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BEST PRACTICES & STRATEGIES

leave the newsletter to watch the video, which can be noticeably, so-called ‘cinemagraphs’, that play with the
uncomfortable, especially on mobile devices, as it is visual perception and are therefore real eye-catchers.
necessary to switch between different apps (for
example, email and YouTube). 3. HTML Embedding: Only a few email clients
recognize videos that are directly integrated into the
Display problems tend to be rare for static images with newsletter via HTML5. This means, functioning real
video linking. The video is played independently by the videos in the newsletter are unfortunately the
newsletter and cannot be blocked by the email client. exception. Most clients simply skip the video in the
However, this security is paid for by losing part of the code, so that nothing is displayed in the newsletter.
effect of the video. Without a moving image in the
newsletter, the video content gets much less attention. In principle, the video tag in HTML allows you to embed
So this solution is safe, but only moderately effective. videos, play them automatically and insert play buttons.
Considering the flexibility of the format, videos
2. Animated GIF: embedded in this way are ideal, but an alternative
solution should always be defined. For example, if the
If the newsletter shall contain real moving pictures, we video cannot be played directly in the newsletter, a
can recommend another way, namely an animated GIF, static image with ‘fakeplayer’ or a GIF can be
placed in the newsletter like any other image. It fulfills deposited. The combination ensures that your video is
the most important requirements of videos: The moving not getting easily lost.
image captures the viewer's attention, who then deals
more intensively with the newsletter and which can It does not matter which format you choose, but always
already lead to significant increases in sales. Best of all, pay attention to the size of the embedded video or
the format is supported and easily displayed by most image. Especially GIF files with a high number of
email clients. Due to the file format, however, a GIF is frames can become unexpectedly large. In addition to
always mute - sound is not possible - hence, an long loading times you run the risk here that the
important component of the video content is lost. But newsletter is intercepted by the spam filters. To limit the
since many people anyway prefer non-sound content, file size, all images should always be uploaded in the
because they feel disturbed by sudden noise, having size they appear in the newsletter.
the sound of their computer generally turned off, it could
work well. In conclusion, videos offer high potential for email
marketing and can ensure that recipients deal more
Short videos can be implemented as a whole GIF, but if intensively with the content of newsletters, though the
the video is longer, the GIF should be used as a teaser technical implementation is and remains complicated
only. To do so, convert only the beginning of the video and requires compromises. ◊
into a GIF and link to the whole video. Tip: Particularly
attractive and unusual are images that move barely By Daniela La Marca

MediaBUZZ Pte Ltd - Independant ePublisher for Asia