Still using static images in your email blasts? It might be time to switch up your format. Research has shown that video and e-mail marketing can increase CTR by more than 90%, not to mention drive traffic to your YouTube account. If done right, video in emails can be extremely effective. What do you do to ensure it’s done right? Follow these best practices.
Include ‘‘video” front and center in the subject line.
A great way to let recipients know what’s in store (and turn glances into opens) is to include “video” in the subject line of the email itself. Even if you have a fantastic engaging subject line, make sure that you use “video” to precede that subject line to help boost your open rate.
Do not enable autoplay.
Don’t assume that your recipients will be in a situation where they can enjoy your video as soon as they open it. They might be multi-tasking, in a work or public environment, or just short on time. To prevent recipients from getting frustrated, don’t set the video up to autoplay when the email is opened. Instead, give readers the opportunity to view it, when they have the time, just by clicking or tapping the video itself.
Have a fallback image in case it can’t play in the user’s browser.
Email providers seem to be (slowly) getting better about allowing you to play videos within the body of an email. Unfortunately, not all of them do. To make the experience as consistent as possible across all email services, create an image of your video that will appear in case the video itself doesn’t. Then, simply link that image to the url of the video itself. (More info on this can be found here.)
Do include outside links to spur action.
Since a notable percentage of your subscribers will be able to view the video in the email itself, you need to spur them into action in some other way. Include calls to action for readers to visit your YouTube channel or your blog and spur some engagement beyond the email itself.
Learn more email marketing best practices and tips from our how-to guides.
