Page 22 - AeM_June_2018

BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

Challenges to keep an eye on when

using videos in email marketing

Videos are said to be strong traffic and engagement In addition, it seems problematic to implement the
guarantors in online marketing, especially when used in embedding for different representations. Not to mention
social media, since posting live videos and short clips is that many people generally react negatively to videos
explicitly encouraged and promoted by networks like that are automatically played without warning. So, it's
Facebook where visual content gets a lot of attention. important to find useful alternatives to embedded video.
Which ones, I’ll show you in the following paragraphs:
Time and again videos are hailed as the newest, hottest
trend in email marketing, but just because a newsletter 1. Static image with linking (fakeplayer):
contains videos will not make it better or more effective.
How to properly handle video content in the newsletter This solution is the easiest to implement, but some of
and how to best implement it makes the difference. the benefits of video content unfortunately get lost that
way. The newsletter itself only shows a simple static
Undeniably, however, the biggest advantage of video image that provides a hint that there is a video behind
content is that it addresses multiple senses at the same it. This can be, for example, a play button, a graphic
time and attracts that way much more attention than text implementation in the style of a video player, a call-to-
and static images alone. In addition, videos are easier to action like "watch video" or even a combination of
absorb as they are more likely to be associated with these solutions.
entertainment and more suitable for transporting
emotional content. Visual elements, such as gestures If the recipient clicks on this image or the ‘call-to-
and facial expressions, have a completely different effect action”, he will be taken to a website where the actual
than text content. Not to mention that more information video will be played. The fact that users must click first
can be transmitted within a short time and with little results in a very good measurability, showing exactly
space requirement, since no long texts are needed. how many people clicked on the static image and
watched the video.
As known, however, the technical hurdles can be
relatively tough when using videos in newsletters, since There are several options for playing the video: Either
in most email clients, embedded videos generally do not you embed the video into a specific landing page,
work for several reasons: Firstly, the emails are very where you can see recommended content next to the
large, so the download times at the receiver extend video. Even a video portal such as YouTube or Vimeo
enormously. On the other hand, any kind of embedded can be linked, if you can’t provide your own landing
content offers potential for abuse. page. But no matter how you implement the linking,
there is always a certain hurdle. The recipient must first

22 June 2018 - Mobile & Video Marketing