Workshop provides a seamless way to incorporate video into your emails while ensuring a smooth recipient experience. Instead of embedding the video directly within the email body, Workshop opens a new window to display the content. This method enhances accessibility and ensures consistent playback across various email clients.
Why Directly Embedding Video is Challenging
Most email clients, including Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo, do not support the necessary HTML code to properly render and play videos within the email body. This is due to security and performance concerns. Since many email clients do not support embedded video, the content may not display correctly or fail to play entirely, leading to a fragmented or broken email experience.
Options for using videos in Workshop emails
- If you are using a public YouTube or Vimeo video, insert the "Video" content piece into your email and simply add the URL. A thumbnail will automatically populate.
- If you are using a private video or another video provider, here are some great options to display videos for best engagement:
- GIF with clickable link: Add a customized GIF to your Workshop File Manager. Drag the "Image" content block into your email, then select your GIF. Once added, navigate to "Actions" on the right-hand side and add the video URL. The GIF will be clickable and open a web page to display your video.
- Thumbnail with clickable link: Create a thumbnail of your video through Instagram, Canva, or Adobe Express. Upload the thumbnail in your File Manager. Once your image is inserted in the email, navigate to "Actions" on the right-hand side and add the video URL. The thumbnail will be clickable and open a web page to display your video.
- You can take this method one step further and do a "play button" overlay for a more enhanced callout.
- Button: Add a button to your email and rename button as "Watch Now" or "Click here for video". Navigate to "Actions" on the right-hand side and add the video URL. The button will be clickable and open a web page to display your video.
By following these best practices, you can incorporate video effectively while maintaining a high-quality email experience for all recipients.