So long as you haven’t been living in solitary confinement for the past 5 years, it’s likely that you’ve witnessed the rise, and absolute domination, of content marketing. But if you blinked one too many times, you may have missed the emergence of video marketing. According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index whitepaper, video content will account for 69% of all consumer traffic in 2017; meaning, now is the time for marketers to take the necessary steps toward integrating video into their email marketing strategies.
Now – like anything – no real value is gained by simply going through the motions just to ‘check a box’. To achieve the level of engagement needed to increase conversion rates, marketers must consider what the goal of their emails are, the audience they’re trying to reach, what they care about, and incorporate video in a way that reflects the challenges, goals, and interests of their audience.
3 Video Formats Every Marketer Should Leverage
Below are three different ways marketers can, and should, integrate video into their email marketing strategies:
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Testimonial
Video testimonials are very effective when trying to build trust, establish credibility, or showcase the benefits of your organization’s product or service. In this particular format, it is best practice to keep videos within a two-minute timeframe and to use pointed and direct content. Testimonial videos should aim to tell stories, rather than state facts, and must work to evoke feelings of aspiration and fulfillment in order to compel recipients to convert on a given offer.
- Key Takeaways:
- Use to: build trust, establish credibility, showcase benefits
- Keep within two-minute timeframe
- Use simple and concise language/content
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Product Promotion
Product promotional videos should be used when sending time-sensitive, product or service-related emails, or when trying to drive higher levels of engagement among recipients. Whether you’re running a limited-time sale or announcing new product upgrades, promotional videos are a great way to illustrate how your product can provide value to your audience. The tone of a promotional video should be fun and exciting, and should work to encourage your audience to capitalize on a new or short-term offer.
- Key Takeaways:
- Use when sending time-sensitive, product/service-related emails
- The tone should be fun and exciting to better engage your audience
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How-To
If your organization’s product or service involves technical complexities, has a robust set of features or capabilities, or requires users to set up an account or login, video tutorials are a great way to educate viewers and minimize potential frustrations. How-to videos are great to utilize when sending a series of onboarding or introductory emails so that customers have the ability to save and reference them at any point in time. In terms of tone, how-to videos should use a combination of both testimonial and promotional videos; they should be clear and easily digestible, but should deliver enough enthusiasm to get viewers more engaged.
- Key Takeaways:
- Use when trying to educate consumers on technical or logistical-related items
- The be informative and helpful, but maintain a fun and enthusiastic tone
Video Implementation Best Practices
Although it may seem like a simple task, embedding videos directly into your marketing emails can significantly increase the chances of your email bouncing, as many consumers work with Internet Service Providers (ISP) that do not fully support video attachments because they are often used to spread viruses. To avoid high email bounce rates, it’s best to insert a clickable image or screenshot within your email and link to your video from a trusted platform like Wistia, Vimeo, or YouTube. Not only does this allow recipients to view your video in a separate tab if their service provider does not support video, but it also increases visibility and sharing opportunities.
In addition to utilizing clickable images, marketers should not use auto-play when sharing videos in emails. Today’s consumers like to be in control of what they’re exposed to, so forcing them to do view content they haven’t asked for will just discourage them from engaging with your video at all. Also, leveraging a ‘single tap’ video rather than a ‘double tap’ video will minimize the amount of clicks it takes to view your video content, and allows mobile users, which has grown 30% from 2010 to 2015, to seamlessly view your emails.
- Key Takeaways:
- Don’t embed your videos. Instead, use clickable thumbnails or images
- Leverage trusted video platforms like Wistia, Vimeo, or YouTube
- Don’t use auto-play
- Use single tap videos rather than double tap videos
It’s been said that if a picture paints 1,000 words then one minute of video is worth 1.8 million, and if that’s any indication of the power of video marketing, it’s no wonder why 64% of marketers expect video to guide their digital marketing strategies moving forward. The surge of video in content marketing, combined with the proven ROI that can be generated through effective email marketing strategies, has given modern day marketers a huge opportunity to capitalize on the digital-nature of today’s consumers, and has enabled organizations to create interactive experiences that works to increase email engagement, conversation rates, and overall ROI.
To learn how a Denver-based digital marketing agency can help transform your email marketing efforts, strategize with an expert.
