Emails are an essential staple in the B2B space.
It’s something businesses can’t ignore.
But what if your emails could increase your impact by 300%?
It could be through sales, lead generation, sign-ups to your weekly newsletter, etc.
Such is the promise of using video in email marketing.
But this proposition brings with it some endearing questions:
What is this exactly? Is this really worth the effort?
We’ll find out the answers together in this comprehensive guide that explores its several benefits, best practices, and examples along the way.
Let me show you how you can turn your emails into invaluable assets that drive results when you need them most.
An example of video email marketing (Source: Mail Meteor)
Video email marketing is a strategic approach where B2B brands embed videos into their email campaigns to communicate their messages more effectively.
This method works for several reasons:
But this is just the tip of the iceberg.
There are several more reasons why you should use videos in your email marketing campaigns.
Let’s look at some more reasons in the next section coming right up.
The latest statistics from Beehiiv found that video emails increased audience retention by 13%.
The reason is quite simple.
They can hold the viewer's attention when it matters the most, making it a crucial component in email marketing.
B2B decision-makers and brands prefer engaging mediums that simplify complex information over reading a lengthy document about it.
Embedding videos in email not only makes this possible but also more effective.
Resulting in improved retention and engagement throughout the sales funnel.
Emails already have one of the highest average conversion rates, sitting at 2.3% as reported by Startup Bonsai.
Average conversion rates across marketing channels (Source: Startup Bonsai)
Email marketing with videos takes this one step further.
They demonstrate the effectiveness of a solution or explain product benefits in a clear, concise, and relevant manner.
Which helps recipients make quicker and more informed purchasing decisions.
Including video CTAs within or immediately after the video also drives viewers toward specific actions like:
You get the point.
All in all, videos cut the fluff and give your email recipients exactly what they’re looking for.
Which directly contributes to the conversion and lead generation goals of your campaign.
Who doesn’t love an email that feels like it was written specially for you?
I know I do. But how effective is this in email marketing?
The latest reports from Sender found it to be more than 90%!
With 80% of consumers preferring businesses that offer personalized experiences overall.
The appeal of personalized emails on consumers (Source: Sender)
Simply put: Personalization is key in B2B marketing.
And generally in any space where the buying process is often tailored to specific business and consumer needs.
Videos can be customized to address the recipient by name, speak directly to their industry challenges, or even reference recent interactions with the brand.
This level of personalization not only enhances the relevance of email posts but also strengthens the relationship between the business and its clients.
According to the latest numbers from Sloovi, there are 4 essential metrics that determine the success of an email marketing campaign.
They are listed along with their industry averages here:
Essential metrics to measure email marketing campaign success (Source: Sloovi)
When videos are embedded in emails,
Certain additional engagement data also comes into the picture:
This data, coupled with email campaign metrics, can give B2B brands several avenues to optimize future campaigns and understand what content resonates best with specific segments of their audience.
By analyzing these metrics, brands can refine their messaging and targeting strategies to ensure higher effectiveness and ROI of their email marketing efforts.
I’ll be straight with you.
There isn’t a direct way to add videos to email marketing campaigns.
But there are certain workarounds that have their own benefits and considerations.
And I present to you 5 such ways, starting with…
If you want your recipients to watch your video without clicking off your email, embedding it using HTML is the best way forward.
The only downside is that many popular email service providers like Gmail and Yahoo don’t support email embedding.
An effective workaround to this is to include a fallback image when embedding a video in your email.
They’re essentially thumbnails for your email videos, very much similar to YouTube thumbnails.
To get started, you can copy and paste the following HTML code snippet into your <video> tag.
|
<video poster="path of the poster image" width="480" height="270" controls="controls"> <source src="path of the video" type="video/mp4" /> |
Add your fallback image details in the “poster” attribute and add your video source in the “src” attribute and you’re good to go.
One of my most favorite philosophies is that of Occam’s Razor, which states:
“The simplest explanation is usually the correct one”
What does this have to do with embedding videos in emails, you ask?
When translated into what we’ve been discussing so far, we can say:
“The simplest way to add videos to emails is usually the most effective”
And adding a link to your video in the email body is probably as simple as it gets.
To get started, let’s assume you have a sample email like the one shown here:
Here, we will embed this recent video we made covering the latest video marketing trends in the anchor text, “video marketing trends”
To do that, select the anchor text and click “Ctrl + K” and you’ll be directed to this window here:
In the “Web Address” form, add the YouTube link to the video and click on “OK”.
I’m using a YouTube video link here, you can essentially use links from Vimeo, Wistia, or any other video distribution platform where you have uploaded your video.
Once you click on “OK”, the video will be linked as follows:
This method ensures all recipients can access the video regardless of their email client's capabilities.
If you want your email videos to grab attention instantly, linking them via a static image might be another way to do that.
Let’s make a slight change in the sample email which you can see here:
This time, I will embed a static image of our explainer video on the Video-First Approach.
To insert your image, click on the “Image” icon as shown here
-png.png?width=1920&height=347&name=video%20email%20visual%20(1)-png.png)
After choosing the image you want to embed, the image will be added inline in the email as shown:
I conveniently used the thumbnail of our YouTube video on the Video-First approach here but you can use custom images too.
To hyperlink the video, simply select the image and hit “Ctrl + K” and add the video link in it like we saw in the previous method.
This method is essentially the same as adding static images into emails as we saw earlier.
With the only difference being that the image is not static while following the same steps as adding an image to emails.
Convert a short snippet of your video into a GIF that plays automatically in the email.
One of the best tools for this is EZ-Gifs, a free online GIF maker application that gives high-quality GIFs without a watermark.
Keep the GIF short to reduce file size and ensure quick loading times.
Once you add the GIF to the email, hyperlink the video in the GIF so people can watch the entire video after clicking it.
I admit that the above methods can be too much work.
But if you want a more seamless experience, try exploring video email platforms.
Some industry favorite options include BombBomb and Vidyard.
These platforms also offer tools to record, upload, and send videos through email.
They eliminate compatibility issues and provide detailed analytics on how your email videos are performing.
Now that you know how to add videos to your email marketing campaigns,
It’s time we saw the correct ways of making every video impactful.
Here are 5 best practices to get the ball rolling:
For B2B businesses and audiences, time is of the essence.
Which means videos embedded in emails should be concise, ideally no longer than 2 minutes.
Focus on delivering a clear, direct message that respects the viewer's time and attention.
Highlight key points without beating around the bush or going on tangents.
The goal is to engage viewers quickly and encourage them to take the next step.
Your email subject lines play a major role in open rates.
Specifically, it compels almost 64% of email recipients to open or delete emails as reported by Hubspot.
Email subject lines play a major role in open rates (Source: Hubspot)
So make sure to optimize your subject line and preheader text to immediately communicate the presence of a video.
Use phrases like:
To increase open rates and keep email recipients engaged.
This can also help in increasing your email health in the long run.
Make sure these elements clearly hint at the value your video will provide.
When it comes to emails, what recipients see is what they get.
So why not give them something they can’t miss.
If you’re using a static image to embed your videos in email, make sure to give extra attention to the design of the image.
Dial down the fonts and visual design of your email video’s thumbnail.
Look at several banner designs and take notes on their visual elements and incorporate them into your thumbnail.
Choose images and assets that are visually appealing and relevant to the content of the video.
Including an image with a play button overlay can also increase click-through rates by suggesting video content.
A study on mobile email marketing conducted by Emailmonday found that 41.6% of email opens come from mobile devices.
Accessing emails through a desktop hasn’t gone out of style, mind you.
It’s just that mobile devices are far more convenient when it comes to checking the mail.
So it isn’t surprising when you see B2B consumers preferring to check their emails on mobile devices.
Making it crucial for your video emails to be mobile-friendly.
This includes responsive design for the email, properly sized video players, and accessible controls.
Testing your email on different devices before sending it out can prevent playback issues and ensure a smooth viewer experience.
This example for Patagonia ticks all the checkboxes of a simple yet effective video email.
Using a CTA button that simply says “Watch the Video”, it tells email readers what to do next.
Notice how they add context that builds your curiosity before putting the CTA.
Want your audience to do something you want?
Being too direct about it is not the way to go.
You have to give them a means to ease into your offering before they become your customers.
Something Patagonia does really well in this video email.
Following in the footsteps of Patagonia is another brand that embraced the minimalist style of video emails.
For a brand like Gucci, you would think this example lacks the glamor they’re so recognizable for.
But they did something marvelous and innovative here.
Instead of enamoring their email subscribers with their brand image, they let their luxury handbag do all the talking.
It generated interest right off the bat.
Directing readers to check out the making of their handbag in a video by clicking the CTA button.
Sometimes brands go overboard with the visual design to the extent that it distracts their audience from the main message.
Which makes examples like Gucci here a breath of fresh air for me.
Most emails are essentially texts on a screen.
And in many cases, it can go hit or miss if it isn’t engaging enough.
For the Driehaus Museum, they wanted their email to have an impact when their recipients viewed it.
That’s the reason why they went with a video email.
Embracing the tenets of video email marketing helped their message reach more people.
Garnering attention to their museum and also to their late founder, Richard Driehaus.
You can have everything right in your email yet still miss the mark.
From new players in the B2B space to household names, this is true.
So how do you ensure your emails stop the scroll and demand your full attention?
Oprah Winfrey gives us some pointers in this video email of hers.
She uses a still from her welcome video to greet subscribers of her newsletter.
Even though she clearly mentions the benefits of subscribing to her mailing list in the text,
She knows well the impact a video can have on her audience as it’s more conversational and does a far better job at connecting with people on a deeper level.
This final example from Wistia is one of the most elegant implementations of video emails I have seen yet.
All in all, it introduces their new Chrome extension, Soapbox.
For an email this simple, they could have outlined some benefits in bullet points and called it a day.
But instead, they went the extra mile and chose one of their company introduction videos to get the point across.
Coupled with subtle, mellow colors that put you at ease,
It genuinely attracts people to try out Wistia’s extension and see what it’s all about.
As I pointed out earlier,
An email, on the surface, can feel like mere words on a screen.
And this is the case in many instances.
But no matter how simple they might be, they hold the key to enhanced ROI for B2B brands.
So if an email doesn’t perform as expected, it’s essentially a wasted opportunity.
Something a B2B brand at the top of their game can’t afford.
Adding video to email marketing efforts flips the script in your favor.
Making sure that your emails not only grab attention but also motivate action.
Taking your business to new heights in the process.
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