Just Push Play: Why You Need Video In Your Email Newsletters
by admin
Posted on January 04, 2016 at 17:10 PM
Email marketing is a big deal. It’s effective, efficient and affordable. It allows you to reach the masses on a platform we all use (97% of Americans check their email every single day) with only a few mouse clicks. Aside from the obvious faux paus that many email marketers run into, such as poor subject lines (no one’s going to open an email with the subject line of ‘Weekly Newsletter’ unless they are die-hard fans), most emails can perform better with one simple addition: videos.
Video may have killed the radio star, but it brought email back to life. Inclusion of videos directly in email blasts creates a significant increase in not only interaction, but in sales. A study by the Relevancy Group reported that videos create up to a 55 percent increase in click-throughs to the sender’s website, time spent reading the email, forwards and shares of the email, conversion rate, generated revenue and size of sales orders. Another finding? Using video can boost monthly revenue by up to 40 percent. What other strategies are you using that can boast that statistic?
Now that we have so effectively convinced you of the importance of video in email, you may be scratching your head as to how to actually get the little bugger embedded into your email blast. Service providers vary in how this is done but unfortunately, big wigs such as Constant Contact and MailChimp don’t make it easy. HTML5 is the new standard of coding that allows easier video embedding, but many email clients aren’t on board with compliance yet. Still, some email service providers block out older HTML tags that would normally work on webpages. So what do you do?
Unfortunately, there’s really only one workaround, at least for now. Include an image that looks like a video, including a play button or play bar (we grab high-resolution screenshots of the actual video) and add the image to the email. Create a hyperlink so that when the image is clicked, it directs the user to a landing page on your website where the video will automatically begin to play. Not only do they get to see the video, but they are now on your website. Including links and other calls to action on the landing page will only encourage them to meander around on your site. It’s still a one-click solution to play a video. You can also set the video playback to require an additional click on the landing page before playing.
Some email clients have technical ways to make this work, but unless you’re a developer, you probably don’t want to tackle embeds on your own. Call your provider to find out the specifics of what they offer in terms of video playback.
The point of all this is to say that not just any video will work. You need something professional, polished and branded. If you are directing users to your website, it should look consistent with what you’d see there. Just as great video can increase sales and awareness, bad video can make a brand look cheap and lackluster. Don’t take a chance trying to melt hearts on your own; hire a professional crew to take your brand to the next level.
