How to turbo charge your email campaigns with video email
How to craft a video email campaign that performs.
From our extensive testing of video email we have built a knowledge base of what works and what fails when crafting video email campaigns to drive response, and ultimately sales.
The fundamentals of email design remain true when adding video to email.
In this post we will share our key findings on the five key facets of a high performing video email campaign.
1. Position of the video in the email
The video content should always be at the head of the email template, this position has been conclusively shown to be the most effective at driving response.
Furthermore publishing your video to the full width of your email template is recommended, this is usually 600px.
2. Duration of the video
The maximum duration that can be published in a video email is 60 seconds.
Testing has conclusively shown that videos of 20 – 30 seconds deliver the highest click through rates. The key here is to publish content that communicates your message succinctly, and makes it clear what the viewer should do next. (See point 4. Call to action).
3. Video content
The top performing video content features:
- Minimum number of transitions – Making it easier for the viewer to comprehend the message.
- A clear call to action on screen for 5 -10 seconds.
- Video runs the full width of the email – this is usually 600px wide for most ESP’s.
- A button featuring the call to action directly beneath the video with a short call to action, examples include Watch the full Video, or View our Collection.
The following video content approaches do not perform well across email:
- Rapid edit changes – making it difficult to comprehend the message.
- Lifestyle/Brand focussed – they look fabulous but fail to deliver responses.
- Reliant on Sound – Where the video requires sound to communicate the message, for example where a person is talking to camera, response is always low. This can be improved with the addition of captions, but we find the response is still low.
4. Call to action
A clear, simply worded call to action, that is visible within the video for the final 10 seconds is the optimum approach for delivering the greatest response.
Calls to action that consistently perform are:
- Click to visit the store.
- Click to claim your offer/discount.
- Click to watch the full video.
These calls to action can be incorporated within the video footage, at time of video shooting or added in post production as a graphical overlay, preferably in a format that resembles a button.
5. Email Content
We have found that video emails that feature minimal supporting content are most effective.
The inclusion of additional images and copy in video emails has been found to be counterproductive and ultimately depresses response rates.
