Video Email Marketing in 2009 Facts, Stats, Limitations, Possibilities Lisa Harmon Principal and Co-Founder, Smith-Harmon Chair, User Experience Roundtable, Email Experience Council President, Email Marketing Best Practices Roundtable Justin Foster Co-Founder & VP Market Development, Liveclicker Founder & President, Video Commerce Consortium Founder, Email Marketing Best Practices Roundtable 2009 Liveclicker Video Commerce Webinar Series, Part III of III August 12, 2009 Tweet about this webinar using #videoemail Follow us on Twitter! @lisaharmon, @videocommerce
31
Embed
Video Email Marketing in 2009: Facts, Stats, Limitations, Possibilities
On August 12, 2009, Liveclicker and Smith-Harmon collaborated to deliver a webinar focused on the state of video in email marketing. The webinar touched on such topics as:
- Concerns, attitudes, and expertise level of marketers seeking to learn more about video in email marketing - Forces driving video in email - Methods for achieving video in email - Video .GIF vs. Animated .GIF - CertifiedVideo (from Goodmail Systems) - Video .GIF pros and cons - List of which mail clients support video, by video inclusion method - Email client market share - Browser market share & video .GIF limitations based on browser - Which email clients block images by default - Several examples of email messages that include video - Video .GIF best practices - Example results - Common questions re: video in email
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Video Email Marketing in 2009Facts, Stats, Limitations, Possibilities
Lisa HarmonPrincipal and Co-Founder, Smith-Harmon
Chair, User Experience Roundtable, Email Experience CouncilPresident, Email Marketing Best Practices Roundtable
Founder, Email Marketing Best Practices Roundtable
2009 Liveclicker Video Commerce Webinar Series, Part III of IIIAugust 12, 2009
Tweet about this webinar using #videoemailFollow us on Twitter! @lisaharmon, @videocommerce
Upcoming Events
Email Marketing Roundtable, Video Commerce Consortium▪ Largest consortium of interactive professionals dedicated to
advancing the art and science of video commerce @ www.video-commerce.org
▪ Largest roundtable of email marketers dedicated to peer-to-peer exchange of email marketing best practices @ http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/emailroundtable
▪ Free Membership!
Shop.org Annual Summit, Sept. 21 – 23▪ “40+ Specific Things You Can Do to Make Money Next Week”▪ Email Marketing Roundtable: “Video and Email Marketing”
StreamingMedia West, Nov 17 - 19▪ “The Quiet Revolution in Video Commerce”
Justin Foster – follow @videocommerce Co-Founder & VP Market Development at Liveclicker Founder & President of the Video Commerce Consortium Currently working on the following initiatives:
Actively studying the impact of video on e-commerce performance Building Liveclicker and the VCC into world-class resources for
professionals seeking to advance video for commerce Communicating the value of video commerce through case studies,
whitepapers, webinars, industry reports, events, blogging, and general industry thought leadership
About the Presenters
Lisa Harmon – follow @lisaharmon Principal and Co-Founder at Smith-Harmon Chair, User Experience Roundtable, Email Experience Council President, Email Marketing Roundtable Currently working on the following initiatives:
Pushing email strategy and creative to optimize subscriber experience and program performance Leading the EEC Email Design Roundtable in it’s efforts to share email creative best practices with the industry Working to better integrate email into seamless cross-channel experiences
Poll
A – Differentiated inbox experience
B – Boost subscriber engagement
C – Drive key metrics (CTR/CVR)
D – Innovate / experiment
E – Just curious right now / not sure
Take Our Poll: Why are you interested in video for email?
Currently the only solution in the market providing full-motion audio and video directly in email without clicking to landing pages Inbox placement guaranteed Works regardless of whether images are enabled
CONS:
Only works at AOL (9, 10 clients, AOL Webmail) Additional cost for video delivery via GM partner Production expense
Certified Video: Goodmail Systems is rolling out its CertifiedVideo service.
Email Client Support for Video, by Inclusion Method Fat Mail Clients Video .GIF? Certified Video? CommentsAOL 10.0 YES YESAOL 9.0 YES YESApple Mail 3.0 NO NO Video .GIF not supported.Entourage 2008 YES NOLotus Notes 6.5 YES NO Requires special file encoding for video .GIF to
work.Lotus Notes 7.0 YES NO Requires special file encoding for video .GIF to
work.Lotus Notes 8.0 YES NO Requires special file encoding for video .GIF to
work.Outlook Express YES NOOutlook 2000 YES NOOutlook 2003 YES NOOutlook 2007 NO NO Video .GIF not supported. First frame displays
only.Thunderbird YES NOWindows Mail YES NO
Web Mail ClientsAOL.com YES YES Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)Gmail YES NO Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)Windows Live Mail YES NO Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)Yahoo Mail YES NO Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)Yahoo Classic YES NO Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)Comcast YES NO Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)Cox Webmail YES NO Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)AT&T Webmail YES NO Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)RoadRunner Webmail YES NO Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)Verizon Webmail YES NO Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)Earthlink Web Mail YES NO Subject to user agent limitations (IE, FF, Chrome,
Safari)Mobile Mail ClientsiPhone 3.0 YES NO Dependent on connectioniPhone 2.2 YES NO Dependent on connectionBlackberry Curve YES NO Dependent on connectionBlackberry Bold YES NO Dependent on connection
Email Client Market Share
Email Client Market Share Report, FingerPrintApp. September 2008.
Browser Market Share* Limitations/CommentsInternet Explorer 6.0 27.21% 8 FPS. Internet Explorer 7.0 23.09% 10 FPS. Firefox 3.0 16.21% 16 FPS.Internet Explorer 8.0 12.46% 16 FPS. Firefox 3.5 4.54% 16 FPS.Chrome 2.0 2.37% 12 FPS.Safari 4.0 2.22% 10 FPS.
All browsers are not created equal. Video .GIF playback compatibility is dependent on the underlying user agent of the web browser or mail client.
Browser Version Market Share. Net Applications. 8/10/2009.
Which email clients block images by default?
EmailClient
Default Images on?
Default Links on? Default Changeable?
AOL 9.0 Software NO NO YES
AOL.com, AIM.com Web NO YES YES
AT&T Web NO YES YES
Earthlink Web YES YES YES
Gmail Web NO YES YES
Hotmail / Windows Live Mail Web Depends Depends YES
Lotus 8 Software YES YES YES
Mac Web NO YES NO
NetZero/Juno Web YES YES NO
Outlook 2003, 2007 Software NO YES YES
Yahoo Classic WebYES Inbox
NO Spam Folder YES YES
Yahoo Mail Web NO YES YES
LEARN MORE:
Certified Email (Goodmail): Unblock images at AOL, BT, Yahoo, Telus, Cox, Comcast Certification Program (Return Path): Unblock images at Windows Live Mail
Key takeaway: 1MM email subscribers, 25% open rate, 5MB video can consume 1.25 million megabytes (1,250 gigabytes) of bandwidth in a single email campaign. Experiment with dithering and frame
rate to reduce the bandwidth load required of the end recipient.
Key takeaway: Reducing the number of colors per frame from 256 to 128 can reduce the size of a video .GIF by 25% without noticeably impacting output quality.
Best practices are still emerging for video .GIFs in email, but the following rules should be followed to maximize performance/experience.
Best Practices for Video .GIFs
DO
Measure audience engagement.
Key takeaway: While engagement metrics for video .GIFs are not perfect, they are directionally useful
and will give you new insight into your email audience.
Consider technology for .GIF creation.
Key takeaway: Unless you want to create 8 – 20 versions of a .GIF to account for the variances in compatibility in mail clients, and manually compress files, technology
can dramatically automate the production of email video.
Best practices are still emerging for video .GIFs in email, but the following rules should be followed to maximize performance/experience.
DON’T
Make videos that require greater than 150kB – 200kB/
sec in data transfer to display properly.
Key takeaway: Measure the connection speed of visitors on your web site to get an idea of % of your email audience on dial-up.
Use video as a secondary or tertiary item in the email.
Key takeaway: Go “all the way” or “not at all.” Otherwise, video can actually hurt your results.
NEVER, EVER use Flash or Javascript to attempt to get
video to play in email, unless you are using CertifiedVideo™ and sending only to an AOL audience.
Best practices are still emerging for video .GIFs in email, but the following rules should be followed to maximize performance/experience.
Best Practices for Video .GIFs
REI “Statistically significant” increase in CTR, CVR, AOV
- March, 2009
SAP Increased CTR from 7% to 32%
- January, 2009
Olympus 49% increase in CVR over several emails.
- April, 2007
eBags 65.5% increase in sales in YoY test of video v. no video.
- June, 2009
ResultsResults
Key Takeaways
CertifiedVideo™ currently represents the truest incarnation of full video in email. However, its limited adoption by ISPs hinders usefulness for now.
Video .GIFs, on the other hand, represent a step toward universal video in email coverage, yet technical limitations remain, like audio support.
For today, when executing video in email campaigns, the recommendation for
the highest quality and broadest reach of video in email is to combine CertifiedVideo™ where it works, supplement with video .GIFs where it does not, and take advantage of auto-image rendering at CertifiedEmail™ ISPs to broaden the coverage of video in email.
Common Questions
Q: How large are the video files? What’s the recommended size?A: Size isn’t really that important for video .GIFs, because the videos download progressively in the background once the user opens the email, even though they stream immediately. It’s much more important to ensure that the amount of bandwidth required of the end subscriber not exceed 150kB – 200kB/second, unless you know your audience can accept higher throughput.
Q: How long should my email videos be?A: With Certified Video, length may be less of an issue because audio can be used to capture the attention of the reader. With video .GIFs, videos are typically no longer than 30 – 45 seconds. A best practice for longer videos would be to use subtitles or text displayed throughout the video to maintain attention.
Q: How can I find out how much of my audience can view video?A: Check out FingerPrintApp.com. For less than $50, you can take a snapshot of your subscriber list on your next email campaign to determine what mail clients are being used.
Q: How can I find out more?A: Your first call should be to your agency or ESP to check whether they’re already partnered with Liveclicker. If not, email [email protected].
Q: I don’t know anything about making video. Where should I start?A: Liveclicker recommends starting out with an email design specialist with particular experience in using video in the channel. Smith-Harmon is one of many great options. Your ESP may also have some experience. Or email [email protected] for references.