Video in a Newsletter?

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Permalink Reply by Judd Lillestrand on July 31, 2008 at 10:03am

Hi Jay,

This is a great question. There is not a good way to embed a video to play directly in an email when viewed. Essentially it is a current limitation in the technology of email clients e.g. outlook, mac mail, thunderbird.

Best practice would be to include a link to the video which is hosted elsewhere (youtube, your own web server, etc.) and to focus on a great call to action to get readers to click on the link. Best of luck in a successful blast!

Permalink Reply by Jay Young on July 31, 2008 at 10:45am

Many thanks. Just as I suspected.
Cheers, Jay

Permalink Reply by Nick Marden on August 7, 2008 at 5:15am

Jay,

If your client wants to achieve the "feel" of embedding a video in the email (without the hassle of worrying about client compatibility), try doing the following:

1. Take a screenshot of the video in "paused" mode. On YouTube, for example, the resulting image will have the suggestive "play" icon layered over the still image:

2. Add the screenshot to your HTML email. You can insert it using VerticalResponse's Media Library, or host the image on your own server - your choice.

3. Add a hyperlink to the image that takes the user to a web page where the video is hosted.

Not only does this solve the compatibility problem with various email clients, you can further impress your clients by telling them how many people watched the video - simply look at the number of clicks on the video still image!

Permalink Reply by Jay Young on August 7, 2008 at 7:58am

Great help. Will do just that.
Thank you!Jay

Permalink Reply by Johnny L. Ridley on August 8, 2008 at 7:49am

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Permalink Reply by Jay Young on August 11, 2008 at 9:18pm

Thanks John! Will look into this.
Best, Jay

Permalink Reply by Linda Kosut on August 11, 2008 at 3:43pm

You actually can very simply add video to your Vertical Response mailing by uploading the video on YouTube, for example. And allowing the "embed" function. Once you do that, you will see the embed link. Just copy and paste that anywhere into a text box on VR and poof, you've got a video in your email which folks can watch from the email without being taken to another site.

Hope this works,
Linda
www.lindakosut.com - jazz/cabaret singer
www.jizelmusic.com - marketing design for the performing arts

Permalink Reply by Jay Young on August 11, 2008 at 9:17pm

Thank you Linda!
Best, Jay

Permalink Reply by Nick Marden on August 12, 2008 at 11:13am

Hi Linda,

What you're saying about the embed function is correct, but with a caveat. The process you're describing will get the appropriate HTML into the email you are creating - but the email reading program (the "email client") might not "do the right thing" with that embedded video tag.

The underlying problem is akin to what would happen if you inserted the French phrase "je ne sais quoi" into a (English-speaking) kindergartner's book - the printing press might be able to print the words just fine, but the user of the book would have no idea what it means. The same applies for videos; many email clients such as older versions of Outlook, and certain web mail clients, would see the <embed>
tag and would simply ignore it for one of many reasons: security issues; out-of-date HTML specifications built into the client; user preferences, etc.

The approach I was describing was a way to a achieve the illusion of "embedding" the video in the email while accommodating less savvy (or more paranoid) clients at the same time. As you pointed out, it does have the downside of taking the client away from their email during the click-through process, but it has the upside of guaranteeing a more consistent user experience for all of your recipients.

Permalink Reply by Alf Brand on August 12, 2008 at 12:20pm

Nick's method, is definitely the way to go.

Back in June, I did a test of embedding the YouTube video code in an email, sparked by an article I read in Marketing Sherpa "Embedded Video Lifts Conversion Rate 50%".

I sent the test to Yahoo Mail, Gmail, both Outlook 03 & 07, Hotmail, my iPhone and Apple Mail just to see how well the different email clients would handle it.

The test was hugely disappointing. The ONLY client that displayed the video was Apple Mail.

The Sherpa article didn't have any details on "how" they were embedding the video, but I am fairly confident that the YouTube embed code is not the way to go.

Here a link to the article:
https://www.marketingsherpa.com/barrier.html?ident=30655#

Permalink Reply by Ken Thomas on August 15, 2008 at 2:55pm

Using the embedding code for YouTube, or the like, might be closer to what your client imagines as a goal. But your client might need to be eduated about the reality of email clients - that's where the limitations lie for this idea. Embedding video in an email, to be viewed within the email, won't work for the vast majority of recipients.

But Nick's suggestion, using a linked image that mimics an embedded video frame, will work for all of them. And redirecting to a website shouldn't be a shock to users; although people are used to the behaviour of embedded video, those same people should also be accustomed to redirects for video playback.

Permalink Reply by evlac on August 19, 2008 at 1:29pm

I like the "mimic" idea. I am thinking about my newsletter. One online with the video and the email with the snapshot. When they click in the photo-link they will see the online with the video, without u-tube environment.