There’s been a lot of buzz lately about video in e-mail. The Email Experience Council (EEC) hosted a Webinar on the topic, and many in the industry are proclaiming 2009 the year of video in e-mail.

As a result, I have clients inquiring about including video in their e-mail messages. It’s an exciting new way to use e-mail, but as with any technology you shouldn’t use it just because it’s “cool.” You only want to use it if it can get more people to your venue (or whatever your business goals are).

It doesn’t matter whether the video is actually embedded and plays within the e-mail (the hot new technology) or there’s a link in the e-mail that opens a Web page where the video plays (the old, down and dirty way to do it). The thought that should go into using video is the same.

Before you get too excited about video in e-mail, focus on the video content. Here are some questions to ask.

Do We Have Video Content That Could Be Included in an E-Mail?

With the YouTube’s popularity, many venues and promoters have video content that could be repurposed for e-mail. If this is the case with your company, you are ahead of the game. Pull an inventory of your videos; figure out which ones are best at advancing the features, benefits, and advantages of your service; and build an e-mail campaign around them. Just be sure the copy in the e-mail isn’t a direct transcript of the video itself. You want to tease the person enough in the email, but you want to leave some room for the punch line in the video.

What Content Do We Have That Would Lend Itself to Video Presentation?

If you don’t currently have video content, develop a strategic plan to create some. It doesn’t have to be high end. Mansion Nightclub on South Beach tapes pretty much every major event they have. So are created in a very formal way, by working with video editors and scripter’s, scheduling the shoots, and having a professional camera crew do the filming.

Another client used an equally successful but less formal approach. It happens to be the church I attend. It set up a camera in the pastors office and featured the pastor giving a “weekend recap” of the previous Sunday’s service. One thing that helped my client was the passion these customers had for the church. People were happy to see the weekend recap in 3 minutes since they had missed church, and their enthusiasm comes through loud and clear in the open rates.

Customer testimonials are a good way to get video footage. If you’re savy enough, you can tag the videos with whoever you’re interviewing and have them spread it amongst their friends. If you’re just starting out with video, it’s a good thing to consider.

You may also have a video that talks directly about an upcoming event. Or you can give an old-fashioned local new station style interview with features, benefits, and advantages of your venue. Remember, video is the medium; the message can be just about anything.

What Resources Do We Have or Will We Need to Create Video Content?

This is an important consideration; while video production doesn’t have to be expensive, it’s not free. Be sure that you factor the cost of the video into the campaign’s cost — and run your ROI (define) figures accordingly to confirm that the lift provided by video will at least cover the additional cost, if not provide some profit.

In Miami, I have some guys that LOVE to come into venues and do some editing work just for exposure to their company…especially if you hook them up with some perks at your venue. Ask around, you’ll be surprised at how many young Martin Scorsese’s you’ll find out there.

What company should host my video?

As you know, YouTube is probably your best bet for hosting video. Be aware of video limitations (size and time). If you’re going to use YouTube, you might as well set up an official YouTube page for your organization and start promoting it on your website.

Vimeo has also stepped in as a player in the video hosting arena. This is the Facebook of the video world, boasting a community of video gurus eager to share their works with other Vimeo users. You get up to 500MB of uploads each week, great video controls, and an opportunity to tap into a new social network.

The Video Landing Page is PARAMOUNT!

When including video links in an email, take a screen shot of the actual video and place it as an image within the email. People will think it’s the actual video but clicking will take them to the real source of the video. This page is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of your campaign.

What happens if you simply put a link to your YouTube video? People will see 10 seconds of your video and get bored and navigate away to the “video of the day” promoted so heavily on YouTube. Next thing you know, your client went from viewing your video to watching this week’s most played videos. BIG MISTAKE.

You need to create a page on your site that will host this video. More importantly, the “CALL TO ACTION” must be smack next to the video. If you’re looking for people to sign up for a guest list, RSVP, buy tickets or reserve a table, make sure that is loud and clear next to the embedded video that is playing. People have ADD and will tend to listen to your video while multi-tasking away to something else on your page. Make sure you have something for them to do that will make you some money.

Until next time,

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Alex Miranda