What can you learn from Albert Einstein about using video in your email marketing? Find out in this week’s episode of “Let’s Talk Video!”
Today’s viewer question comes from Sue in Las Vegas, NV. She writes:
Dear Steve and Jaime,
I’ve been gradually adding names to my email marketing list for a few years now. However, I’ve never gotten the hang of what to send out to my list on a regular basis, other than letting people know about new products & services and occasional special offers. I tried to do a newsletter a while back, but I didn’t get a great response, and I really didn’t enjoy writing it. I’d love to spruce up my email marketing and I hear that video can help to increase my click through rate. Can you give me some ideas for how to add videos to my email marketing?
Thanks, Sue! We are so glad you are interested in adding video to your email marketing and we can’t wait to share some ideas on how you can make it worth your while.
Watch the full episode below to see our answer:
A Familiar Scenario
This is a pretty familiar scenario that Sue is in. You’ve got a business, you’re starting to build an email list, and you know you need to start communicating with people regularly. But what should you send them? Every business and business owner is different and has different strengths. Some people are great writers and therefore LOVE writing weekly or monthly ezines or newsletters. For others like Sue, writing might not come naturally or easily to you and putting out a weekly or monthly newsletter is too much of a chore.
Figure Out Your Strengths
Luckily, Sue has already figured out that writing a weekly or monthly newsletter is just not her thing. She didn’t love doing it and eventually gave up on using writing as an effective marketing strategy for her business. But there are certainly other things that Sue is great at, where she might better spend her time and effort. And maybe using video will be just the thing that Sue loves to do! If so it will be fun, feel good and get a great response from her audience.
The point is, you need to figure out what YOUR strengths are. Spend your time learning how to do those things and getting better and better at them. We definitely don’t recommend trying to force yourself to do something that you really don’t want to do as more than likely you’ll get burned out and resentful. That’s certainly no way to communicate with the people on your list!
The real secret to having an effective and powerful email marketing strategy is to provide great value to your audience and to develop a relationship with them so that you are at the top of their mind when they’re in the market for your products and services. So the million-dollar question is, of course, how do you do that? In our experience, a great way to provide valuable content to the people on your email list is by using video in your email marketing efforts. Here are 3 simple ideas to get you started.
Email Marketing Idea #1: Email out regular “tips” videos to your list
First, a great way to demonstrate your vast knowledge in your area of expertise is to send out regular “tips” videos to your list. Some people have signed up for your email list to get more information about your products and services, or to receive your special offers. And we do recommend that you send out information about those occasionally. But, the majority of the people on your list are probably there because they want to learn from you.
Video content is the most powerful way to connect with someone other than being with them in person. When you send out regular video content, your viewers will start to look forward to receiving your weekly or monthly emails. They will expect some insight or wisdom that can help them with their lives or with their businesses. Ultimately, that will cause them to feel more inspired to want to purchase your products and services. Especially when you send out those other marketing emails with special offers or discounts.
Email Marketing Idea #2: Use the word “video” in your email subject line
Second, when you do start including video content in your emails, try using the word “video” in the subject line. This will let people know what they can expect before they even open up your email. For example, we’ve recently started using the word “video” in the subject line of emails we send out (when appropriate). We’ve noticed a significant increase in the open rates among our email subscribers! You may want to experiment by doing a split test. Send out emails with different subject lines to different segments of your list, and see what people respond to.
Email Marketing Idea #3: Include a video image that encourages people to click
Third, always include an image in the body of your email that encourages people to click on it. We suggest using a video thumbnail image with a big play button in the center, to make it really easy for people to know what they’re supposed to do, which is to watch your video.
We also suggest that rather than embedding the video itself directly into your email, you use this opportunity to make that image a link that sends your viewer to a place where they can not only watch your video, but also take further action if they are so inspired. So that might be linking them to your website or blog entry page, your YouTube channel or your Facebook page, all of which are places that your viewers can interact with you further, watch and read more of your content, and also learn more about your company or brand.
Thanks, Sue! We can’t wait to hear all about how video helps you to grow your email list, and provide great value to your audience. Please let us know how it all goes.
If you enjoyed this video, please leave us a comment below. Tell us: how have you made video a regular part of your email marketing efforts?
For more great tips and advice about online video production & strategy for the entrepreneur make sure you join our mailing list below to receive weekly blog show episodes like this one.
If you have a question that you’d like answered on an upcoming show, please email it to us at: LetsTalkVideo@GeffnerProductions.com