Video in email — including the embedding of streaming content inside email body text — has transcended previous technical obstacles, and is now ready for marketing prime time, according to video experts at ReelSEO.com.

Our previous post covers the benefits and business case for small-business video marketing, so we won’t rehash it here. But we will summarize why ReelSEO believes now — more than ever — video email deserves closer consideration:

• Opportunity. Today, up to 85% of people can view video in email, glitch-free, including a large percentage of your current customer base.
• Technology. Tools have come a long way and so has the email viewing experience. “Open” (non-proprietary) standards have helped developers overcome prior issues, and facilitate rapid advances in video/email integration.
• Deliverability. Properly deployed, new technologies and techniques (like hosting files remotely) prevent video email from bogging down delivery and tripping spam filters.
• Results. In one campaign, Costco Wholesale saw a 40% higher Average Order Value (using video email versus a linked landing-page video). By playing video within the body of an email, film distributor Sky generated over a million incremental views, extending the reach of a TV video trailer.

Creative Flexibility

Video email creates the same sense of engagement and excitement as on a website or landing page, while requiring just one click to deliver a brief but highly engaging presentation of:

• Product announcements
• Special offers and discounts
• Customer testimonials
• Company news
• Webinar and event invitations
• Executive communications

Remember that video email is a branded communication medium. So messaging and presentation must be appropriate and relevant to your audience. The email should also: add value to the viewing experience; help achieve campaign goals; align with brand voice and image; and follow best practices for production and deliverability.

First Sip the Soup

Before diving into video email, invest a little time in learning about different formats, so that when you and your marketing services provider or team convene, you won’t glaze over when alphabet-soup terms like HTML5, .GIF, .PNG come up.

​Video email is here to stay, and it may just be the difference needed to push your marketing to a whole new level.

When integrated marketers think of using YouTube, they tend to think of the latest viral video sensation and how they can duplicate that success. Don’t even go there. You don’t get to decide what goes “viral”. That’s up to the viewers.

Don’t Try to Duplicate Viral Success

It’s extremely difficult to predict or duplicate viral success. For instance, in the summer of 2012 a video by Korean rapper PSY called “Gangnam Style” featured campy choreography that simulated riding a horse. Within a month of its release, the video racked up over 28 million hits on YouTube and inspired parody clips from all over the world. As of this writing, the video has over 1 billion views.

So never mind the viral part and focus instead on generating traffic back to your website. The three traffic-generating giants include Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Videos Rank Highly on Google

YouTube (which is owned by Google) is the second-largest search engine after Google. YouTube is also one of the smartest marketing tools in your integrated marketing program. While it may be hard to get your website on page one of Google, videos rank highly in search results because there aren’t as many marketers using them effectively.

4 Billion Pairs of Eyes

YouTube currently receives over 4 BILLION views—every day. Now that YouTube offers its own online video editing tools, it has never been easier to create video content, share it with the world, and drive traffic back to your website.

YouTube is successful because it empowers you, the user/viewer, to become the broadcaster. You can make videos about whatever you want, and whatever your audience wants.

YouTube marketing authority James Wedmore offers these five tips for creating videos successful videos:

5 Essential Video Ingredients:

• Value. Focus on the end-user, what will the viewer get?
• Relevance. How is your subject meaningful to your audience?
• Brevity. Get to the point and finish in 3-5 minutes.
• Demonstrable. Show your viewer how to do something, or solve some problem (e.g. “how to tie a tie”).
• Actionable. Include a “Call to Action” in every video! Ask viewers to subscribe, share, visit the website, like or comment.In your call to action, tell viewers what to do, why they should do it, and how to do it. For example, “Thanks for watching, for more great videos, or to learn more, subscribe or click the link below and you’ll get such and such.”

​Have you started using video to market your company? We’d love to know about other companies you see using YouTube effectively. Include links of notable examples you’d like to share in the comments.