Email video marketing is on the rise, being a new and effective way of creating campaigns that will meet your goals. However, making the most out of it isn’t just about creating cool videos, but also about sending them at the right time. That’s why in this article, we’ll explore the ways email automation can help your video marketing perform, and how to set it up in a way that will benefit your business.
Create an Email Automation Plan
Email automation is all about planning. You need to be able to predict your customers’ needs and behaviors before you automate anything. Think about when they’re most likely to open their inbox, what mindset they’re in, and how that relates to your business goals. Don’t go into the process blind. Know what you want to do, and how it works with your brand.Do you want to keep reminding your customer about your existence? Or would you rather only engage with them if they take a certain action, like clicking a link? With the right plan, you can set up the basic ideas and only then use a service like Elastic Email to create a working automation process, either through their powerful web interface or state-of-the-art API.
So, for example, you’re launching a summer sale and you want to make the most out of it. You make some nice video showcases, and you want to show all of them to your customers. You want to attract as many people as you can to your website and show them your brand appreciates them.
This is where the plan comes in. You don’t want to spam their inbox, so you limit your mailing to three emails. If they click your store link, you’ll send them a thank you email the next day with a discount for future purchases. If they don’t, you’ll wait a couple of days before sending them a second email, with even more offers. Then, a couple of months down the line, you can remind them of their discount in the form of another cool video.
Of course, these plans can be larger or smaller depending on your goals and your scale. With the right tools and the right content, you should be able to achieve them pretty easily, though.
Make Your Automation Personal
Personality isn’t something we really think about when we hear the word “automation”. However, even though your emails will be sent through an automated process, you can still make your customers feel like there’s a personal touch.
How? For example, if you know your customers’ birthdays you can use VIEWED’s email personalization technology along with Elastic Email’s API feature to create a campaign sent to your clients on their birthday, surprising them with a very personal video message.
Birthdays aren’t the only way you can do this, however. Videos asking for reviews of past product offers based on their previous searches. Your creativity is the limit here, but using the right email automation around it is crucial to maximizing your returns.
Don’t Overdo It
Oftentimes, less is more. The average worker receives 120 emails a day, and while if you’re targeting their personal inbox, this number might be lower, you still have to catch their attention and get them on board in a very limited attention span. This is why it’s so important to know when to go for broke with fancy video marketing, and when to focus on the basics. There’s really no need to attach a video to a receipt—you’ll probably be better off sending a thank you note a few days down the line.
That’s why, when planning out your video email automation, don’t go over the top. Think about your customers’ needs and don’t become that company that spams their inbox with videos everyday, but rather, that one email that stands out of the crowd. However, you’re not going to achieve this without making a few mistakes along the way.
Experiment, experiment, experiment with video email automation
A/B testing is an incredibly useful tool, and with video email automation, there’s a lot to test. What time do you send your emails? Do your customers respond well to receiving additional automated emails? That's why it's so important that you use the tools at your disposal.
Using software like Elastic Email, you can create randomized Nth Selection lists which will help you create your test groups. Then, think about the variables you feel might benefit from the comparison. Once you have that selected, create your test and record your results, both in your email delivery software and on VIEWED. This will let you see how your choices affected the consumer, and whether you’re looking in the right direction.
Don’t be afraid to fail. Everything is a lesson. If you see an open rate drop with emails later in your automation pipeline, think about shortening it. If you see that your customers stay engaged even after a while, it might be worth expanding your content even further. Being flexible and finding out which methods work best for your business.
Conclusion
If you keep all this in mind, you should be able to create an effective and efficient video email automation campaign that will get you the results you need. Using tools like Viewed and Elastic Email will also help you find your email marketing sweet spot with ease.
See how to use VIEWED with Elastic Email.
If you want to learn more about email automation and various tips and tricks around it, let us know in the comments!
