Put Video in Your Email (Sort Of): What the Data Says

16 December 2025

Two of your best channels work even better combined. Studies from email platforms have long reported that adding video content to emails can lift click-through rates substantially — some tests show increases of two to three times — and that even the word "video" in a subject line tends to nudge open rates upward. People see a play button and want to press it.

The technical catch (and easy fix)

Most inboxes won't actually play embedded video. The professionals' method: a thumbnail image of your video with a play button on it, linked to the video on your website or YouTube. The viewer clicks, watches on a page you control — where your booking button conveniently lives. All of the appeal, none of the compatibility grief, plus the visit lands on your site.

What to send

• A monthly 60-second update to camera — familiar faces open future emails.
• The customer-question answer you filmed for social, repurposed.
• Job walkthroughs and case-study clips — proof performs.
• A personal thank-you at year end. Seasonally appropriate, disproportionately remembered.

Animated GIF previews (three seconds of your video looping) are the advanced version — motion in the inbox without a video player in sight. Your list plus your face: the most under-used pairing in small business marketing.