Most e-mail clients, like outlook, hotmail etc., automatically block videos due to security reasons. Flash objects and applets as well are out of the question. Nevertheless, there are some possibilities for marketers to include videos into e-mails:

Static Fake-Player

For the fake player solution emails will contain a static picture of the video screen with a good teaser, showing all the classic controls of a video player, like the semi-transparent play button in the center and the progress bar. The video graphic should be placed prominently in the top part of the newsletter.

Animated GIF Videos

Short video teasers can be embedded in form of animated gifs. The advantage is a real moving picture and that the format is supported virtually everywhere. However Microsoft Outlook 2010/2007 will only be displaying the first picture of the video, so chose that with care to get the maximum response. Unfortunately the picture quality is a bit poor and there is no sound.

HTML5 Videos & GIFs

HTML5 enables embedding video easily, which can be played in the mail inbox on the iPhone and iPad which have an integrated fully functional, high resolution video player with integrated audio. For other email clients that still do not support this standard, the animated GIF video could be the option.

Embedded YouTube Videos

The video platform YouTube is getting more interesting for e-mail marketers. Linked YouTube videos can already be viewed in the email itself of several email clients, e.g. hotmail, yahoo, gmail and google.

By Mohamad El Hallak