How To Optimize Ecommerce Email Marketing Campaigns With Videos [Analysis]

Email marketing with video can be successful in ecommerce marketing. Studies show that adding videos to email campaigns helps increase the click-through rate (CTR). It makes it easier to interact with potential customers. But, in relation to video marketing, should you optimize for higher CTR, email open rates or for conversion rates?

However, the wrong video marketing strategy for email campaigns can damage your conversions. To optimize ecommerce email marketing campaigns that use video content, take a closer look at your goals.

For example, if you want to increase conversion rates, it is better to show a personalized video on the product page. This option will help users take action thanks to the ease and video relevancy. If you want to increase CTR, embed the video in the emails.

Then, the way you use product videos in your email marketing campaigns for ecommerce matters. It has a direct impact on conversions. In this article, you’ll learn how to use promotional video content to improve the conversions of your ecommerce sales and email marketing initiatives.

Key KPIs Related to Video Engagement

The email channel is the most common ecommerce marketing channel. Because of this, when marketing through email, the competition is fierce. Using videos in email marketing campaigns helps increase conversions. Potential customers pay more attention to video content.

The common one is CTR. You’ve also heard that personalized videos in emails help you boost conversions. So, here you go, you create a wonderful video, embed it in your email blast, send the campaign and nothing happens. In the end, video personalization software can create unique customer videos at scale.

To understand what happened, or what to avoid, start with what you measure. There are different conversion metrics and KPIs for ecommerce and email marketing. For example:

– Email open rate

– Email click-through rate

– Conversion rate.

What to Optimize in Video Email Marketing Campaigns for Ecommerce

Well, it depends. And it has nothing to do with the email marketing tool you use. It is 100% related to the type of result you are looking for. For example, if we are talking about an e-commerce company doing email marketing to increase sales with promotions, the key performance indicator is sales.

Then, how can video marketing help you increase sales? How can you help your ecommerce email list take action and buy?

There are many ways to use video in email marketing. Many of these ways are a good fit for ecommerce marketing. Some will help you increase sales. Others will only help increase engagement.

Let’s analyze them. As you’ll see, each of these ways has different video goals.

Add a YouTube Video to Email Campaigns to Increase Views

If you add a YouTube video to your email campaign, a lot of people will watch the video. However, most of them will not take action. Video boosts click-through rates by 65% depending on the promise the video offers. Nevertheless, your sales conversion rate will be damaged. Most email service providers support this email.

Even though this is a basic strategy, it has its place in your overall strategy. If what you need is brand engagement, YouTube videos are great. But if you are targeting a valuable segment of enthusiastic customers and want sales, there are better ways.

Bear in mind that most ecommerce businesses have simple segments. However, a more granular approach is desirable. This is often easier with loyal customers. These customers usually share more customer data as they interact with the brand.

If what you care about is CTR, then optimize your YouTube videos for this KPI. How? Optimize the YouTube video thumbnail for an email experience. In this context, the thumbnail is the main call to action. Users didn’t initially expect to watch a video. Because of this, make sure to give them a strong reason to watch it.

In my opinion, this option is quite limited in terms of analytics. It is harder to track user behavior across the customer journey. Especially on mobile devices because of the new data protection policies adopted by OS like Apple’s iOS.

Embed Videos in Email Campaigns to Increase CTR

If you embed a video file in the email and contacts can watch the video right from the email, most of the contacts from the email list will see a fallback image. Why? Many email clients don’t play videos in emails. However, they do show animated GIFs. Many email service providers support this option.

This means that similar to the previous scenario, it is possible that these email contacts watch the video. But they will not have an easy way to take action. If you want to optimize your email marketing campaign for sales conversions, you need more than clicks.

To optimize embedded video CTR, you must optimize the content of the first video frame. You can do this with social proof or curiosity. Also, optimize the fallback image. If it is an animated GIF, help the user understand that the best of the video is yet to come. This will help them click on the GIF image. From there, they’ll open a landing page to watch the complete video.

Attractive Video Thumbnail

If you send an email marketing campaign and add an attractive video thumbnail and reinforce it with a powerful call-to-action button, your CTR will increase. Although, three different things can happen depending on where the video is presented. One of these things has a direct impact on the purchasing decision.

1. If the online video is played from the video page of services like YouTube or Vimeo, the email contacts will get totally lost and distracted. It will be extremely hard to push potential buyers to buy from your e-commerce site. Users that open the promotional email, will not land in the ecommerce shop but instead on a social video platform. In my experience, this option requires a strong brand online presence to keep viewers engaged with the brand and its offers.
2. If you add a video on a landing page, even if it is a dynamic landing page like Pirsonal Pages, the contact will need one more step to find the product. This adds another step to buying the product from your e-commerce site. It sets the checkout process too far from the purchasing decision.
3. If potential buyers play the video from the product landing page, the potential customers can buy the product right away and even add more products to the shopping cart. From this angle, this is the best approach. This approach offers better conversion rates in ecommerce. This option allows you to track user behavior through the customer journey.

This option doesn’t require playing the video from the email. Thus, any email service provider that supports HTML also supports this option. Also, almost any email marketing software supports HTML content. Then, you simply need to add the image with a link to the email HTML content.

Also, with interactive video software like Pirsonal Player, you can add personalized calls to action (CTA) to the videos at scale. Each email contact can see a video CTA with a tailored message.

Tips to Optimize Video Marketing For Ecommerce Emails

So, what should you optimize? Email open rates, CTR, or conversion rates? Follow these recommendations:

To Increase Your Email Open Rates:

1. Warm your audience up in advance. Make sure they are ready to receive this promotional email campaign.
2. Send follow-up messages. We are all busy. We all need email follow-ups, especially if your audience hasn’t made a purchase decision yet. You can do this with a series of emails. Also, make sure to send behavioral emails. Choose email marketing software that allows you to send emails based on triggers.
3. A/B test your subject lines beforehand. Select 5 to 10 percent of your audience to A/B test email subject lines.

To Increase the Click-through Rate of the Email Campaign in Ecommerce:

1. Use personalization based on customer data. If you can, go the extra mile and use buyer personas to create messages. If you can, go the super extra mile with an augmented buyer persona. This will help you create highly individualized messages. An augmented buyer persona is when you combine or mix the buyer persona plus the real customer data.
2. People love videos, and videos deliver great results. However, as a marketer, it is your duty to help potential buyers understand what’s in for them if they watch the video.

To Increase Sales Conversion Rates:

1. Use a clickable in-video call-to-action with personalization. These are extremely effective. In the end, we are talking about sales. People need a clear call to action. Add a clickable call to action to your videos and use personalization to make them highly relevant to the context, concerns, and desires of the contact.
2. Make sure that the video is short and to the point. Don’t wait until the end of the video to show the call to action.

Conclusion About Using Video In Ecommerce Email Marketing

There are many strategic ways to use video in email marketing campaigns for ecommerce businesses. If you can, A/B test the approach that best fits your desirable KPIs.

In general, optimize your promotional videos and email content for sales conversions. Remember, video views as a KPI is OK, but if what you need is sales, you need more than eyeballs. You need people that take action and make a purchase decision fast.