A recent study showed the marketers are increasingly turning to video messaging as part of their email marketing campaigns. In fact, in my last post, we discussed the top reason why you need video email campaigns. But we’re not the only ones that feel video is a compelling mode of communication when it comes to email marketing campaigns. Here’s what other thought leaders are saying:

Mimic the look of a typical video player

Here you’re adding a visual indication that a video is part of your email with the play button. When readers are prompted with this play button, they’ll click the image and be directed to a landing page – or a branded video sharing page – with your video embedded. Using a compelling image to link readers to your video content within email works really well to increase click through rates.

Source: Ian Hutchinson of Vidyard, a video marketing blog that offers resources, inspiration and tactics.

Hutchinson also had another great idea that layered on a common approach. Instead of just hosting your video on your landing page – in addition to your email campaign – consider having your landing page video set to autoplay. In the case of sharing it on your landing page, have a email sign up subscription featured that encourages people to opt in to get more great video content delivered right to their emails.

Turn up the data with heat maps

Every email marketing campaign needs to be be data driven. Video email marketing campaigns aren’t an exception. Every view generates a heatmap, which shows exactly which parts of the video the viewer watched, skipped, and rewatched. Trend Graphs let you track how your entire video library performs over time.

Source: Wistia, which offers professional video hosting with analytics and marketing tools.

Once you’ve created your video and tracked data, the next video email marketing step is creating video number two and finding a way to organize your video assets through a robust CMS, which Benchmark offers:

  • Storing all your videos in your own gallery that you can access 24/7
  • Dragging and dropping in videos directly into your layouts and templates
  • Sending recipients to a mirror page showing the video if it gets blocked by their email providers

Think in GIFs

Gifs are short punctuated videos or slideshows, or an animated graphic, that are wildly popular right now. That said, think in GIFs the next time you need to create a video email campaign. The GIF you create an be used to prompt readers to a landing page. Marketing Land has a useful post with practical example.

There is no one way to go about using video email marketing campaigns – but there is only one way to do it right … and that’s with the right tool that serves all your email marketing needs. When shopping for your video marketing tool that allows you to embed creative and information videos in emails, check to see how much more a platform is charging for that service. Unlike Benchmark, not all platforms include this feature as a basic tier of service that’s included in each plan.

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by Shireen Qudosi

Shireen Qudosi is Benchmark Email's Online Marketing Specialist and Small Business Advocate. An Orange County based writer, Shireen specializes in online marketing and public relations. She has written for over 75 publications and has launched nine successful new media campaigns to date. Her work has been featured in the New York Times, Denver Post, the Oklahoman and Green Air Radio, among others.