Tag Archives: email marketing

I received a video email yesterday worth noting. That’s because it’s the second time I’ve received the video, and I think that’s a good thing.

The email came from Act|On. I actually blogged about the video the first time I received it because it’s a good example of an effective testimonial. The company is all about automated marketing, so no doubt the email I received then and yesterday was actually a planned attack that’s been in the works ever since I entered the company’s system.

Sending the same video email twice

At first, you might think sending the same video twice is a bad idea, but here’s why it’s a great idea. Just because you send an email video doesn’t mean everyone is going to see it.

I know, that’s kind of crazy for me to write. After all, we produce marketing videos. I should be telling you how many people do watch them. And while that’s true, the other part of that is no campaign gets a 100% click rate.

The reality is that if you’re cracking 40% with your open rate, you’re a rock star email marketer. Even if you are, that means 60% still aren’t opening your emails. Those who do open are likely to click that video if it’s relevant to them, but there are certainly those who will still pass it up.

Have a video strategy

What that brings me to is your video strategy. I know too many business leaders who create a video, share it once via email and/or social media and that’s it. A successful video campaign takes more than that. It takes a real plan.

When the video first comes out, you need to post it multiple times during the week on social media… and at different times of day. Do the same thing a few of months later. Do it again a year after its original release.

Do something similar with email. Send out that first email, but take a page from Act|On and send it again. The company’s first email I received months ago was dubbed as the case study of a business using marketing automation. The one I got yesterday had the subject line, “Stack your sales pipeline with more leads.”  Recipients who didn’t watch the first time might decide to hit play this time around. They are still potential audience member, so give them another chance to watch.

You spend time and money producing your marketing videos, but that’s just phase one. Phase two is making sure it gets seen.

–Tony Gnau

If you’re producing online videos, chances are you’re doing some content marketing to go along with them. I hope you are anyway. Well, if so, here’s an important tip. Make sure you have a quality email list.

We all know there are different theories on lists. Quantity versus quality… which would you rather have? Clearly, I fall on the quality side, and that belief was confirmed last week.

Why?

I received some spam. Shocker… I know. We all get it. Have you ever received spam from one of your competitors?

Yup. A video company sent me a fake-personalized email telling me how video can help my website.

After I stopped laughing, I investigated a little further. Not about how video can help, I’m pretty well-versed in that. No, I started looking into the company.

I had never heard of it. The company wasn’t local, and clearly it was running some sort of national spam… I mean… email campaign.

Does this really work? The email was “personalized,” but it was clearly fake. The only reason I even opened the email was because it mentioned video and I had a feeling it was from a competitor.

My other issue is where did they get their email list? I mean, I know I’m just another address on the list, and they could care less that I’m a video company. What’s their open and click rate like?

Online videos + quality list = good campaign

I’ll take a smaller list with more motivated readers any day, but we all know that’s only part of the battle. If you’re getting a good open rate, you also want people to click. Video is an awesome enticement. An image with a play button on it… it just calls people to click.

Send them to a quality video that tells a good story? Your email campaign is on its way to paying off.

–Tony Gnau

Tony Gnau is a three-time Emmy-winning journalist. He is also the founder and chief storytelling officer at T60 Productions. T60 has won 11 Telly Awards for its work over the last eight years.

Chances are you and/or your clients are using email marketing to target prospects, and hopefully some sort of video is being integrated into those newsletters. If so, here’s a simple tip. Be honest about the length of your marketing videos.

I recently received an email campaign and was told to watch a short video. No surprise I clicked on it to watch, but what I got shocked me.

The video was nearly 8-minutes long.

VIDEO TIMES VARY

Okay, I have blogged here over and over again about video times. One of the first questions I get from clients is how long should the video run? Every situation, every audience is unique and you need to base that video on those factors.

Here’s the thing though… don’t promise me in an email or newsletter that the video is short if it isn’t. 1-minute… that’s a short video. Nearly 8-minutes is an eternity for an online video.

Posting a video that’s too long is a shame because it won’t get watched by a large audience. Misleading people about its length is worse because you prove to them you can’t be trusted.

–Tony Gnau