Video Email Part 2: Control

I spoke last time about the need for a business to have control over their video content. Sending hypertext links or trying to embed a video on their website is not control. When I speak of control, at least on the subject of sending video, I’m talking about combining the content with the package it is to be sent in. This brings me to video email. What is video email? Think of it as a method to send video content to someone’s inbox without having them needing to travel to another site, or download a massive file. 

Most people think that when they want to share a video, they are restricted to sending a link through email. This link will then take users to a page where the video is embedded, or perhaps to a page that leads to another page. The point is that this process is cumbersome and generally not very professional. Also the control I’ve been talking about is nonexistant.

This is where video email comes in. Imagine being able to create a list of videos you want your recipient to watch. You place thumbnail pictures of these videos into an email, then you customize the email with additonal text, links, and downloadable documents. When your recipient opens up the email and clicks on the thumbnail, the video launches and begins to play. No digging through multiple pages or sending users to a cluttered site. Simply click and watch. Senders of video email can now control what content their receipients are viewing by directing their video watching experience.

In additional to the control afforded over the content itself, video email providers can also give senders the ability to track their emails. Not only can you track when an email is opened, but also when a video is watched, which files were downloaded, and which additional links were clicked. Video email tracking has become just as sophisticated as web statistics.

I end this segment of video email by saying that businesses can embrace video, and the sending of video without giving up control. The key is to find the tools that allow for you to retain control without sacrificing the technology that comes with streaming video.

For more information on video email, please visit ClickStreamTV

Video Email Part 1: Sending Video

The topic of video email is coming up more and more with many users not content to just sit idly bay and wait for viewers to come to them. We live in a global market where we’re no more than  a few clicks away from new customers. So how does video email fit into this market? Allow me to explain.

Think of video email as the next step in sharing videos. I’m can gurantee you’ve shared a Youtube video with friends, perhaps it was a clip from a television show, or someone falling off a boat. You have a few options when you share these videos. You can copy a link and send it to a friend via email or instant messenger. You can even embedd the video onto your own site, facebook profile, etc. The point is that the videos do not stay in one place. Like all data on the Internet, they travel.

So what if you’re a small business? Of course you could put your videos on YouTube and hope others share them or send links to those videos to customers. While YouTube is inarguably the most popular video sharing site, businesses who use it for video content are sharing their viewership with clips of kids blowing off fireworks. 

What businesses need to do is step away from social media sites, they need to embrace their own video content and exercise complete control. This is where video email comes in.