Email marketing isn’t going anywhere, but it is seeing some significant changes that your team should know about.
As more people begin to look for more easily digestible content, marketing teams are finding that adding images and videos to their email campaigns boosts their overall engagement rates. To do this, you need to review strategies for your video email marketing campaigns.
Why you need to consider multiple strategies for your video email marketing
With the average consumer’s attention span landing at around eight seconds, marketers are scrambling to find new ways to keep their subscribers engaged.
The days of long-winded, text-heavy emails are long gone, and marketers are finding that various strategies for video email marketing are proving more beneficial than ever before.
This is because video helps to create user engagement and provides customers with a sense of authenticity.
Consumers find that images and videos are much easier to digest than the average written email, and, according to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index, video is set to comprise nearly 80% of internet traffic by 2021.
Studies have also shown that nearly 54% of consumers want to see more video content from brands that they support. This means not only for entertainment purposes, but also for educational and promotional purposes as well.
Source: Smart Insights
As with any aspect of your email marketing strategy, it’s essential that you take the time to carefully consider all your options before simply inserting random pieces into your video email marketing.
8 practical strategies for your video email marketing
As with any other piece of content, you want to plan out your video email marketing strategy carefully. While inserting a fun little video may work in some cases, to see the maximum benefits from this marketing method, you must think differently.
Read on to discover a list of eight effective strategies for your video email marketing that are sure to net you the desired ROI.
1. Create a video series.
One of the best ways to start in video email marketing is to create a video series that can be shared via email to those who’ve opted in. In this case, you’ll want to think of an educational email series that subscribers will have to sign up to receive.
For instance, maybe you remember our Email Minute video series. You can watch the first episode below:
Video series are great pieces to include in your video email marketing strategy because they help to not only provide your consumers with a solution, but they also help to establish your brand as an authority within your specific niche. This authority will then help to build a more trusting relationship between you and your clientele.
Source: Really Good Emails
In this example from Treehouse, they recorded their various Create South 2014 sessions and then compiled them into an educational series that members can browse through.
This is great for those who attended and need a quick refresher, but also provides subscribers with a chance to get that same information, even if they were unable to attend the live event.
2. Consider creating a video newsletter.
Newsletter email campaigns are great for several reasons. However, with the average person’s attention span continuing to decrease, longer newsletters that are text-heavy are going to start falling out of favor.
Instead, why not consider creating a video newsletter to help keep your readers up to date on happenings? These videos can include several different topics, such as:
- Staff/brand updates
- Product updates/launches
- Industry news updates and more
Source: Really Good Emails
In this example, the brand used a video introduction to help introduce the latest product news via video email marketing, instead of simply including images and a clickable CTA.
3. Give customers a behind-the-scenes peek.
If you really want to establish a trusting relationship with your customer base, then providing them behind-the-scenes sneak peeks is a great idea, especially when you implement it via video email marketing.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Even better, a video can take an average of 1,800,000 words of explanation and fit it into a single minute-long video.
So consider finding ways to incorporate video sneak peeks into your email marketing content. This can include anything from meet-the-staff videos to videos that explain workplace processes and so much more.
Source: Really Good Emails
In this example from Chipotle, they include a video explanation on where they source one of their most popular food items: the avocado. They include a short, written blurb; however, the video allows them to get it straight from the horse’s mouth.
This gives your readers a chance to really get to know the faces behind the brand, which helps to establish a much more trusting relationship. The more trust you build, the more people will recommend your brand.
4. Introduction videos in welcome series
Another great strategy for video email marketing is to include a short welcome video into your initial welcome series for new subscribers.
Having a face behind a name means a lot to consumers. Instead of simply writing out how excited you are to start working alongside these new email subscribers, why not record a short video message to include in the header of your email?
Much like the video sneak peeks we mentioned earlier, these videos help to establish your relationship between your brand and your customers even further.
Watch our Email 101 videos here.
5. Video email marketing is great for providing testimonials.
Want to continue fostering that bond between you and your subscribers? Then consider adding video testimonials to your email marketing strategy.
Think about it for a moment. Eighty-four percent of people trust online reviews just as much, if not more, than a personal review or recommendation from someone they know. That’s just one step in the process here.
If people’s attention spans are shortening and video content is considered more easily digestible by your consumers, why wouldn’t you want to include video testimonials within your marketing materials?
This method, again, helps to put a real face behind a name. So, instead of a kindly written review from Karen K. from Alabama, consider asking Karen for a short video testimonial instead that you can use for PR purposes.
While it may seem intimidating at first, people love to be recognized, and having their voice heard makes all the difference when you’re trying to set your brand apart from competitors.
Need an example? Just watch our testimonial from English National Opera below, or check out the customer story here.
6. Use videos to add a personal touch to thank you messages.
People crave one-on-one interaction, which is why some people think that email can be a rather impersonal experience. Anyone can write words of thanks and appreciation; however, a video can turn that copy from generic text to a heartfelt message.
In a thank you video, your subscribers get to see the emotion on your face, hear it in your voice, and can experience all the feelings right alongside you.
Source: Wired Impact
The team at Fight Colorectal Cancer did an excellent job of including a heartfelt thank you message into their Giving Tuesday email campaign. They did include a written thank you, which is essential, should your video not render correctly. However, that added video does wonders for those who took the time to donate to their cause, making them feel genuinely appreciated.
7. Event follow-ups
Event follow-ups are a great way to summarize what went down during a large convention or celebration setting. However, trying to summarize everything that happened, especially over a multi-day event, can be very time consuming and boring for readers. So, instead of typing out a complete recap, why not consider adding a video recap into your email follow-up instead?
Source: Really Good Emails
OnBrand did an excellent job in their video recap that they included in their 2017 wrap up email. While subscribers could click on the thumbnail in the header of the email, they were also given the option to watch the video, thanks to the CTA at the bottom of the message.
When it comes to the overall design, including a video instead of a full written-out summary makes this message much less intimidating for readers and encourages them to explore what they may have missed out on.
8. Consider GIFs instead of actual videos.
If adding actual videos into your email content seems like a rather daunting task, then why not consider adding GIFs into your content instead?
Unlike videos, GIFs are much smaller video options that not only provide readers a certain level of entertainment but can be used to convey a message in a short animation.
Take, for example, this email from Great Jones. Instead of showing multiple still shots of the same item in various colors, they choose to use a GIF that showed their latest item in various colors.
Source: Really Good Emails
When subscribers viewed this email in their browsers, they’d see the “Salt & Pepper” text alter in layout, while the color of the pot changed between black and white.
Wrap up
When it comes to video email marketing, there are countless ways to implement video into your email content. If you aren’t quite sure where to start, consider these options:
- Creating a video series
- Creating a video newsletter
- Using videos to give consumers a behind-the-scenes peek
- Using introduction videos in your welcome series
- Using video testimonials in your email campaigns
- Using videos to add a personal touch to thank you messages
- Creating an event follow-up video to showcase the best moments
- Using GIFs instead of actual videos
Ready to see how Campaign Monitor can help you integrate video email marketing into your overall marketing strategy? Then request your demo today!