| If you're involved in any type of email marketing, you've surely heard about the new buzz. . .video email marketing. If this intrigues you and you want to get started with this in your marketing mix, follow the next few tips before you get started. 1. As with anything, start small and experiment. Video email is a very powerful tool. It can show what your products have to offer, help instill trust in customers through video testimonials, and give your email list recipients a total look at what you have to offer. However, start out slowly. Do a short small video to test the waters. Make it something compelling, but not overly-ambitious. Your goal is to start with a video that is inexpensive and works well and that you can create with your own digital camera or Web cam. Once you have an established audience and they're paying attention, you can pay a little more for highter quality. 2. Going along with those same lines, keep your video short. Keep in mind that, although video email marketing is interesting, the people you are sending it to do not have a lot of time. Try to keep your video in between 30 seconds and 1 minute and keep it as an intro to something better that's to come in your email. 3. Don't forget about your email layout and text. In all the excitement of this new medium, it's understandable that you will focus on your video. But remember that your email still needs links, images and good, compelling text. Although your open rates may increase when you use video email, not everyone will watch it. For this reason, use the video as an enhancement. . .not the whole purpose of the email. That meat should still be in the text. 4. Test it first with your base. Consider sending a video email toa small group of your list first (the ones that usually open your emails). You can even contact them directly first and ask them if they'll give you some feedback. A different eye can offer you some suggestions that you haven't even considered. 5. Build a video email subscriber list Some of your email recipients will prefer the new video way of communicating and other won't so it's a good idea to seperate the two. One way to do this is to ask all of your readers what they prefer and then just divide them up. Video email marketing is still very new and unestablished, but it's definitely unique and can open up new ways to brand yourself, make new sales and raise interest in your products and services. Again, you do want to start small and be patient. Don't get discouraged if people don't seem to be interested. This new medium may be the new standard before long so it's a good idea to wet your feet with it right now. |
