mobileStorm’s six messaging types for marketers are all conducive to our stance that multi-channel campaigns are best. We’ve also long suggested that marketers be multi-channel within a single message–for example, by including video in an email marketing message, which engages the recipient and also makes the message viral.

We’re so forward-thinking that it’s only been recently that the rest of the marketing industry has caught up, and realized that–like chocolate and peanut butter–video and email can be combined into one message to really entice consumers. Two great tastes taste great together, indeed!

• According to analyst David Daniels at Forrester Research, putting a video link within an email, such as a clickable screen shot, “can increase click-through rates by two to three times.”
• Mr. Daniels also notes in his recent report that between July 2008 and July 2009, 17 percent of marketing executives surveyed planned to use video in email. Marketers are getting competitive with video email!
• Meanwhile, Nielsen Online reported that in April of this year, 119 billion unique viewers watched 7 trillion total streams during the month; total streams were up 24 percent from a year ago, while streams-per-viewer are up 27 percent and time-per-viewer is up 58 percent. Consumers love watching online video!
• Technological advances make viewing video in an email more seamless for the consumer. For example, Gmail Labs now has a feature that allows users to turn on previews of YouTube videos. Once consumers set this on their accounts, they’re able to watch YouTube videos from inside the email message. As word spreads, marketers will reach increasingly more Gmail users with video emails!

So savvy marketers will want to beat the competition before it beats them. This requires them to: (1) post videos where they can easily be found, and (2) incorporate video into their email marketing messages. This may be easier said than done, but with mobileStorm’s technology and expertise, it’ll still be relatively easy.

mobileStorm Video allows clients to broadcast videos to more than a dozen of the most popular video sharing sites–all in a single click. After posting videos, marketers can insert the links from YouTube, MySpace, etc. into their email messages. Meanwhile, consumers who are not on one’s email contact list will also see the videos. (These people may even be enticed to sign up to receive a company’s future email messages and videos.)

It’s important to remember that one should NOT embed a video within a message. To do so goes against email marketing best practices. Most ISPs have a limit to how much information can be in an email, and an embedded video would far exceed this limit. Instead, just include links to the video within the message. Again, one of Mr. Daniels’ suggestions is to use clickable screen shots; consumers click on the image and it will link to a video already posted online.

(Next week: Part 2 will explain how to analyze results of a video email campaign; and will also offer tips for creating marketing videos.)

Eydie Cubarrubia, Marketing Communications Manager, mobileStorm
“I’d rather you text me”