by Joe Monzo | May 28, 2019 | General
Video can communicate quickly and more effectively than any other marketing medium. It makes more sense to use video in your email marketing if you want to increase brand awareness and help educate your customers, especially if you have a lead nurturing system in place.
Email marketing remains one of the top distribution tactics for engaging target audiences.
However due to email marketing becoming easy and reliable to use everyone has started to use it, which means many people receiving these emails can come across looking like spam.
The end goal here is to create something that is eye-grabbing and will rope your viewer in. Here is a guide on how to use video in your email marketing.
Using Video in Subject Line
By putting the word video in the subject line you are letting people know that there is a video. It has been proven by multiple companies that just by putting the word video in the subject line you increase open rates. People like watching something more than having to read something. An example subject line would be
{VIDEO} Learn How To Grow Your Company!
Embedding a video and using HTML
One way to share a video is to embed it into the email directly. If you want to embed the video into your email the best way to do this is to use a Youtube or Vimeo link. Embedding a video can allow a video to play directly in an email.
The problem with doing this, however, is that most big email providers don’t support embedded video. While this may improve user experience the cost of doing it is too much. There is something much easier that you can use.
Don’t use links try using GIFS.
You will want to make it obvious that what you are offering is a video for people to watch. Saying “click the link and watch the video to learn more” and inserting a link will simply not do it. Instead, offer a big enticing thumbnail image inside your email.
The image should link directly to the video when selected. For more added effect use a fake play button. This will get the point across even more.
Video playback is not supported in most email clients however ‘playing’ an animated GIF is. This will make it clear that a video is waiting for them to watch. The subtlety of the GIF will draw people to the video and hopefully want to click. That is if the GIF is enticing enough.
Send people to your landing page, not someone else’s
When a person clicks on the thumbnail image the video will not playback natively in the email. The question is then where are you going to send them? and the answer to this question is your own landing page, not someone else’s. Now, what you don’t want to happen is for a person to click the thumbnail and be taken to a page where the video does not exist or is difficult to find.
Autoplay? Or no Autoplay?
Often times people do not like it when they receive an email and a video starts playing. However, since you already told and show people that there is a video in your email this time around you will want to use autoplay. So, when a person clicks the thumbnail in your email the video should autoplay. That way it reduces the amount of steps that people have to take.
Call to Action
Like most marketing outlets, having a strong CTA or the Call to Action is super important. After someone watches your video, you want your viewers to take the next step in your sales funnel. Therefore, it is important to keep it clear and urgent, Otherwise, the viewer may not know what to do next. And example CTA would be to give you a call the number below or request a demo depending on your product/service.
by Joe Monzo | May 1, 2019 | General
“Uploading natively” describes the process of uploading content directly to a website, rather than linking content from another website. On LinkedIn, you can use either method, but uploading natively has distinct advantages.
Put simply, sharing linked content sends traffic and engagement away from LinkedIn to their competitors.
To keep the viewers on their platform, LinkedIn provides tools to increase engagement and circulation of content that is uploaded natively, in addition to boosting natively uploaded content within their feeds and playing videos automatically.
Take advantage of LinkedIn’s built-in tools to create high-performing posts with natively uploaded content. The best performing posts utilize every available tool in a way that engages with your existing network and expands that network simultaneously.
Requirements and Restrictions
These technical specifications define the boundaries of your natively uploaded videos. Videos must be no less than 3 seconds and no more than 10 minutes, in addition to being no less than 75KB and no more than 5GB. Experienced videographers will be familiar with these constraints, and will take them into account when creating your promotional videos.
(Why isn’t the length of the video enough to determine the file size? The KB per second varies depending on the resolution and dimensions of your video.)
There is no need to upload the longest possible video. As Viveka Von Rosen writes for Social Media Examiner, “People have short attention spans, so it’s a good idea to keep your videos shorter than 3 minutes.”
For more detailed specifications, check LinkedIn’s technical FAQ.
Contextualize Your Video for New and Familiar Audiences
You can write up to 700 words to accompany your video, and that is more than enough to help your audience understand it’s context.
In one or two paragraphs, give viewers descriptions of your video and your business. Be sure to introduce yourself thoroughly so people who are unfamiliar with your business can understand the video. To describe the video, sum up the content in a sentence or two, and then add some background information that connects the video to your business.
Invite Viewers to Continue the Conversation
You should always include an explicit and inviting offer to follow up with your audience about any questions they may have about your business or the video itself. Simply adding “To learn more, contact us here” along with ample avenues for contacting your business is a good start.
Adding prompts that can be answered in the comments is a great way to build engagement. For example, if you are promoting a spring sales event you can ask your audience, “What is your favorite part of spring? Answer in the comments below!”
Choose Your Audience
LinkedIn will automatically set your posts to “public”, visible to everyone including visitors outside of your LinkedIn network. You have the ability to change that if you wish, before or after posting.
Another option is the “Public and Twitter” setting, which can push content to a connected Twitter account when you post. Additionally, “Connections Only” will limit the visibility of your post to those connected to your LinkedIn network.
Note that choosing “Connections Only” will make it impossible for people outside your current audience to find your content, so avoid that setting for your marketing posts.
Always Allow Comments
Comments often include questions about your business or the content shared. By answering them you provide clarity to potential clients and supporters, gain trust, and boost the visibility of your posts.
Captions or Subtitles
Using subtitles and captions allow your video to be understood without sound. This is helpful for audiences who are hearing impaired or otherwise unable to access sound at the moment.
LinkedIn doesn’t have automatic subtitles yet, but you can add subtitles to your video by uploading a separate SRT file along with the video.
I recommend Rev if you are interested in adding subtitles to your video. Contact me to learn more about video marketing on LinkedIn. I’m always happy to answer your questions or speak more about how to maximize video marketing for your business.
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