Including Video in Emails – The Tips & Tricks

Everyone among us send emails. Textual emails are quite common. However, one of the modern enhancements in email technology is the inclusion of video clippings within them. In this article, we will try to have a preliminary insight into how emails can be embellished with video clippings.

Surveys have established that emails with video component have higher Click Through Rates (CTR). Recipients of such emails tend to be more engrossed upon receipt of those emails. It has been estimated that the average click-through rate on emails containing video is 42% and the average response rate is 23%. Interestingly, the average time that a recipient will like to spend in watching the video is 1.3 minutes. There are basically two ways to deliver a video clip along with an email – first method involves embedding the clip within the email body and the second method is the inclusion of a link with the email body that leads to a new landing page containing the video. There is a distinct advantage for people who embed video links within emails. When the recipient clicks on the link, she can view not only the target video, but also other promotional materials. It is good from a marketer’s standpoint.

Now, here are some tips and tricks that will help you. Always, try to embed a link instead of direct embedment of the video. A video-embedded email has an increased file-size and you will run into deliverability problems. Not only subscribers will find it difficult to download the email, but also, the video component might get stripped off by anti-malwares.

Secondly, keep the video clips short and sweet. The time duration should be 1-3 minutes on an average. Always remember, people have short attention time spans so keep your message focused. Think of including a “call to action” within the short video clip. The recipient should be enticed to act further by the video. 

Third, keep in mind that the content of the video should be visually appealing. The content should be relevant and should carry the message without a hitch.

Lastly, before embarking upon a mass campaign, marketers should test run the video campaign on a small subset of the entire subscriber list. The main aim of the test should be to gauge how long the recipients are watching the video? Are they watching the clip entirely? If not, the clip may need to be revisited.