All Collections
Playable's Knowledge Base
10 Tips For Video Email Success
10 Tips For Video Email Success

10 key insights for successful video email campaigns

Anthony Mansour avatar
Written by Anthony Mansour
Updated over a week ago

1. It all starts with a great quality source video.

The quality of a source video will directly impact the quality of the video watched in an email. Great source video can also create multiple video variants used in numerous email campaigns driving engagement & ROI on video production.

Playable creates dozens of versions of a video to guarantee the best viewing experience possible for your audience, which underpins the importance of a great source video.

Our recommendations:

  • Only uploading high-definition (HD) source videos, like an MP4 or HEVC.

  • Source video at x2 the size of the email video. eg 1200w upload/600w email

  • Keep the source file short (a few minutes) to help manage the final videos

2. Video duration should meet the audience's preferences.

Depending on the Plan, our limits on video duration vary between 10 & 60 seconds. But as our data shows, there are a few things to consider in regards to duration:

  • Users do not want to watch long videos in an email

  • Email clients do not support sound, so as a result, it limits the use of long videos

  • Fine-tuning duration to meet user expectations/ preferences will increase results

  • Different types of campaigns may require different duration limits

  • Technology limitations to be considered, refer: How to increase video duration


For more details please refer to Why Video Email Has No Sound?


3. A clear Call to Action (CTA) within the video is key.

A Call to Action (CTA) within any email campaign is vital for users to successfully engage. The advantage of Video Email is that the CTA can be in the video itself.

Placing the CTA in the video during production or afterward via the Playable online editor creates a more informative and effective Video Email.

Further support can be added by repeating the CTA in the email body (EDM), including options like descriptive text, a countdown timer, or a simple button.

4. Video placement and size matters.

The success of a campaign can be influenced by the placement & size of the video.

The correct placement and size depend on several factors like industry, audience, video content, etc. So we encourage clients to experiment & test to identify the sweet spot that works best for all campaigns or different types of campaigns

Our data can confirm as a general rule that:

  • Videos are more effective at the head or above the fold of a video email

  • The primary video (if using more than one) should be the full width of the email

  • Multiple videos can effectively promote advertising & sponsorship placement

  • Smaller videos can be used below the fold to help draw users down the email

  • Maximum sizes: 640w Desktop & 450w for mobile-first video email campaigns

5. Avoid Talking Head video emails.

As mentioned, email clients (i.e. Apple Mail, Gmail, etc.) do not support sound for autoplay videos. So a video of someone talking with no sound will reduce the effectiveness of the video email campaign.

Workarounds, like adding captions, do improve this to a degree, but the full potential of video is realized when the imagery is captivating the audience.

Think of a movie trailer...don't try and capture the whole movie in a trailer, don't even give away the best bits, just create a desire within the user to watch & know more.

6. Optimize Your Email Platform (ESP/CRM) Integration.

Playable integrates with any Email Platform. Across all supported platforms, we offer the simple & familiar Copy and paste method to add the Optimized Playable HTML Code to your email.

In some cases, there are multiple options for integration. For example, Playable is in the SFMC AppExchange, we can appear in Emarsys Add-On Menu, or connect via API to platforms like Mailchimp, and others.

So make sure you know your options by searching our knowledge base or asking your email platform provider for more details on Playable.

7. Maximize Your Source Video For The Best Results.

There are 3 key things to know about the source video:

  1. Quality Is Key: The quality of the source video directly affects the quality of the multiple video formats (like MP4, WEBP, & HEVC) required by email clients like Gmail & Apple Mail.

  2. Multiple Edits/Versions: A good source video will enable multiple edits to be created keeping the video fresh and appealing to the audience.

  3. Achieving ROI: Using multiple video edits over a series of email campaigns will drive a Return On Investment stronger than other channels.

8. Video Duration Should Excite Your Audience.

It doesn't take Einstien to know that video email is not people's preferred channel to watch a movie, TV show, or any video of length.

Think of video email like a Hollywood Blockbuster Trailer. A short video that excites, entertains, or educates, to entice your audience into action.

Videos under 20 seconds perform better than videos over 20 seconds. Durations between 8-15 sec perform the best overall. Each audience is different so we recommend letting your audience tell you what they like ;D

9. Video Is An Opportunity To Innovate Engagement.

HD Video email is not about simply replacing an image with a video. There is the opportunity to start a real story, set a scene, paint a picture, and immerse your audience from the moment they open their video email.

Video email delivers real opportunities to innovate your content. For example, a mobile-first campaign fills the screen with HD video. Or the fact that video email has no sound, is a huge hook for curious audiences to 'click-to-know-more'.

10. Testing, Testing, And More Testing.

We highly recommend testing to understand first-hand video emails and your audience's experiences, preferences, and traits... because everyone is a little different! ';D

The technology of video across wifi or mobile networks varies greatly around the world, and from city to rural areas. Testing how your video email campaigns perform in your areas is a key learning.

But it all comes back to your audience. Understanding and evolving their relationship & reactions to video email marketing. So test different types of campaigns (e.g. Newsletters, Welcome series, Live Events, Promotions, Birthday Emails, etc.) and see how video improves engagement.

Playable offers a 30-day free trial account to help new users become familiar with the process of Video Email Marketing without incurring any initial costs. You can read more here about the benefits of the 30-day trial.


More information:


Did this answer your question?