Video Transcription
Today, I’m going to show you how to use video in your email marketing to skyrocket its performance.
Welcome I’m Kev
Did you know that video is proven to improve the click through and conversion rates of your mail shots?
Not only that, video is also known to cause a direct reduction in the number of people that unsubscribe from your mailing list.
Sounds great right?
But there’s a catch…you will only notice these benefits if you use video in the correct way in your email campaigns.
So to make sure you get the most out of your video email marketing, I am going to share with your my six most important tips which are easy to follow and should give your campaign an immediate boost.
But before we begin, make sure you subscribe to our channel and hit the bell notification.
This way, you’ll get notified every time we post one of these helpful videos.
Also, let me know in the comments below if you are using video in your email marketing yet? And even more importantly, whether it’s working well for you?
So let’s get going….
TIP 1: MAKE SURE YOU ADD THE WORD ‘VIDEO’ IN YOUR SUBJECT LINE
One of the simplest things you can do to improve the performance of your campaign is add the word ‘video’ in the subject line of your mail shot when you are including a video in it.
Making this one little change will almost certainly improve your email open rates.
According to HubSpot, adding the word ‘Video’ to your subject line of your mail shot results in a 19% increase in your email open rates.
Impressive right?
In our very own experience here at Spiel, through A/B testing, we’ve found that whenever we add the word ‘video’ to our subject line, our mail shot open rate improves by about 25%.
So make sure you do the same every time you add a video to you mail shot.
It’s quick, simple and almost guaranteed to improve your campaign’s performance.
TIP 2: USE THUMBNAILS
A common mistake people make when adding a video to their mail shot is to add it as a clickable link with some generic text like ‘Click here to watch this video’
However, this isn’t a good way to get the most out of your video.
A much better approach, which gets approximately 3 times as many people clicking your video, is to use a thumbnail image link to your video, as opposed to a generic text link.
Again this simple tweak to your campaign will almost certainly improve its performance.
TIP 3: DON’T EMBED YOUR VIDEOS
A question we get asked often is: “should I embed my videos directly in my mail shots?”
Embedding a video directly in your email basically means that your video is present straight away for your subscriber to watch with just one click, rather than having to open a new browser to watch it.
However, although this may on the face of it seem great, it does come with some significant disadvantages.
The main one being that this feature requires that your subscribers client email supports HTML 5…..and a lot of email clients still don’t do this.
So if you choose this option, it is likely a significant proportion of your subscribers won’t be able to view your video.
This may change in the future but at the time of filming this video, HTML 5 support is an issue for many email clients.
So rather than worry about whether your subscribers’ email client will allow them to watch your video or not, I would suggest that you simply place a thumbnail image in the body of your email with a play icon on it.
This thumbnail, once clicked, will lead them to a landing page with your video.
Although this adds one extra step for your subscriber to watch your video, at least you have the assurance that all your subscribers will be given the opportunity to watch it
Also, if your subscribers have to visit your landing page to watch you video, it’s easier for you to convert them to customers, compared with video embedded in your email.
This is because your viewers will already be on your website and exposed to surrounding call-to-actions.
TIP 4: DON’T AUTOPLAY
When your subscribers arrive on your landing page to watch your video…….should you autoplay it?
Although some marketers use this technique to maximise the number of views they get, in most cases, I don’t recommend it.
Most people, as you know, don’t want your video to be forced upon them but rather be given the choice as to whether to watch it.
Although you may get a few more views if you autoplay your video, in the long run, it will annoy your subscribers and lead to more of them unsubscribing.
So my advice would be to avoid autoplay so that you maintain credibility with your subscribers.
Instead focus your efforts on creating great content that they are compelled to watch, regardless of autoplay.
TIP 5: ADD A CALL TO ACTION
To make sure your video gives you the best bang for your buck and drives conversions, make sure you include a call to action both in your video and on that landing page associated with it.
Your call to action should be clear, relevant and easy to follow. For a more detailed guide on the how to create great call to actions for your videos, you can check out our dedicated video on this topic, the link to which I have included in the description below.
TIP 6: CONSIDER YOUR PLATFORM
It is important that you think about the right video hosting platform for the videos that you include in your mail shots.
The hosting platform you choose should basically be determined according to your goals.
If for example your goal is to grow your YouTube channel, you should host your videos on YouTube.
As your mailing list subscribers then view your videos, this will help boost your video’s watch time. This is an important factor that YouTube takes into account when ranking a video in its search engine, leading to more visibility on the platform.
If on the other hand, the primary goal of your video is to drive conversions, consider using a hosting platform such as Wistia which comes with great analytics and built in call to action features to help you capture more leads.
I hope you found the tips in this video useful. If you have any further questions, let me know in the comments below and I will be happy to help. And if you need more help with your video marketing, you can contact our agency Spiel on www.spielcreative.com
