Video Email Marketing Facts, Stats, Limitations, Possibilities

1. Lisa Harmon Principal and Co-Founder, Smith-Harmon Chair, User Experience Roundtable, Email Experience Council President, Email Marketing Best Practices Roundtable Justin Foster Co-Founder & VP Market Development, Liveclicker Founder & President, Video Commerce Consortium Founder, Email Marketing Best Practices Roundtable Video Email MarketingFacts, Stats, Limitations, Possibilities 2009 Liveclicker Video Commerce Webinar Series, Part III of III August 12, 2009 Tweet about this webinar using #videoemail Follow us on Twitter! @lisaharmon, @videocommerce

2. Upcoming Events • Email Marketing Roundtable, Video Commerce Consortium • Largest consortium of interactive professionals dedicated to advancing the art and science of video commerce @ www.video-commerce.org • Largest roundtable of email marketers dedicated to peer-to-peer exchange of email marketing best practices @ http://groups.yahoo.com/groups/emailroundtable • Free Membership! • Shop.org Annual Summit, Sept. 21 – 23 • “40+ Specific Things You Can Do to Make Money Next Week” • Email Marketing Roundtable: “Video and Email Marketing” • StreamingMedia West, Nov 17 - 19 • “The Quiet Revolution in Video Commerce”

3. About the Presenters • Lisa Harmon – follow @lisaharmon • Principal and Co-Founder at Smith-Harmon • Chair, User Experience Roundtable, Email Experience Council • President, Email Marketing Roundtable • Currently working on the following initiatives: • Pushing email strategy and creative to optimize subscriber experience • and program performance • Leading the EEC Email Design Roundtable in it’s efforts to share • email creative best practices with the industry • Working to better integrate email into seamless cross-channel experiences • Justin Foster – follow @videocommerce • Co-Founder & VP Market Development at Liveclicker • Founder & President of the Video Commerce Consortium • Currently working on the following initiatives: • Actively studying the impact of video on e-commerce performance • Building Liveclicker and the VCC into world-class resources for professionals seeking to advance video for commerce • Communicating the value of video commerce through case studies, whitepapers, webinars, industry reports, events, blogging, and general industry thought leadership

4. Top Concerns re: Video in Email n = 287. Registrants attending “Video Email Marketing in 2009” 8/10/2009

5. Attitudes re: Video in Email n = 287. Registrants attending “Video Email Marketing in 2009” 8/10/2009

6. Expertise re: Video in Email n = 287. Registrants attending “Video Email Marketing in 2009” 8/10/2009

7. Facts, Limitations, Possibilities

8. Why Video in Email? The promotion of video in email has grown because… • Rising access to high-speed Internet has created a shift in how people desire to consume content online • The expense of creating and hosting video is falling • Video viewing increases engagement by adding context to products and building brands “Video in email can increase clickthrough rates by as much as 2X – 3X” - David Daniels, VP, Principal Analyst, Forrester Research May 4, 2009

9. Why Video is Relevant? • As the email channel matures, so do email subscribers: simply receiving an email is no longer the novelty it once was. • It’s become necessary for email marketers to differentiate themselves in the inbox by using more thoughtful strategies and tactics. • Video brings an exciting “third dimension” to what’s traditionally been a two-dimensional experience.

10. 4 Ways to Deliver Video in Email • “The results are conclusive – the only reliable way to embed • video in email is through the use of animated .gifs” • 2009 Campaign Monitor Video in Email Study • January, 2009

11. Static Image with Video Call-to-Action Static Image: A static image simply features a still of one of the frames of the video Use strong visual cues to indicate video presence to encourage subscribers to click through to web-hosted video. • PROS: • Compatible with nearly all mail clients • No learning curve • Established best practices • CONS: • It’s not really video in email • Subscriber must click through for video • and audio

12. Video .GIF v. Animated .GIF 1999: Animated .GIF 2009: Video .GIF

13. Video .GIF Video .GIF: A video .gif uses a compressed, streamed animated .GIF to deliver video-quality content. • PROS: • Compatible with most mail clients (~75% - 90%) • Displays video directly in email • Does not cause ISP blocks • Does not require the end user to download the • video prior to viewing • CONS: • No audio • Works most places, but not everywhere • Limited player controls • Requires enabled images • Production and delivery expense

14. Certified Video Certified Video: Goodmail Systems is rolling out its CertifiedVideo service. • PROS: • Currently the only solution in the market providing • full-motion audio and video directly in email without • clicking to landing pages • Inbox placement guaranteed • Works regardless of whether images are enabled • CONS: • Only works at AOL (9, 10 clients, AOL Webmail) • Additional cost for video delivery via GM partner • Production expense

15. Email Client Support for Video, by Inclusion Method

16. Email Client Market Share Email Client Market Share Report, FingerPrintApp. September 2008.

17. ISP Support for Video, by Inclusion Method Top 23 US ISPs by Subscriber, Q3 2008. Alex Goldman.

18. Browser Support for Video .GIF, by Market Share All browsers are not created equal. Video .GIF playback compatibility is dependent on the underlying user agent of the web browser or mail client. Browser Version Market Share. Net Applications. 8/10/2009.

19. Which email clients block images by default? • LEARN MORE: • Certified Email (Goodmail): Unblock images at AOL, BT, Yahoo, Telus, Cox, Comcast • Certification Program (Return Path): Unblock images at Windows Live Mail

20. Best Practices for Video .GIFs Best practices are still emerging for video .GIFs in email, but the following rules should be followed to maximize performance/experience. • DO: • Use video as a tool to create engagement and richer visualization, not as a subscriber distraction. • Key takeaway: Use video as a primary call-to-action, rather than supporting visual element. • Ensure the first frame of the video is acceptable for the ‘exception’ mail clients that show static images only. • Key takeaway: Add call-to- action on the first frame of the • video so Outlook 2007 will still display a meaningful image.

21. Best Practices for Video .GIFs Best practices are still emerging for video .GIFs in email, but the following rules should be followed to maximize performance/experience. • DO • Pay attention to your video infrastructure. • Key takeaway: 1MM email • subscribers, 25% open rate, 5MB video • can consume 1.25 million megabytes • (1,250 gigabytes) of bandwidth in a • single email campaign. • Experiment with dithering and frame rate to • reduce the bandwidth load required of the • end recipient. • Key takeaway: Reducing the number • of colors per frame from 256 to 128 can • reduce the size of a video .GIF by 25% • without noticeably impacting output • quality.

22. Best Practices for Video .GIFs Best practices are still emerging for video .GIFs in email, but the following rules should be followed to maximize performance/experience. • DO • Measure audience engagement. • Key takeaway: While engagement • metrics for video .GIFs are not • perfect, they are directionally useful and will give you new insight into your email audience. • Consider technology for .GIF creation. • Key takeaway: Unless you want • to create 8 – 20 versions of a .GIF • to account for the variances in compatibility in mail clients, and manually compress files, technology can dramatically automate the production of email video.

23. Best Practices for Video .GIFs Best practices are still emerging for video .GIFs in email, but the following rules should be followed to maximize performance/experience. • DON’T • Make videos that require greater than 150kB – 200kB/ • sec in data transfer to display properly. • Key takeaway: Measure the connection speed of • visitors on your web site to get an idea of % of • your email audience on dial-up. • Use video as a secondary or tertiary item in the email. • Key takeaway: Go “all the way” or “not at all.” • Otherwise, video can actually hurt your results. • NEVER, EVER use Flash or Javascript to attempt to get • video to play in email, unless you are using • CertifiedVideo™ and sending only to an AOL audience.

24. Results Results • REI • “Statistically significant” increase in CTR, CVR, AOV - March, 2009 • SAP • Increased CTR from 7% to 32% - January, 2009 • Olympus • 49% increase in CVR over several emails. - April, 2007 • eBags • 65.5% increase in sales in YoY test of video v. no video. - June, 2009

25. Key Takeaways • CertifiedVideo™ currently represents the truest incarnation of full video in email. However, its limited adoption by ISPs hinders usefulness for now. • Video .GIFs, on the other hand, represent a step toward universal video in • email coverage, yet technical limitations remain, like audio support. • For today, when executing video in email campaigns, the recommendation for • the highest quality and broadest reach of video in email is to combine CertifiedVideo™ where it works, supplement with video .GIFs where it does not, and take advantage of auto-image rendering at CertifiedEmail™ ISPs to broaden the coverage of video in email.

26. Common Questions Q: How large are the video files? What’s the recommended size? A: Size isn’t really that important for video .GIFs, because the videos download progressively in the background once the user opens the email, even though they stream immediately. It’s much more important to ensure that the amount of bandwidth required of the end subscriber not exceed 150kB – 200kB/second, unless you know your audience can accept higher throughput. Q: How long should my email videos be? A: With Certified Video, length may be less of an issue because audio can be used to capture the attention of the reader. With video .GIFs, videos are typically no longer than 30 – 45 seconds. A best practice for longer videos would be to use subtitles or text displayed throughout the video to maintain attention. Q: How can I find out how much of my audience can view video? A: Check out FingerPrintApp.com. For less than $50, you can take a snapshot of your subscriber list on your next email campaign to determine what mail clients are being used.

27. Common Questions Q: How can I find out more? A: Your first call should be to your agency or ESP to check whether they’re already partnered with Liveclicker. If not, email sales@liveclicker.com. Q: I don’t know anything about making video. Where should I start? A: Liveclicker recommends starting out with an email design specialist with particular experience in using video in the channel. Smith-Harmon is one of many great options. Your ESP may also have some experience. Or email info@liveclicker.com for references.

28. Lisa Harmon Principal and Co-Founder, Smith-Harmon Chair, User Experience Roundtable, Email Experience Council President, Email Marketing Best Practices Roundtable Justin Foster Co-Founder & VP Market Development, Liveclicker Founder & President, Video Commerce Consortium Founder, Email Marketing Best Practices Roundtable Video Email Marketing in 2009Facts, Stats, Limitations, Possibilities 2009 Liveclicker Video Commerce Webinar Series, Part III of III August 12, 2009