On February 14, 2005, the world was introduced to a new kind of platform where people could upload videos for others to watch. This is how YouTube took its first steps and soon overtook other video hosting platforms, like Vimeo and DailyMotion (which had launched in the same time period).
Fast forward to 2018 – video is one of the most popular types of content consumed and there are more video platforms than ever before available for viewers and creators alike. From DIY videos to documentaries to cat videos, more video content is uploaded in 30 days than the major U.S. television networks have created in 30 years and 87 percent of online marketers use video content marketing.
Yet, out of all the marketing channels out there, email is the only channel where you can invest $1 and get around $35 in return. Email is a behemoth. And combining it with the power of video to reach your subscribers makes email marketing the king of marketing channels. So, what if we combine both to draw in new leads? Let’s take a look at how these two marketing tools can help you accomplish more when used together.
4 Advantages of Using Video in Your Next Email Campaign
Bridge the information gap – Videos draw the attention of users as soon as they open your email compared to plain text.
Save time – Video more clearly and more quickly informs users about your product or service, especially when your message is complex.
Go viral – When an online video becomes popular, more people view it, leading to higher shares on social media and greater brand visibility.
Get better engagement – Studies show that using the word “video” in an email subject line can boost open rates by 19 percent, click-through rates by 65 percent, and reduces unsubscribes by 26 percent.
How Videos Help You Attract Email Marketing Leads
Inbound methodology states a visitor has various opportunities to interact with your brand when looking for the solution to their problem. When they do, seeing an unengaging wall of text introducing your services can discourage them to interact further. On the other hand, having a short video showcasing your product or customer testimonials can be helpful in moving them along the buyer’s journey. Here are just a few of the types of videos that can help nurture your visitors into prospective leads, and ultimately into paying customers:
- “DIY” videos
- Explainer videos
- Product demonstration videos
- Webinars
- Expert Q&As
- Conference and presentation videos
Once you capture your visitors’ attention with your video, you can pitch them the advantages of subscribing to your email newsletter.
Let’s Look at a Few Real World Examples…
Need ideas about where to start? We’ve got three easy ways you can use video in your marketing campaigns to not only increase your email subscriber list, but earn direct leads and nurture more sales.
- Landing Page: On this service promotion page by SalesForce, a distraction-free user interface helps guide users toward watching not just one video, but an entire playlist that provides more information. After watching, the call-to-action on the right suggests the next steps the visitor needs to take.
- Social Media Post: By segmenting their followers based on their interaction with a set of social media content, the Miami Dolphins created a custom audience engagement post where they promoted signing up for special deals and offers, as well as early ticket information.
After clicking “Sign Up,” the following form popped up and collected a new lead:
Fun Fact: This brought in Miami Dolphins more than $4 million in revenue in the form of event tickets and new season ticket memberships.
- Blog Posts: Blogs like this one from Litmus can be over 1500 words long. Depending on how much time your readers can spare and their interest level, some might read all the way through, others will skim, and many will likely wish for a more engaging way to provide this information faster.Litmus knew this common user behavior and decided to add a video at the top of their blog, (which was just a transcript of the webinar itself,) and concluded by encouraging viewers to subscribe to stay updated about other upcoming webinars – a great way to capture new leads!
Don’t Forget these Back-End Preparations
Before you jump into attracting leads using video, keep these other marketing strategies in mind to optimize the performance of your video. Together, a cohesive marketing plan will help you reach your goals more efficiently and effectively.
- Research video hosting platforms before making your choice.
- Know the demographic details of your target audience.
- Set up a Google Ads (previously Adwords) campaign to bring in paid leads.
- Create a social media promotion plan.
- Optimize your landing page(s) and lead capture form(s).
- Pick a CRM to process and organize collected lead information.
- Create a welcome email automation series to welcome new leads.
Including the word “video” in your email subject line can boost open rates by 19 percent, click-through rates by 65 percent, and reduce unsubscribes by 26 percent.
Bonus: How to Better Nurture Your Leads
Congratulations! You’re collecting new leads from your videos, but that should’t be the end of their scope. With some technical mumbo-jumbo and careful execution you can also add your video directly to your email campaigns.
Unfortunately, only a handful of email clients support video playback out-of-the-box. So you need to provide certain fallback support for those non-supporting email clients.
Email clients that support video playback in emails include:
- Mozilla Thunderbird
- Apple Mail
- iOS mail
- Android 4.4 email client (Not Gmail Mobile)
- Outlook for Mac
In the below email, Patagonia included a video which played directly in the above mentioned email clients. For those clients without video playback support, a static image with an overlaid play button signified the presence of video, which when clicked, redirected to a landing page with the video. Without the fallback image, users typically see a black screen without an anchor tag – providing bad user experience to your subscriber.
Additionally, you can also place an animated GIF instead of a static image for better user experience.
Wrapping Up
Whether used to generate leads or nurture your subscribers with information about your brand, video is multifunctional – just be sure to target the correct audience and NEVER allure them with false expectations. Then, video will be a sure boost to all your marketing efforts, especially when used in combination with the powerhouse that is email.
Written by Email Monks