Last year we mentioned video in email marketing was not the coming thing; it has arrived. It’s not for everyone. It might not increase your open rates. However, it seems many are using it and, unless they are not split-testing, it is probable that it works for them. Come on – give it a go.

Results vary according to reports. One company reports a 6% increase in open rates, which increased to 19% for others. Click-through rates can go up by 65% and unsubscribes drop by 25%. It seems it is something to consider. Here’s how it works.

You can’t embed and stream it directly from YouTube video; you have to send the file in the same way as you would a static image: in the email. In other words, you have to host it yourself, such as on your company servers. This cost needs to be considered with regards budget. You will, by now, be convinced to keep video and GIFs to no more than 1MB.

Limiting the size is a positive in some ways. Subscribers tend to enjoy short, sharp video in marketing emails. It can be expanded and extended if you think it will help, by hosting it on YouTube or Vimeo and placing a link in the email. The number of click-throughs will help you decide if the extra work and cost would be worthwhile. You won’t know until you test. Better still, host it on your website together with a push to purchase the item or click-through to more information.

Don’t treat GIFs with disdain. Many love them. They are easy enough to create using proprietary software, many examples of which are free. Indeed, they are fun to produce. Whether they’ll work for you, and the subscribers to your email marketing list is something only you can discover.

Video is useful in product support, especially if the item is photogenic, with smiling, happy people, of a demographic your subscribers can relate to, fiddling with it. Video transfers to newsletters as well. It is an expansion to your email marketing, one which, whilst not exactly cheap, is far from expensive to implement.