Being a marketer means working with social media, ads, traditional media and so many other marketing outlets to keep your brand up to date with the latest trends. But are you making any effort to tap into the full potential of one of the most effective marketing devices – emails?
Email marketing, like social media marketing, is super affordable, compared to online advertising. Emails are also special because they provide a direct link between you and your customer via their inbox. This provides a wonderful opportunity for you to personalize your message according to your customers’ needs. Adweek found email marketing to be six times more effective than social media marketing.
Maybe it’s because everyone on your list actively chose to be there and so is more receptive to your messages. That’s the basic rule of email marketing: Everyone on your email list opted into receiving communications from you by providing their email address. If you don’t abuse their trust, you’ll be able to catch their attention any time during the day with a funny quip or a good promotion.
So you’ve got a ready audience and important promotional material you want to get across to them. How can you make this material both interesting and engaging, so that every email gets read, savored, and acted upon? High quality, actionable copy that excites and provides knowledge to customers will always be the cornerstone of email marketing. But that’s not all, video can provide a much needed boost to your campaign, and make your conversions look much better.
Though one doesn’t usually think of video and email marketing in the same sentence, it turns out that they can be an incredibly powerful combination. Here are six ways you can use video to reach and empower your consumers or fan base through email marketing – connecting with your followers where they’re at.
Why Video Still Works So Well in Email
Email inboxes are crowded. Most subscribers scan messages quickly before deciding whether to engage or move on.
Video immediately creates visual movement and emotional engagement that static text often cannot match.
Brands consistently report improvements in:
- Click-through rates
- Time spent engaging with content
- Product understanding
- Conversion rates
- Customer trust
- Webinar registrations
- Demo bookings
- Ecommerce sales
Adding the word “video” to a subject line alone can increase open rates because it signals faster, easier content consumption.
But the biggest advantage is this:
Video reduces friction.
Instead of asking subscribers to read long paragraphs, video communicates value in seconds.
The Biggest Mistake Marketers Still Make
Many marketers still try embedding full video files directly into emails.
That approach often creates problems:
- Large file sizes
- Slow load times
- Broken rendering across email clients
- Deliverability issues
- Poor mobile performance
Most inbox providers still do not support native embedded playback consistently.
The smarter approach in 2026 is:
- Use a clickable thumbnail image
- Add a play button overlay
- Link to a landing page, hosted video, or interactive experience
This gives you the engagement benefits of video without sacrificing email performance.
Share The Excitement With Product Intros
A video allows you to share much more information than text or even images, and your viewers will be able to genuinely feel some of your excitement as you unveil what you’ve been working on. This instant, organic connection leads to results: research shows 64% of consumers will make a purchase after watching a branded product video and this number can go up if the videos are delivered in personalized emails.
With an online graphic design tool like PosterMyWall, easily create your own product intros without the need to commit resources heavily on video creation. Use your product images, coupled with an eye-catching stock video in the background to get a product video that will get leads.
Create Hype For Your Event With Video Promos
Planning an upcoming event means there’s a ton of ways to promote it, with a variety of strategies that work great with video added to the mix. Compared to static image invites, videos and animations can leave a much needed spark and most importantly, a lasting effect to your invitations.
There’s more ways to create an invitation than simply a straightforward formal video invite. Instead, here’s what you can do with video:
Record video clips of behind-the-scenes operations and create a compilation of sneak peaks
Create a video highlighting your event schedule
Get an influencer or a speaker at your event to talk a little about your event and why attendees should attend it
Not sure where to start? PosterMyWall offers a wide range of you can use to create your own video invites. Customize them in the easy to use, drag and drop editor to reflect your event’s energy and represent your brand.
Spice up the Boring Stuff with Video Email Banners
After your subject line, a catchy banner is going to make the difference between a read or ignored email. After opening your email, the first thing your recipient will see is the banner, and using a catchy video banner for your email increases the odds of them staying to read the message.
Create and save a few email banners using a banner maker and you’ll have something ready whenever you need to spice up your email content. Stay consistent with your design style, colors, and fonts: it’ll help you build brand identity in the minds of the recipients and they will receive the same warm stimulus every time they see those banners. You can even change the themes of the banners as the seasons’ change – with flowers in the spring and snowfall in the winter for an added festive touch.
Note: Use a 600×200 px size banner to keep it scalable over whatever digital device your recipient may be using.
Openly Advertise Your Video
Video email marketing not only draws attention when a video is viewed, but the mere mention of a video can generate a lot of interest. Studies show that the mere addition of the keyword ‘video’ can increase open rates by upto 19%. That means you can expect to achieve better results with ‘video’ mentioned in your subject line.
There are obvious limits to this approach.
- Your subject line should be relevant to the video keyword, so it doesn’t look off putting or spammy.
- Promising a video in the subject line without following through in the email content creates a breach of trust and a higher unsubscribe rate. Promise what you can deliver.
Here’s how you can create a subject line where the video keyword fits:
- We’re getting ready for the big day! [Video]
- [Video] We’re getting ready for the big day!
See what it does? Your viewers know that they’re not just getting a boring, text-heavy reminder that your big event is coming up—they start hoping for some juicy behind the scenes shots or sneak peeks, and no one can stop them from clicking.
Personalized Videos to Let Your Followers Know You Care
Personalizing and segmenting works with all forms of content marketing. The same is true for your videos. Personalizing videos for specific segments of your email list has the potential to make them feel they are a highly valued part of your fan base. You can do this by segmenting and addressing audiences based on:
- Gender
- Location
- Their interests
- Problems they face
- Occupations
AI Is Changing Email Video Strategy
AI tools now allow marketers to create professional-looking videos faster than ever.
Modern workflows include:
- AI-generated captions
- Automatic video summaries
- Personalized thumbnails
- Dynamic content insertion
- AI voiceovers
- Language localization
- Automated clipping for different audience segments
This lowers production costs while increasing scalability.
Instead of producing one generic campaign video, brands can now create multiple variations tailored to:
- Audience segments
- Purchase behavior
- Geographic location
- Funnel stage
- Customer interests
That level of personalization was previously available only to large enterprise companies.
Best Practices for Video in Email Campaigns
Keep Videos Short
Attention spans inside email are extremely limited.
Ideal lengths:
- 15–30 seconds for promotional content
- 30–90 seconds for demos
- Under 2 minutes for educational content
Longer videos usually perform better on landing pages after the click.
Optimize the Thumbnail
The thumbnail often matters more than the actual video.
Strong thumbnails include:
- Human faces
- Clear emotional expressions
- Product visuals
- Large readable text
- Contrast-heavy play buttons
Subscribers decide whether to click in a fraction of a second.
Always Include Captions
Many users watch videos without sound.
Captions improve:
- Accessibility
- Retention
- Mobile viewing
- International usability
Auto-captioning tools make this easy in 2026.
Design for Mobile First
Most email opens now happen on mobile devices.
Your video experience should:
- Load quickly
- Use responsive layouts
- Avoid tiny text
- Feature large tap targets
- Keep key visuals centered
A video campaign that looks perfect on desktop but breaks on mobile will underperform badly.
Match the Landing Page
A common conversion mistake is disconnecting the email from the post-click experience.
If the email promises:
- A demo
- A tutorial
- A discount
- A webinar
- A product reveal
…the landing page should continue that exact experience immediately.
Consistency improves trust and conversions.
Interactive Video Emails Are Growing
Some modern email platforms now support lightweight interactive experiences inside inboxes.
This includes:
- Hover animations
- Click-to-expand previews
- Interactive product galleries
- Mini surveys
- Shoppable video previews
While support still varies by email client, interactive email experiences are becoming increasingly common.
Brands that adopt them early often see stronger engagement because the experience feels more immersive and modern.
Looking Forward
Video email marketing is a rising trend in the digital marketing strategy for small and large business enterprises and has already created a huge impact on many companies. Thankfully, video for business is not as hard to come up with as it used to be. With easy-to-use video templates available for any use case, you can delight your followers and effectively market your brand to them right from their own inboxes.