How To Embed Video In Email Campaigns

Why you should embed videos in your email

There are many reasons why you should use videos in email marketing campaigns.

First and foremost, embedding videos in your emails is a great way to increase click-through rates, which is the ratio of the number of users who click on a link to the total number of users who actually view it.

The goal with any email campaign is to have high click-through rates. Not only do you want your customers to click on the video link you're including, but also go to the page and actually watch the video.

Embedding videos in your emails is another great way to increase open rates. Subscribers are more likely to open an email that says "video" in the subject line because it's more interesting to them.

Most consumers don't want to read through a long email, they'd much rather have the information told to them via video. Videos are also much more engaging than written text, so your subscribers are more likely to watch the whole clip.

Overall, embedding videos in your emails can help generate more leads because your subscribers will be more interested in what you have to say.

Why you shouldn't embed video in an email

Just as there are situations when you should embed a video in an email, there are also situations when you shouldn't. Video marketing can be really effective in some situations, but that doesn't mean it should be used all the time.

Your subscribers may be more inclined to watch videos than they would be to read something, but videos don’t always encourage further engagement. Sometimes, consumers would much rather skim through written content to get the gist of an email rather than watch a full video.

If you embed video in an email, there's also a good chance your subscribers miss the CTA, which is the whole point of email marketing in the first place. Your subscribers might be so distracted by the video that they forget to actually do what you're asking of them.

Videos also don't always look the same on a desktop than they do on a mobile device. So your video email might be easy to access on your laptop, but when you open the email on your phone, it doesn't look quite as nice.

If you decide against having a video in your email but still want to include it in your marketing strategy, you can upload your video onto your own website and link to it in your email. That way, your customers can still see the video without it being the main focus of the email.

How to embed videos

So, now that we've gone over the pros and cons of embedded video in the email, let's discuss how to actually add a video to your email campaigns. Embedding videos in your emails is actually quite straightforward, you just need to follow a few simple steps:

1. Create a thumbnail image

The first step in this process is choosing a thumbnail for your email. The video thumbnail is the first thing your subscribers will see, so you need it to be powerful. There are a few different ways you can go about creating your custom thumbnail. You can use a screenshot from the video or you can use an animated gif that relates to the video.

But whether you use a static image or an animated gif, your thumbnail is an opportunity to get creative and encourage your subscribers to actually click on the video link. You also want to include a play button image on the thumbnail so your users know to click there.

2. Find the URL

Once you've created the thumbnail, then you need to actually get the URL to your video. There are various hosting sites that you can upload your video onto first, such as Youtube. Using a video hosting platform will make it easier when it comes to actually embedding the video in your email because you can just link directly to that site.

3. Embed the video in the email

After you've located the video URL, then you need to embed the video in your email. Email providers have different instructions for how you can go about embedding a video in an email, so make sure you look up the instructions for your specific provider. But a majority of the time, you can just copy and paste the URL link into the email and the video will upload automatically.

4. Write some text

So you've successfully embedded a video in an email, what comes next? You need to actually get your subscribers to open the video, which means you need to write some text.

This doesn't have to be anything too lengthy, just a few sentences that encourage your subscribers to actually click play. It's also a good idea to include a call-to-action in this text so your subscribers know exactly what you're asking of them. Be as direct and concise as possible with your text.

5. Test the email

Once you've accomplished all the above steps, you're almost ready to send out your email campaign. But first, you need to test your email. You definitely don't want to send out an email campaign to your entire subscriber list with an email that doesn't even play. So, send out a quick test email before you send out the real thing.

Best practices for embedding videos

So now that you know how to embed a video in an email let's go over some of the best practices that you should follow.

You should always include a CTA in your email that tells your subscribers exactly what you want them to do.

Your CTA should be short and straight to the point. You also need to be mindful of file size limits. You don't want to upload a low-quality video that's going to lag when you click play.

A 720p resolution will typically suffice when it comes to embedded video in emails. You also need to keep in mind the different types of video formats and make sure your email service supports your type of video.

Another tip for embedding videos in your emails is to include closed captions. In the case that your subscribers can't hear what you're saying, it's always a good idea to have captions so that they can still follow along.

You also don't want to bombard your subscribers with a ton of information in your video. Sure, a Youtube video might be more interesting than reading a bunch of text, but you still want to keep your video short and to the point.

Get your users to press ‘play’

Video marketing for small businesses is a great way to engage with customers and increase click-through rates. But embedding videos in your emails go beyond just creating video content, you also need to get your users to hit play.

The first step in getting your users to actually press the play button is to develop a marketing strategy and produce a high-quality video that you can include in your video. If you need help with coming up with a video marketing strategy, use Mailchimp.

Mailchimp is a marketing automation platform and email marketing service that helps small business owners create high-performing email campaigns. You can get access to an email marketing guide for small businesses that can help you improve your email marketing strategy. With Mailchimp, you can use our email marketing best practices to create effective video email campaigns that help you reach your business goals.