5 reasons video email marketing works

We’ve all read the statistics. Website visitors have a very short attention span. While this might seem insulting, the truth of the matter is that people spend less than eight seconds before they decide if they want to read the web page or simply move on. The story becomes even more depressing when it comes to email. The average U.S. worker spends over six hours a day checking email during in-office and out-of-office hours. That’s a lot of squinting at a screen trying to read the small print, which is where video email marketing comes into play.

The average U.S. adult will spend upwards of five hours per day watching video content. The beauty of this content is that the watchers can hit play, pause, rewind, refresh, or re-watch at any time of the day. It also negates the “tiny screen, small words” problem of typical emails. In fact, video email marketing can help to engage with recipients, while also providing a tangible increase in sales.

Increase Sales With Video Email Marketing

Video email marketing works for the following five reasons. Don’t believe us? Try it for yourself and discover a new, better way to connect with your intended audience.

1. Videos Tell Stories. — People love stories. In fact, if there’s one thing that social media has done, it is to solidify the fact that people are willing to read, watch, share, and otherwise create new stories on a daily basis. The beauty of a video is that it uses a proven visual format to tell stories in an easy to digest format. While your company’s latest demo video probably won’t win you an Academy Award for “Best Short,” it will provide the platform needed for people to engage with your brand. Through video email marketing you can more effectively share your story with an audience that has a propensity to like, share, and comment freely on video content. Just don’t forget to incorporate those ever-important social media sharing buttons to further the impact of your video email marketing efforts.
2. Videos Create Instant Engagement. — Recent studies show that video works best when it is delivered as short messages. This means that as much as you might want to send a 30 minute video, it is far better for you to send 30 second teaser previews that can get people excited about your latest product update, new service, or upcoming release. While videos should be short, they should also be filled with valuable takeaways. Keep in mind that the brevity of an online video is the key to answering pertinent consumer questions, while simultaneously creating a sense of purchasing urgency.
3. Videos Provide Valuable Analytical Data. — In order to properly create or adjust marketing campaigns, you must first understand how they have been performing. The beauty of video email marketing is that it provides valuable analytical data. For example, you can choose to host your video on YouTube. In addition to receiving the open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates from the email messages, you can also gain additional insights from the statistics provided by YouTube. The additional statistical insights include: the number of comments on the video, the number of times the video is shared, the number of times the video is watched, and the number of thumbs-up / thumbs-down that the video receives. Through all of these insights you will be able to gain a better understanding of how your audience interacts with your videos. The better you can understand your audience, the easier it will be for you to fine-tune your video marketing efforts.
4. Video Is Dynamic. — Video is a proven multimedia format that can feature still images, moving images, and annotations. Through its dynamic nature, a video is the easiest way to keep audiences engaged, while simultaneously encouraging them to click to purchase. For example, a properly timed “Buy Now” annotation that serves as a direct link to a specific product or service can take advantage of an interested viewer by encouraging them to quickly progress through the sales funnel. Whether it is through powerful imagery, witty dialog, a catchy tune, or strategically placed linked annotations, videos are a rich marketing entity that can encourage viewers to “act now.”
5. Videos Can Easily Be Repurposed. — One of the biggest benefits of videos is that they can be repurposed. The content can be divided, shared on multiple platforms, or published on the various social media channels. In short, the shelf-life of a video is quite long. It can be used and re-used to engage or re-engage with audiences at different times throughout the year. Finally, videos can be used as an entire campaign on their own. Whether it is through playlists on YouTube, Vlogging, or a dedicated section on your website, videos are a multi-purpose, multimedia that can deliver powerful results.

The Bottom Line: Video Email Marketing Delivers Results

The moral of the story is clear, video email marketing can deliver powerful results. When combined with social media marketing tactics, videos can create even stronger marketing results. Whether it is tapping into the 8 billion daily video views achieved on Snapchat and Facebook, or posting your video on YouTube to attract the more than 1 billion unique daily users, one thing is certain — videos are a powerful multimedia that can and should be used by businesses to engage with their audiences. If you are still on the fence about using video email marketing, just remember that video accounts for a projected 74 percent of all Internet traffic. In other words, your audience not only expects to see videos, but they actively search for and view videos for hours out of each day. All you need to do is properly position your brand in a video format that is easy to digest, like, and share, so that your audience can become active consumers.