp’s Auto-Convert feature, link an image, or use merge tags to share a thumbnail image of the video that links to the full video's URL. Each option is easy to use and will promote engagement with your video content.
To insert a Video content block into your campaign layout, follow these steps.
- Upload your video to YouTube or Vimeo: Post your video file to YouTube or Vimeo before you start building the email. These video hosting platforms handle the heavy lifting of storage and playback for you.
- Choose an automatic thumbnail image that will also show up within your email: Pick an automatic thumbnail that represents the content well. This same image will appear inside your email and act as the clickable preview.
- Enable sharing options that make the video publicly available: Adjust the sharing settings so the video is publicly available. If the link is private, your recipients won't be able to view it once they click through.
- Create your email layout with text, images, and usual branding: Create your email layout with text, images, and your usual branding elements. Think of this as the foundation the engaging video will sit inside.
- Drag in the Video content block: Click and drag the Video content block into the spot where you want the preview to appear. You can reposition it later if needed.
- Add your caption and URL: On the Content tab of the editing pane, enter your caption text along with the video URL. Make sure to include http:// or https:// at the start, or the block won't recognize the address.
- Let Mailchimp pull in the preview: Once you enter the URL, Mailchimp automatically grabs the video or thumbnail for you. Give it a moment to load before moving on.
- Adjust the style and settings: Edit the appearance, alignment, and spacing to match your layout. Check how the block looks on mobile devices since many recipients will open your email from their phones.
- Save your work: Click Save & Close to lock in your changes. From there, you can send a test to confirm the landing page behavior and review video performance once the campaign goes out.
Video email marketing best practices
In order to maximize the possible benefits from your efforts, you should also follow best practices for sending videos in email campaigns.
Pay attention to your subject line
When sending a video email, your subject line should highlight the immediate benefit as well as the content of the video. For instance, if you are introducing a new product, your subject line should outline how recipients can quickly get to know the new offering.
If you want some assistance during this process, you can use a tool that helps you write engaging subject lines. Even if you have confidence in your creative abilities, this can provide you with data-driven insights that help you optimize your email for maximum interaction.
Segment your emails
You can boost the effects of your video messaging by creating personalized emails that are sent to specific recipient groups. When your videos reach their target audience, you can get the attention you want and build the reputation of your brand.
For instance, when trying to retain customers, you can create a video thanking your existing customers for their support. From there, you can send it only to individuals and entities who are still with your business as paying customers. This can help your CTR and overall engagement alike.
Create high-quality videos
When you are sharing videos through email campaigns, it is easy to find options that cut corners on production costs. But when you take this route, you risk compromising the quality of your video and email content—and hurting your reputation, too.
Being mindful of these factors, make it a point to invest in your video production. Regardless of the type of video that you are creating, you should consider hiring professionals for its creation. This helps you deliver quality content to your audience through every email.
Measure the ROI of your video email campaigns
Sending email videos without tracking their results leaves you guessing about what's working and what isn't.
Once you add videos to your campaigns, you need a clear picture of how recipients are responding so you can refine your approach over time. The good news is that you don't need complicated tools to measure performance, just a few reliable metrics and a willingness to dig into the numbers.
Here are three ways to gauge the return on your video email efforts:
Track click-through rates vs. view rates
Your click-through rate tells you how many email recipients clicked the video link or engaging thumbnail inside your message, while your view rate reveals how many of those people actually watched the video once they landed on the hosting page. Comparing the two numbers helps you spot friction points.
If clicks are strong but views are low, the issue may be with the dedicated landing page or the play button overlay on the destination site. If clicks are low to begin with, your preview image or subject line likely needs work.
Analyze conversion lift from video-integrated flows
Compare the conversion rates of campaigns that include videos against similar campaigns that rely on static images or plain text. This side-by-side look shows you whether adding videos is actually moving the needle on sales, sign-ups, or other goals you care about.
Pay attention to specific formats, too, since an autoplay video preview, an animated GIF sneak peek, or a company culture clip may each perform differently depending on where they sit in your funnel.
Use heatmaps to see where viewers drop off
Heatmaps give you a visual read on how people interact with your content, including the exact moments when viewers stop watching the video directly. If most people drop off in the first few seconds, your opening may not be pulling them in.
If they leave halfway through, the middle likely needs tightening. Remember to check mobile optimization as well, since issues with how the video renders on phones or inside clients like Apple Mail or Gmail can push viewers away before they ever watch the content.
Future-proof your video email marketing strategy
Creating videos for your email marketing campaigns can be a highly beneficial way to elevate your brand, connect with your audience, and expand your outreach. By keeping essential points in mind, you can get the most out of this marketing strategy.
With Mailchimp’s all-in-one email marketing platform, you can benefit from purpose-built tools and intelligent features to take your email marketing campaigns to the next level. Whether you want to connect with existing customers or reach out to new audiences, our solutions can help you achieve your goals without breaking the bank.