Video email marketing is an efficient way to engage your users on a personal, individual level, and yet so many retail businesses don’t make the most of this email marketing strategy. This is important now more than ever at a time when online engagement is booming because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Video content marketing has been proved time and time again to engage users more than textual marketing, and video marketing content is also consistently shared more and ranked higher on social media and search engine results.
So what is it that businesses are getting wrong?
The trick with video email marketing is not relying on traditional marketing approaches.
Users are more tech-savvy than ever and are put off by many classic marketing strategies that ignore their human motivations. The trap that companies fall into with video email marketing is to ignore customers’ desire for honest, emotional content that sees them for what they are.
Luckily, there are some easy steps to follow that can give your video email marketing content the emotional touch that will engage your customers and boost your brand.
1. Be Concise
When developing a video email marketing format, it’s important not to overwhelm your recipients.
You should expect your clients to get hundreds of emails a day, and they might not have time to read your email marketing content if it’s pages and pages long.
Email marketing works best when you keep it to three or four paragraphs of relevant, engaging content. Include your embedded video content at the top to draw readers in, and keep that short too so it’s easier to digest and (hopefully) share.
2. Give Sneak Peeks
So often companies appear to consumers like impenetrable monoliths filled with industry secrets and shady practices.
Is there any wonder that some of the biggest upsets in global industry over the last few years have surrounded data breaches and information leaks? It’s clear that users want to know what’s going on in your company, so why not give it to them?
Being able to show users the inner workings of your companies in your email marketing strategy is a great way to build trust. This could be as easy as sharing pictures of recent events, bios of staff members or clips of your team interacting about building a product.
Bonus points go to any video marketing content that shows the imperfections in your team. This doesn’t have to be glaring errors, but anything that indicates you’re human and willing to laugh at yourself will make for email marketing content to remember.
3. Get Them Excited
One of the winning strategies of sneak peeks in email marketing content is that it plays on your reader’s emotions.
Video marketing content is a great way to generate excitement surrounding a company initiative or upcoming product, triggering an emotional response that is far more likely to stick.
Whether it’s a discount, a live event or a product launch, a short and engaging video preview is a great way to use your video email marketing content to its greatest effect. Again, make sure it’s concise enough to be shared on social media.
4. Pay Attention To Subject Lines
This one is particularly important for cold email marketing, which customers are most likely to avoid.
When it comes to cold email marketing, the first impression is everything, which means crafting an engaging subject line can be the difference between the trash bin and a converted customer.
Next time you try a cold email marketing campaign, pay extra attention to making an attention-grabbing subject line.
Some data has shown that using emojis can transmit a message more effectively than just words, so try testing the theory with your intended market. Above all, make sure to include the word video — users are much more likely to click on something they can watch rather than read — and try to convey some sense of urgency.
“An engaging subject line can be the difference between the trash bin and a converted customer”.
5. Appreciate The Customer
In video email marketing, as in any form of content marketing, you would be nowhere without your customer, so make sure they know how much you appreciate them.
It can be easy to take them for granted, but everyone reading your emails is a human being who deserves attention and saying thank you in your email marketing campaigns can go some way to showing you care about your customers.
Thank yous come across best in video marketing content, where you can have actual humans say actual words of appreciation.
The more personal the better here: ask staff to tell stories about particular customers they’ve helped, or share unique positive feedback from users. And make sure you’re being genuine, because we’re getting better and better at sniffing out fake emotions.
Trini Johnson, a marketing writer at 1Day2write and Writemyx, is a big proponent of the emotional touch says “It might seem a bit sappy, but it makes the difference. Retaining the customers you already have is just as important as gaining new customers, and the best way to keep them engaged is to make them feel valued.”
6. Tutorials And Explainer Videos
Us humans are naturally curious creatures, so it’s no surprise that some of the most effective video marketing content is educational videos. These can take the form of a brief tutorial or an in-depth explainer video; anything that teaches your customer something new is more likely to be shared.
You don’t have to be an investigative journalist to produce engaging educational content.
Try giving a few tips on using your products, or a step-by-step guide for readers to follow. If these don’t fit, try explaining a new trend in your industry, or revealing some insider information (another sneak peek idea).
Don’t feel like you need to lay yourself bare, just give your video marketing content recipients enough information to intrigue them.
7. Use Feedback
“By far the best marketers are friends and family,” says Shafiq Rialta, an eCommerce writer at Britstudent and Nextcoursework. “A personal recommendation can do more than any impersonal video marketing campaign.”
It’s no secret that consumers are going to listen to other consumers over companies themselves.
We’ve all been exposed to marketing long enough to know that companies might not have our best interest at heart, so personal recommendations from other satisfied customers are invaluable in convincing customers that your product is worthwhile.
In your video marketing content, be sure to use plenty of customer feedback and testimonials to show potential customers your successful track record. Attach them in text form to the email marketing content, and if you can, record interviews with happy customers.
A genuine personal recommendation from a real-life customer can be a huge motivator for anyone unsure about your business.
8. Get Started: What Are You Waiting For?
The biggest tip on creating a successful video email marketing campaign is to get going! There are tools like Moosend that let users integrate video into their email marketing campaigns with just a click of a button.
Every day you wait to develop video content for an email marketing campaign you are losing potential customers and missing out on possible sales. There has never been a better time to capitalize on this marketing sector.
Of course, it’s important to know you have a good email content marketing strategy before you plunge right in. Hopefully, if you’ve followed these tips, you’ll be set up to create video marketing content that boosts your brand and grows your audience.
This article is a contribution by Michael Dehoyos
Michael Dehoyos is a content marketer and editor at Phd Kingdom and Academic brits. He assists companies in developing their marketing strategy concepts and contributes to numerous sites and publications on project management and U.S. political news. He is also a writer at Origin Writings.
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