eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
E-mail marketing provider Implix announced the results of an internal study conducted on almost one billion video e-mails sent following the July launch of GetResponse 6.0, the company’s e-mail marketing platform. The analysis compared open and click-through rates (CTR) achieved by video e-mails and non-video mails. The e-mails containing video received, on average, 5.6 percent higher open rates, and 96.38 percent higher CTRs than non-video mails.
According to an April 2009 report from Nielsen Online, “The Global Online Media Landscape”, video is one of the fastest growing Inernet marketing trends, with a 71 percent increase in online viewing time in the last year. With continued use, the Implix predicts recipients will increasingly prioritize and open messages from known senders of video e-mails. However, the company notes many small to medium-size businesses don’t have the budget or the staff to create professional-looking videos, which places them at a competitive disadvantage.
GetResponse lets non-technical users create their own video e-mail marketing campaigns without having to add software or equipment. Users can record, upload, send and store up to 100 MB of optimized video e-mails directly from their accounts in very little time, and the platform includes features like split testing, more than 300 templates and personalized opt-in/opt-out messages.
William Debauchez’s marketing team, called ILGSystem, has active members on five continents representing iLearning Global, an online learning company that boasted 14 billion video downloads last month alone. He said the company uses video follow-ups to maintain interest in their offerings and video e-mail newsletters to announce upcoming events, and both are extremely effective.
“Prospects like to see and hear who is marketing to them: Video shows me as a real person, with a real company. Most of all, video is very powerful at motivating people to take action. When I’m talking to my audience, I can communicate emotions and body language that feels ‘up close and personal’ and they respond to that,” he said. “I get around 50 percent more direct responses from video e-mails compared to conventional e-mail. As an author myself, I believe that words matter, but when you need to convince someone to opt-in or sign up, nothing beats video. And GetResponse video e-mail isn’t just for experienced marketers – anyone can use it. I recommend it to my team, and to anyone who wants to increase their marketing ROI.”
In order to encourage more small businesses to the benefits of video e-mail marketing, any business that opens or upgrades a GetResponse account through Jan. 2, 2010 will get GetResponse Multimedia Studio with 100 MB of video e-mail marketing free for the life of their account. Implix CEO Simon Grabowski said he truly believes in the profit-generating potential of video e-mail marketing, especially now he has the proof. “In fact, this season’s GetResponse holiday promotion is being communicated almost exclusively with GetResponse video e-mails,” he said. “I’m also excited that we are able to offer such an amazing gift this year, especially in these tough economic times. With ‘Free Video E-mails Forever’ it’s like putting $120 in our customers’ pockets every holiday.”