{"id":5781,"date":"2016-04-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-pros-and-cons-of-video-in-email-video\/"},"modified":"2023-02-27T16:51:30","modified_gmt":"2023-02-27T21:51:30","slug":"the-pros-and-cons-of-video-in-email-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.litmus.com\/blog\/the-pros-and-cons-of-video-in-email-video","title":{"rendered":"The Pros and Cons of Video in Email [Video]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cVideo in email will finally take off.\u201d<\/p>\n

I made that prediction more than 3 years ago, after years of false starts and disappointing hype. At the time, I\u2019d just seen a number of big brands embed videos into emails, including Avon, Bloomingdale\u2019s, Brookstone, and Walgreens. I took that as a sign that video in email<\/a> had finally turned the corner, and that email marketers would finally be able to take direct advantage of the power of video rather than settling for static images of video consoles linked to videos on landing pages.<\/p>\n

And then Apple dropped support for HTML5 video in all of its email clients, sending the video in email movement back to square one.<\/p>\n

Today, video in email is still a very fringe design element, mostly because of inconsistent support across email clients. HTML5 video, which we used in the background of our 2014 \u201cSave the Date\u201d email for The Email Design Conference<\/a>, works in a few clients. Video gifs, which are streaming compressed animated gifs<\/a>, work in several. Gmail has integration with YouTube. Video in email is the epitome of a patchwork solution.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s likely because of this poor support that few marketers have tried video in email, and of those who did, a significant portion has decided not to use it again anytime soon. That\u2019s what we found when we polled marketers recently.<\/p>\n\"Video-in-email-usage-chart-01\"<\/a>\n

However, as much as marketers are lukewarm on the reality of embedded video in email, they really like the promise and potential of video in email. That so many marketers \u201cplan on trying it soon\u201d is an indication of this\u2014even though we believe only a small fraction of that 44% will likely follow through and actually try video in email this year.<\/p>\n

To get more perspective, we asked three of our speakers at The Email Design Conference<\/a> about their thoughts on video in email. Like our poll respondents, they liked the idea of video in email much more than the reality, which they thought raised design, user experience, and other challenges.<\/p>\n

You can watch the full interview here, or read a transcript of it below.<\/p>\n