September always means the same thing for brands: the holiday season is upon us – let the planning begin! With the holiday season comes limited-time promotions, daily sales and a myriad of countdown emails aimed at encouraging loyal customers to come back and – spend! Beyond the billions of dollars spent, the holidays are also about connecting with consumers on a deeper level and building a relationship that inspires loyalty. With all the holiday cheer, how can brands break through the clutter and stand out in the crowd? They have to tell great stories (through video) that get noticed.
Beyond just creating videos, it’s crucial that you ensure your customer experience is as seamless, valuable and memorable as possible. The first step in doing this is to remember that a viewer experience starts before the consumer ever watches the video and doesn’t end until they have taken an action after the video is over. In other words, how you’re leading customers to and guiding them from your video engagements is just as vital to their success as the content within them.
Being as email campaigns tend to be one of the bigger strategies used by brands during the holiday season, we’ve decided to share four tips for brands to enhance their email to video viewer experience.
If you are interested in learning about other viewer experience strategies from of our VX experts, feel free to reach out to us!
1. Be direct: Point out that the email contains an individualized video within the subject line.
Informing the customer that the email contains an individualized video can increase the email open rate by 11-13%. Our research shows that the inclusion of an individualized video significantly increases the chance of a consumer simply engaging with the email. By stating the contents of the email upfront, it ensures they are aware and ready for the experience that is to follow. Consumers are also 3% more likely to open an email when the subject line is individualized with their first name or a known fact about them.
2. Make the email CTA front & center: Place the call-to-action (CTA) for the customer to watch the video above the fold.
After the subject line, the next most important decision is where to place the call-to-action (CTA) that will lead the customer from the email to the actual individualized video. Most email providers restrict videos from playing within the body of an email so it’s important to make the transition from email to video as seamless as possible. Placing your call-to-action front and center above the fold can increase the click to open rate by 6%. With the volume of emails consumers get during the holidays, making them scroll (even a little bit) once they open the email can, and does, cause a handful of them lose interest before ever trying to watch the personalized video.
3. Individualize the email image: Include a personalized imagelet (thumbnail) that resembles a video player.
In addition to an attention-grabbing CTA, the inclusion of a clean, personalized imagelet that appears like full sized video thumbnail greatly increases a customer’s likelihood of clicking through to the video. By including a personalized imagelet above the fold instead of a CTA alone, brands can actually double the likelihood of customers clicking to watch the individualized video. These imagelets should look exactly like a video in a video player with a progress bar, a centered ‘play’ button, and individualized text that prefaces what the video is going to be about.
4. Keep the layout fresh & clean: Make sure your email is as simple and uncomplicated as possible.
Finally, take a step back from that busy email layout that “needs to get as much information as possible to the customer” and realize that simplicity actually prompts action! By giving customers clear and direct instructions of how to move forward, brands demonstrate that they value their time. Yes, variety may be the spice of life, but there is a reason this specific email was sent and it’s important to get to that reason as simply and quickly as possible.
So, as the clock keeps ticking and the holidays keep moving closer, remember that your customers are just as human and busy as you. By providing consumers with a direct and individualized email to video viewer experience, you can show them what they each mean as an individual to you, and you can save them time doing it!
