How To Incorporate Video Into Your Email Marketing Campaign [Part One]

No other marketing medium is as effective as video and that’s why it makes sense to add it to your email marketing campaign. According to eMarketer, 55% of companies reported an increase in clickthrough rates and a staggering 44% of them reported that their audiences spent more time on emails that included videos.

These stats are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the combination of video and email; companies are investing more in videos for their email campaigns than ever before. However, it still isn’t simple to include a video into an email, and platforms such as Gmail and Outlook simply don’t support them – which makes it tricky. But with video’s positive impact on email campaigns, their use is only set to increase, and so getting to grips with the process is essential for your RTO’s marketing campaign.

Here are the most effective options to incorporate videos into your emails:

Image and play button

Use a static image from your video that is enticing and captivating, then add a play button on top. This mimics the normal play button on a video and will prompt your audience to click on it. They will then be redirected to a landing page where they can watch the video. This is the easiest way to link to videos that are hosted on platforms like Youtube and Vimeo.

Animated GIF

While many of the GIFs found online are about cats in hats or other ridiculous content – they can be incredibly useful for your email marketing campaign. They are increasing in popularity and have become very effective at grabbing attention – which is what you want.

Although GIFs are widely supported – there are some Outlook platforms that don’t have the supporting technology – so you need to make sure the opening image holds the key information that you want to be seen.

Animated play buttons and static images

Combine the two above to create an illusion of video content. A static image from your video and a play button that is an animated GIF makes it more enticing for your audience. Once they click the play button – they will be redirected to a landing page and to the actual video.

Embedding videos in your emails

HTML 5 has fixed the problems that we commonly encountered with HTML 4, and if you have basic technical know-how, then this is likely your best bet. It has hugely improved functionality and a video playing feature that allows you to embed them into web pages.

HTML5 offers a high-quality media experience to its viewers, although you need to keep in mind that not all of your customers will have the technology available to support it.

Video email marketing is an exciting prospect, and constantly evolving technology means that the best is yet to come. Keep an eye out for our next blog post, where we will talk about the best tips, tricks and practices for creating a successful video email marketing campaign that will attract and convert prospective students.

Lupo Digital is an inbound marketing agency that specialises in inbound marketing for RTOs, helping them with their student engagement and building strong ongoing relationships with their prospects and students. We have a passionate, experienced team dedicated to bringing all the benefits of inbound marketing to RTOs. For more information about how inbound marketing works for RTOs, download our executive guide to Lead Management for RTOs.