8 Effective Ways to Use Video Content in Email Marketing for Higher Engagement

In the quest to captivate and engage audiences via email, we’ve gathered insights from eight digital marketing experts and company leaders. From boosting webinar sign-ups with video teasers to building trust with behind-the-scenes content, discover how these professionals have successfully integrated video into their email marketing strategies.

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Boost Webinar Sign-Ups with Video Teasers

Using video in email marketing can be a benefit if marketers are savvy about how they set up the campaign; however, it’s a slippery slope. If the video file is too large, it can trigger a red flag with email clients, be marked as spam, and the intended recipient will never get their eyes on it.

I like to use videos in emails with existing customers to promote webinars. Because the customer list is already receiving communications from our domain, there’s a reduced risk of the emails getting flagged as spam. The emails include a brief 15-20 second video, which is a teaser of an upcoming webinar. I’ve performed split-testing of this by having a control group of email recipients who didn’t receive the video. The KPIs from the testing have been positive:

• Open rates increased by 23% relative to the control group.
• Webinar sign-ups were increased by 18% relative to the control group.

Our customer base has reacted positively to the videos, and overall, they help our customer retention metrics.

Leslie Gelina, Digital Marketer, Frizzlie

Travel Videos Drive Website Traffic

As a travel blogger and content creator, I have an email subscriber list to which I send weekly emails. I often use video content in my email marketing efforts. The videos are for travel inspiration and to highlight travel destinations and experiences, which ultimately drive traffic to my website and affiliate offers. 

I typically embed relevant video content directly into email campaigns and occasionally use animated GIFs to provide an eye-catching experience, which helps with the click-through rate.

Joy Nyargem, Founder and Chief Content Creator, Afrostylicity 

Nurture Leads with Actionable Video Tips

Video is an absolute game-changer for email marketing. One of the most powerful ways we leverage video is for nurturing leads from the Amazon seller community. We send sellers actionable, value-packed tips that cut through the noise, resulting in an average 4.2% click-through rate, a 27% lift in YouTube subscribers, and keeping our agency busy with a steady flow of new clients. 

The secret is keeping the video content in your emails concise, punchy, and zeroed in on a single core message. Make sure to quickly hook viewers, prove you can provide massive value, and convince them to take the next desired step.

Even smaller brands can use video in email to connect with their audience on a personal level and build unshakable trust. In our experience, video has become a must-have for businesses, boosting engagement in ways static content can’t match.

Ian Smith, President, Evolve Media Agency

Product Tutorials Increase Email Engagement

Incorporating video content into our email marketing campaigns has significantly boosted engagement metrics. For instance, we launched a product-tutorial video within an email campaign, highlighting key features and uses. This not only made the email content more dynamic and engaging but also helped in simplifying complex information. 

The result was a notable increase in open rates and click-through rates, as recipients were more inclined to interact with the visual content, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.

Alex Taylor, Head of Marketing, CrownTV

Lifestyle Videos Elevate Open Rates

We created an email with a short lifestyle video. Consider showing your customers a new dress they bought across different brands, or simple recipes they found for kitchen items on your site. 

It’s more exciting than a simple list and easily shows the variety the site has to offer. I remember seeing a huge increase in open rates for our platform with this approach. People loved sightseeing and shopping.

Faizan Khan, Public Relations and Content Marketing Specialist, Ubuy Australia

Short Videos Encourage Blog Engagement

We have been using short-form video content in our email marketing to promote our blog articles. Although our blogs usually get high traffic, we wanted to engage more of our email newsletter subscribers. We noticed that the brief description of our blog articles in the emails was not generating enough clicks. To improve this, we decided to test incorporating a small YouTube video in our emails. 

Our YouTube Shorts provide a quick overview of the blog content, but not all the information. The results were promising—we saw an increase in blog views from email customers. People often prefer watching shorter videos to reading long articles to retain information. The short video does a great job of giving a glimpse of the content, which encourages customers to click and read the rest of the blog.

Lindsey Wolf, Marketing Manager, SportingSmiles

Unboxing Videos Inspire Customer Purchases

Our company provides the tools and instructions for our customers to build and enjoy their custom video books. Thus, we are no stranger to the value of video messaging, in its many formats for all audiences. We have seen the high value of presenting our product’s looks, features, and ease of building the production utilizing video content in our email marketing messages. 

One specific example of well-received videos has been the result of our requests to customers to send us videos of their “unboxing” of an Heirloom Video Book. We have heard from new customers that watching these seemingly homemade, personal videos presented the realistic imagery they needed to make a purchase and begin their building journey.

Ashley Kenny, Co-Founder, Heirloom Video Books

Behind the Scenes Videos Build Trust

Recognizing the power of personal connection in the digital space, we initiated a series of “Behind the Scenes” videos. These weren’t polished corporate overviews but candid glimpses into our daily operations, showcasing our team’s work, our brainstorming sessions, and even our challenges. This approach was rooted in the belief that transparency builds trust, and trust fosters engagement.

A specific instance where this strategy paid off was during a campaign to introduce a new AI-driven service. Instead of a standard promotional video, we sent an email featuring a video of our team discussing the development process of the new service, including the hurdles we overcame. 

The response was overwhelmingly positive, with a noticeable uptick in open rates and a significant surge in inquiries about the service. This strategy underscored a crucial lesson: people are drawn to authenticity. By sharing our journey rather than just the destination, we were able to connect with our audience on a deeper level, leading to higher engagement and interest in our offerings.

Vaibhav Kakkar, CEO, Digital Web Solutions

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