Why You Should Add Video to your Email Marketing Toolbox

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Video is king. If there is any doubt, look around the next time you’re stuck in an airport or wandering around a mall for a few hours. Sneak a peek at what everyone is doing on those ubiquitous tablets or smartphones. Sure, you’ll see a fair percentage of people playing Angry Birds or something similar, but more and more, people are watching videos.  

Is it any wonder why smartphones come with increasingly larger displays? After all, those larger displays don’t really add much to the texting experience. According to their own statistics, over 6 billion hours of videos are viewed each month on YouTube, and mobile devices account for more than 25% of YouTube viewing time.

And if you haven’t been to YouTube lately, it is not just people watching music videos or clips of adorable cats. Type a query like “how to use” into the search window and take a look at the suggestions that auto-populate. Now imagine finishing that sentence with your product.

Videos can be highly effective tools for all types of companies. Surveys report people taking a wide variety of positive actions after viewing online informational videos, including visiting vendor websites and searching for additional information.  And this preference for video extends to unexpected demographics. A report by Forbes Insights disclosed that a majority of business executives (nearly 60%) watched a video before reading text on the same page. And three quarters of executives revealed that they watched work-related videos at least once a week.

E-commerce intelligence experts, Internet Retailer, highlights a recent study showing that online videos build confidence that leads directly to purchase decisions. The survey highlights that 52% of consumers viewing product videos were more confident about the product and more comfortable making a purchase decision.  Their previous studies have shown visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to make a purchase than visitors who did not.

Consider adding video to your marketing toolbox. You can add videos to your website or Facebook page, create a company video channel on YouTube, and include videos in your email marketing. If done with thought, any of these uses can positively affect your marketing efforts.