How to Use Video in Your Email Marketing

Every person who has a smartphone is watching videos online every day. Millions of people around the world are watching YouTube videos, either to pass the time or look for information. By incorporating videos to email marketing, it is possible to turn boring messages into something entertaining for your subscribers. According to MarTech Advisor, adding videos to email content can boost click rates of up to 300%.

The trick here is how to use this strategy right. You need to know the best practices for using videos in your email campaigns to see results such as more traffic to the website and increased conversions.

1. Add “video” to your email subject lines

It is a waste of effort when you find out that your video does not get opened. You need to first let your viewers know by adding the word “video” to your email subject lines. You need to create an email subject line that can grab the attention of your email subscribers to encourage them to open your message.

2. Embed the video into your email

You need to make sure that subscribers don't go through a lot of effort to watch your videos. You need to embed the video directly into your email rather than having users click a link that leads them to a landing page to watch your video. Embedding can save users extra clicks and improves user experience. Nowadays, there are several email marketing services that make it easy to embed the video directly in your emails. Some can pull a thumbnail image from your YouTube or Vimeo videos and overlay a “play” button icon on top. The increase in the number of views for your video will increase the chance that your subscribers will convert.

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3. Use an eye-catching thumbnail

Embedding the video is not enough. You should be able to look for a catching thumbnail so that users will be intrigued and encourage them to hit that “play” button. It needs to have some interesting imagery and text that easily grabs the attention of your subscribers. Additionally, you need to create an original thumbnail that uses your own images or stills from the video. If you use stock photos, your subscribers will see right through it and will come across as inauthentic.

4. Set up your video

You can't just throw any video without any explanation into your email. You need to let your subscribers know why they should watch the video and what it’s all about. If they have an idea of what they’re getting, they will be more likely to watch.

5. Try to use GIFs 

You can try using GIFs in your emails aside from the traditional videos because it makes them more entertaining. A GIF is typically a short frame of a video or animation on a loop. With this, users don’t have to click the play button to view it.