Video marketing is a great way to increase engagement with your audience, but it can be hard to know where to start.
The good news is that you don’t need expensive video equipment or editing skills. There are several ways you can supercharge your email marketing with video and they all have their benefits and drawbacks.
In this blog post, we’ll go over 5 creative ways to use video in email marketing so you can find the right fit for your business.
Ways to use video in email marketing
The following are 5 creative ways to use video in email marketing:
1. Use video for bonus content to delight your subscribers.
Sometimes people might tune out and not read the email that you send them, but a video will keep their attention. You can use this to your advantage by including a video in the email that shows them something new and interesting like behind-the-scenes footage from your latest project or an exclusive offer on one of your products.
2. Display company culture with a video.
A good way to make employees feel more connected to the company is by creating videos where they show off their workspace, let you see who they are as people, or share their day-to-day life at work with you. This gives people an insight into what it’s like to work for your company.
Let’s take a look at an example of how you can do this.
XYZ Company is a small business that sells handmade products online. They host workshops for anyone interested in learning how to make these products themselves and then sell them too.
In one video, they showcase the workspace where their team creates all of their products from start to finish. Once you see them making things with their own hands, it makes you more likely to trust what they are selling. You can tell that they know what they are doing because there’s evidence right in front of your eyes.
This type of video shows off your company culture which makes people feel good about investing time into working with you or using your services/products.
3. Announce an event with a video.
A video is a great way to announce an event. For example, if you’re hosting an art showcase and plan on displaying the customer’s work, then interviewing the artists before or during the event will give you an inside look at their creative process that will make your customers feel like they are there.
Plus, by adding the date, venue, and links to your social media in the video description, you can increase engagement with your audience. Keep in mind that a great video intro can help you capture the attention of your audience.
This is a great tool that you can use to make your business memorable.
4. Announce a product line or launch with a video.
If you’re launching new products into the market, offering incredible savings, or are launching a new program that your customers will love, you can create a video to announce these changes beforehand so people know what to expect.
You’ll want to be sure to give enough information in the video so attendees feel like they have all of the details by giving them an idea of any speakers, topics, and the time frame for each day as well.
If you’re launching a new product line or adding new services like lifestyle packages that come with the purchase of a specific package, then this is a great way to let your audience know what they’ll get beforehand. This can also be done as part of your promotions as a product owner or even if you are using emails as part of your affiliate tools promotions.
5 . Create a “How-to” Series
If your business operates online or has products that need an instruction manual you should consider creating a how-to series. Rather than having all of your users go through this process alone, you’ll be providing them with personalized tips from experts in your field.
By producing online videos on how to use certain tools (such as a new website) or how to complete certain projects (like building a treehouse), you’ll be saving people the hassle and effort of searching for answers on their own, while strengthening your brand and customer loyalty.
Video marketing is very effective because of its ability to connect with customers on a personal level, unlike any other medium. After all, 92% of marketers said that video is an important part of their marketing strategy.
The benefits of video in email marketing
There are multiple benefits to using video marketing in your emails. Keep in mind that videos can also be incorporated into your marketing strategy to get even more benefits from them.
Let’s have a look at some of the benefits that using video in email marketing can bring.
Use your email subject line to highlight the video.
By mentioning a video in your email subject line, you’ll get people to open the email that might not have, otherwise.
Let’s face it, we all have an obsession with looking at our phones nowadays, so you’re sure to grab their attention by adding a video in your subject line. When creating the video add some text that will appear on the preview line and something else that is only for mobile users (if applicable).
If someone doesn’t open your email, they can still see what your marketing message was while scrolling through their phone.
If you have a lot of videos that are going out each week, this can be a great way to draw attention away from the other marketing emails that your customers receive. You’ll also want to make sure that your email opens with information about your video rather than just dropping an image and/or video in the body of the email which could quickly get lost in all of the clutter that gets stored in people’s inboxes.
More often than not, if someone receives an email with a subject line promoting a video they will click on it over any other promotional content without question – simply because they are curious as to what’s inside of it. You should take advantage of this fact and use your subject line to attract people by letting them know that there’s a video in their email.
Appeal to Emotions
By appealing to emotions, you get the benefit of getting people to act without having all of the facts on hand. If you have a video with a very emotional appeal, such as one where feelings are involved, then you can bypass customers making rational decisions and get them to feel an emotion that prompts them to take action.
This is a great way to use visuals in your email marketing to make your reader feel emotions they wouldn’t otherwise and this will prompt them to click and learn more about what it is that you want them to see or listen to.
Conduct A/B Tests
By conducting A/B testing, it will allow you to see which video converts better than another and which ones don’t get any clicks at all. This is a great way to know exactly what works for your business and what doesn’t.
If you notice that one of your videos isn’t performing well, delete it and try another one in its place. Design a video that will catch the eye of your customers or clients on every email they receive from you. There are many different ways you can use video in email marketing that will work best for your business and by testing out different variations, you’ll start to learn what works best with your target audience.
Video Marketing Provides Better ROI
When you use videos in email marketing, it is more likely that your campaign will achieve its ROI if the videos are placed strategically into emails that target the right people with content they’re interested in seeing. By including an image or some text along with the video, you give your customer multiple ways of getting information out of your email rather than just one.
If possible try doing something like adding both images and text to go along with a video because this can increase the number of views and interest your video gets.
The good news is that once you have your email marketing videos down pat, you can also use this content when distributing your content on other marketing channels.
Types of videos to create
There are various forms of videos that you can create. Let’s have a look at three different types of videos that will be useful to your business based on your specific needs.
Option 1: Behind the Scenes Content
If you have a business that offers personal services such as cooking, medicine, or some other form of content that has to be produced using hands-on work, then you can create videos from behind the scenes.
By showing your customers that you are a real person with a real personal brand (and not just some corporate brand) they will feel more engaged with your company and this will make them more likely to take action on what it is your company is offering or selling. If someone gets to know who you are, they’re much more likely to want to use your products/services which increases sales.
If you are hosting a new podcast, why not show the behind-the-scenes through a video in an email that you send out?
Option 2: An Educational Video
By creating an educational video that goes over all of the different benefits that come along with a product or service then you can improve the performance of your campaigns by making use of videos. Consider using search terms and questions that people frequently ask about a product or service as this will allow your customers to find you based on frequent searches.
They are already going through the motions when searching for information so why not give them the education they’re after, followed by an offer?
Option 3: Storytelling Videos
You can tell your story with video for others to see, such as how your company was started, why you got into business in the first place, and more. This type of content is great for companies who want to get their message across using video formats so that they can stand out from others and gain traction.
Customers feel more drawn towards a company based on personal connections being formed. The best part about these kinds of videos is that they don’t have to be very long as most customers will likely only watch a few minutes of video at the most.
Conclusion
In conclusion, video marketing is great for email marketing purposes because it allows you to catch the eye of potential customers that might otherwise miss your emails. This simply means more people will come across your brand and what it is that you have to offer, which in turn leads to higher sales and better ROI.
By using videos in your emails, you will be able to lose the boring bullet points and mundane descriptions that come with most emails. This simple addition to your emails will give you a competitive edge over other companies who don’t use video in their marketing campaigns as they’ll look generic and uninviting compared to yours.
Guest author: Hanson Cheng is the founder of Freedom to Ascend. He empowers online entrepreneurs and business owners to 10x their business and become financially independent. You can connect with him here.
* This article was originally published here