With video being the go-to marketing content for most businesses, it’s easy to feel like you don’t need anything else. After all, video marketing can give you anything you want: traffic, engagement, branding, you name it.
Yet sacrificing everything you did and know so far in the altars of video isn’t right! There’s plenty to be gained from tried-and-tested methods! Take good ol’ email marketing for example. Though you might be already calling me ‘boring’ for even bringing it up, it’s still one of the most reliable conversion-oriented marketing channels.
According to Statista, there are 3.7 billion active email users – which comes to show that people are still paying attention to it. What’s better, there’s nothing keeping you from bringing the benefits of effective video marketing and email together!
How so? Keep reading and find out!
Video Can Blow Up Your Metrics
For many years, email marketers have tried to find ways to increase their emails’ efficiency. After many tries, they’ve found that videos are the perfect match. There are 2 unique ways in which video content helps emails:
● Using the word ‘video’ in the subject line: There’s nothing trickier when creating an email campaign than coming up with a compelling subject line. Just stating something your audience will find inside won’t spark enough curiosity. Being way too cryptic will leave your emails under the ‘Unread’ tag. So what should you do?
Use video. By including the word ‘video’ in your email subject, you can boost open rates by up to 13%. That’s because people love watching videos and the mere promise of such content will make them want to see what it’s all about.
Besides, there are reports that say that 35% of email recipients open their emails based on the subject line alone. That speaks to the importance of the email’s subject line – and how putting ‘video’ in there is a no-brainer.
● Embedding a sample of your video in the email: for many years we’ve known that email can increase your click-through rates by 300%. But things have changed since we first learned that. Now, a button with a link to the video won’t do the trick anymore. You have to try a little bit harder!
Since you can’t embed videos, why not try a small sample? Keeping in mind that 90% of the information that gets to the brain is visual, then you need something really eye-catching to get there.
Many companies are already using GIFs to animate their emails a little bit. You can also try using a carefully selected thumbnail that’s colorful, informative and representative of what they’ll get if they click.
If people opened your email because of the video promise found in the subject, then make it irresistible for them to click and watch. A good image linked to YouTube, Vimeo or anywhere you upload your videos should do that for you.
Tips for Combining Video and Email Marketing
Of course, believing that just using the word ‘video’ and an animated image will have your recipients following you like the pied piper is naive. There’s more to keep in mind. Here are some of the things you should plan accordingly.
Use video email marketing thoughtfully:
Use one idea (and only one idea) as your main goal. The video and the email have to be part of a bigger marketing effort or make sense in your buyer’s journey. Don’t just throw videos in emails because you think you’ll get better results.
For instance, you can use video email marketing to welcome new customers and introduce them to your brand. A company video can help you with that. Trying to connect with potential clients? An explainer video that goes over your solution in under a minute can do that too. Just keep things simple: use videos and emails in context and follow one goal.
Create a campaign around your video email marketing:
Take the concept above to the max by creating a series of videos to share via email. If you’ve taken your video marketing seriously, you’ll surely have several videos around your brand’s vision.
Use those short videos peppered throughout your buyer’s journey to engrave who you are and what you think in your audience’s mind. It will keep your audience invested and with your brand’s concept always fresh. Besides, a video series will keep them waiting for the next installment (AKA your next email!).
Pick the right type of videos:
Though I’ve been using ‘videos’ here in a general sense, you have to understand that not all videos work in email (or, at least, they don’t always work).
It all depends on how you use them.
As I’ve said above, a professional-level animated video production can be great to introduce your brand to new people but it won’t do anything with audiences that are already familiar with you. For them, interviews or some testimonial videos with happy customers are far superior choices to start establishing a bond of trust.
These, however, won’t work as well with established clients. So, you can either go with valuable videos (such as FAQ videos) or with some funny light-hearted stuff (like product videos or commercials). Putting the right video at the right time is essential for your video email marketing plan.
Leverage the power of CTAs:
Calls to action (CTAs) are essential for any marketing effort, so it shouldn’t be surprising that they are fundamental here as well. That’s because you want people to do something after watching your video.
Think of the video email marketing strategy as a two-step process. First, you’ll take them from their inboxes to the actual video and then you’ll take them wherever you want them to go (to ask for more information, to check other videos, to leave some of their info, to download something).
There are 2 places where you can put your CTAs. Either you use one clear CTA in your email’s text or you use it on the video. The advantage of using the first option is that you’ll only need for your audience to open your email to follow it. The second option is ‘more hidden’ but it can prove more effective, especially if you put it at the end of the video, when your audience is more informed about you and can better decide what to do next.
One last thing you shouldn’t forget
High. Quality.
You need high quality videos if you want to compete with the millions of videos that are uploaded each day across most platforms. What’s a high quality video?
● Videos with fresh takes on a subject or business.
● Creative videos.
● Videos with the right tone.
● Videos with the best equipment.
● Videos that speak to your audience.
I believe you can’t have a high-quality video if you don’t shoot for all five of the above. That’s because you’ll fall short if you miss one of them. A nice-looking video that says something the audience already knows will feel boring. Instead, a great take paired with poor animation can rub people the wrong way.
Feels like too many things to juggle at once on top of everything else your company does? Then delegate these tasks to a reliable video production company. You’ll get the results you want delivered by pros that specialize in achieving these flawless results.
Some last words
Though I highly encourage you to adopt a video-first mentality, I also suggest you should think about what that means. If you think that means you have to get rid of all the other marketing tricks you have up your slave, then you’re sorely mistaken.
Video works like a charm when combined with other marketing techniques and there are few better than email marketing for that matter. We’re talking about a communication tool that has stood the test of time and that people rely on to talk on a daily basis.
The key to maximize the benefits of both email and video marketing is to understand its relationship to one another. See how they can get together and where they can work best. Some of what we saw here are great indications to get you started. After you follow these tips, you’ll definitely be on your way to improving your email marketing campaigns using videos.
