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Videos are awesome. Provided your video is of good quality (both technically and content wise), it has the potential to convey your message a lot quicker and clearer than any written blog post.
The thing is though: videos won’t play in email clients. They just won’t. However, there are some platforms (which shall remain nameless) out there that have come up with clever ways to face this challenge. These solutions usually involve using some sort of media short code along with the URL to your video. A screenshot is then included in your email, and clicking on it takes your subscriber to the webversion of your email. Poof, there’s the video – ready to be played!
But wait…
This approach, while crafty in nature, has two major downsides:
First of all, you have no control over the screenshot inserted in your email, because it is generated automatically. What if the first couple of seconds of your video, you have a cool splash intro or a fade-in effect? That may look cool when followed by your actual video, but as a still it isn’t very enticing.
Secondly, clicking on the screenshot will now take your subscriber to the webversion of your email. A better option would be to direct them straight to your website, right? The whole point of email marketing is to get people to your website, not to the webversion of your newsletter.
So…
Here’s what I recommend: manually create a good oldfashioned screenshot of your video (with a frame of your choosing), insert it as an image and link it to the page on your website that has your video embedded. That’s all there’s to it. Now you have full control over the content of the screenshot, plus people will end up right where you want them: on your website.
