There have been many recent conversations in industry publications about the multiple options now available for implementing video into e-mail marketing campaigns. Sometimes these conversations seem more focused on the technology than on the business results. So it鈥檚 best to avoid the hype and approach a video e-mail campaign with the desired end goal in mind.
The most important objective of any successful video e-mail campaign is simply getting people to watch the video. The best option for incorporating video into e-mail is to combine ease of execution with tactics that drive optimal response rate. If your approach doesn鈥檛 begin with those concerns, you risk a reduced return on investment.
New technology allows for embedded video that plays directly within the mail versus the traditional image with a play button that takes the viewer to a landing page. Delivering video right to the inbox with this new technology certainly has a wow factor. But does it achieve that end goal of high viewership/low complexity and cost? To answer that question, consider a few key points in planning your campaign:
路 HTML5, the latest technology to promise embedded video in e-mail, is supported only by iPad, iPhone, and Apple mail 4. Although it shows promise as an emerging standard, it is far from established, and most e-mail clients do not support it.
路 The goal of any e-mail campaign is to drive traffic to your site and convert that traffic to sales. Customers viewing video in the inbox miss the opportunity to engage with your site or convert to sales.
路 More than 50% of e-mail recipients block images, including animated gifs and HTML5 video. Any plan to incorporate video must account for those recipients.
路 Let鈥檚 not forget bandwidth limitations imposed by most e-mail clients. Your video e-mail does you no good if it goes undelivered.
路 According to industry analysts, click-through rates (CTR) have proven high for a player image with a play button and a clear 鈥渃lick to view video鈥 call to action. Consumers click on these images at two to three times the industry standard CTR. That鈥檚 similar to the CTR for embedded video, but without the risk or complexity of managing all the factors listed above.
For now, it seems that embedding full video in a promotional e-mail adds a great deal of complexity without delivering additional benefit鈥攖he very definition of a low-ROI project. At best it鈥檚 on par with simply including a player image with a play button. Given similar response rates, there鈥檚 no solid business reason to take on the additional complexity and costs.
The challenge isn鈥檛 how to deliver video in the e-mail inbox. Nor is it how to deal with emerging standards that are far from standardized. The real challenge is how to have the right video on hand to deliver results when used in e-mail campaigns. That means having video that is optimized to drive conversion rather than repurposed commercials or in-house productions. An investment in creating that content will deliver many times the ROI of an initiative to deliver video embedded in e-mail.
Craig Wax is CEO of Invodo, a provider of e-commerce video solutions.
