I’m often asked what I think the hottest trend in ecommerce is and I believe it’s video content. So I’m excited to see more new technology emerge that can embed video right into retail email, and retailers experimenting with it. Anna Yeaman reports one retailer boasting a 20-27% click through rate without linking to video, and 51-65% with links to video. And Forrester Research reports video in email can increase click through by 2-3X.

As Mark Brownlow explains in his state-of-play update on video in retail email, early use of video in email was really linking an image of a video to a video hosted on the Web.

Some retailers like Overstock, REI and Sears got clever and converted video to animated gifs. (Hat tip to Chad White of the RetailEmailBlog for these examples). REI uses Liveclicker, but Anna Yeaman has a DIY tutorial on how to convert video to animated gif.

What’s so tough about embedding actual video in email?

Deliverability is the issue. Large video attachments are often a red flag for spam filters, and ISPs (Internet service providers) block “complex data” including Javascript for security reasons.

ISPs have banned Javascript Sending video in an e-mail has been a challenge for deliverability, since large video attachments often alert spam filters. The way that Goodmail gets around this issue is that their e-mail class, called CertifiedEmail, is a paid service that does not go through typical e-mail filters.

How to beat the filters

Last month, email certification company Goodmail launched its video certification project, CertifiedEmail. CertifiedEmail includes a trust stamp which is like a VIP pass through spam filters. Goodmail customers pay a fee to send email with CertifiedEmail, and embedded video will play at Goodmail’s partner ISPs which for now includes AOL, with more ISPs to follow.

The CertifiedEmail service locks down the bit of code that calls the video server, allowing actual video code to live in the email rather than just a placeholder. Target is one of the first companies to sign on with the service.

Google recently announced it would support Youtube links in email for Gmail accounts. It’s not an embed, rather Gmail recognizes Youtube code and displays the video in the email — provided that the Gmail user has enabled the feature through Google Labs. It’s unlikely the average Gmail user is going to turn this on — so don’t get too excited. But it’s possible this will become default in the future.

For now, the animated gif trick seems the most reliable method. CertifiedEmail is promising but needs a few more ISPs on board.

Stay on top of retail email trends

3 great retail email blogs are RetailEmailBlog, StyleCampaign and Email-Marketing-Reports. 2 hot retail video blogs are VCC and Videoretail. I follow these folks to stay in the loop. And do read the entirety of Mark Brownlow’s post Video Email: Current Practices.

“Before you put on makeup - do this.”

This subject line from a recent Sephora email caught my attention. Not so much because I want to learn about makeup, but being a marketing fanatic I thought it was a compelling headline and wanted to see if the email creative was equally compelling.

I did a happy dance when I opened this email from Sephora - it epitomizes what I’ve been talking about here on Get Elastic about sharing product knowledge in email and attaching value propositions to featured products:

It even uses a clever play-on-words - a “primer” can be a tool to teach basic concepts, or something that is worn under makeup to “make makeup last longer and prevent smudging all day.” Sephora presents a primer-primer that makes the customer aware that primers for face, lips and eyes exist (I didn’t know that), explains their value proposition concisely and recommends products to satisfy the demand it just created.

The email also mentions its Beauty Insider loyalty program a few times - each mention offers a value proposition for becoming a member: exclusive products, personalized email recommendations in the future and rewards points.

Should retail email sell or inform? I think Sephora does a little of both.

The etailing group’s 8th Annual Merchant Survey asked 190 senior executives about their e-commerce merchandising and marketing practices. Regarding email, execs were asked about what kind of content their emails use. The number one answer was “sales and specials” at 86%, with “their own branding” (83%), “seasonal messaging” (79%), and “new product introductions” (77%) following close behind.

“Useful information” did not make the list.

Last week I shared a shared a tip my manager gave me when I worked at a shoe store - when the store is “dead” - make a mess. Make it look like stuff’s going on in your store.

Another pearl of wisdom from my Al Bundy days is to “give customers free information.” I had a bunch of general and product specific facts in my shoe-salesgirl arsenal that I would casually drop in conversation with a customer. This would build rapport, trust and keep the customer engaged. Because I wasn’t a pushy salesperson - customers would spend longer time with me and were more open to my suggestion for cross-sells and alternatives. Even if a sale didn’t happen on the spot, I was sowing seeds in hopes the customer would be more likely to come back to our store, and more likely to approach me for help than other sales people.

Here are some examples of tidbits I would share. Some were product/brand specific, others were general:

• Certain shoes use vegetable dye which is more environmentally sound but is likely to bleed color the first time you wear it. So make sure to wear dark socks for the first couple wears, and consider spraying the inside with suede and nubuck protector.

• Suede and nubuck protector is like the all-purpose protector except with a finer mist so it penetrates the material better and covers more surface area.

• Rather than gluing the upper to the sole, Ecco shoes inject their rubber around the upper, so it’s near impossible to come apart. They also have removable antibacterial insoles that can be washed in a washing machine.

• Liquid shoe wax will dry out the leather so you want to use leather cleaner to remove old wax before piling on new wax or the leather will crack.

• The best time to try on shoes is in the morning when your feet are the widest.

When someone opens your retail email, it’s like they’ve entered your store. There’s no commitment to buy and they’re not even sure what they want to buy. Rather than just pointing people to the sale bin, or your new arrivals, or even the best seller - why not mix in some free information? This may help build rapport, trust and keep the customer engaged. Customers might spend longer time reading your email and be more open to your product suggestions. If a click/sale doesn’t happen, the customer may be more willing to open future emails from you and choose your store over others.

Use your product knowledge to “romance” featured products, including at least one interesting characteristic or useful benefit. LL Bean does this very well. You rarely see a featured product that doesn’t include some key benefit. For example, in this email: “Tailor made for warm weather, our cool, breathable Tropicwear Shirts block UV rays, wick moisture and stay wrinkle free all day long.” There’s even a link to a video for more information:

Check out more LL Bean email examples here.

What general and product-specific knowledge could you share in your emails?

Chad White from the Retail Email Blog recently spotted this email from TigerDirect that dynamically updates image files when a product sells out. This practice prevents the frustration and disappointment when one clicks to a product that’s no longer available, creates urgency for other products and may prompt the recipient to open TigerDirect emails right away in the future.

The dynamic replacement is certainly cool But what if you deliberately mixed in some sold out products in your emails?

My first retail job was selling shoes in the mall. When the mall was “dead” and the store empty, we would begin to make a mess. We’d pull shoe samples off the shelf and throw them all over the floor. The idea was people browsing the mall are more likely to enter a store with activity than one where the sales girls are leaning over the counter tapping pencils and blowing bubble-gum.

In a way, using Sold Out labels in an email creates the impression the store is busy and successful. Not unlike when real estate agents list sold homes in the newspaper.

This would make a very interesting test, and I wouldn’t be surprised if click through is high on sold out items — we humans always tend to desire what we can’t have.

When you use a human model in an email campaign, print / banner ad or landing page - does it help or hinder usability, persuasion and conversion?

Research from eye-tracking specialists Bunnyfoot and Think Eyetracking show that a model’s eyes influence your eye movement:

Bunnyfoot, via GrokDotCom

Think Eyetracking, via GrokDotCom

When conducting email tests, often the variables considered are subject lines, headlines, time/date of delivery, offers, call to action buttons, prices or featured products. But as Bryan Eisenberg suggests, you should treat a model’s gaze as a testing variable.

Though this research has been known for a while, most ecommerce creative using human models use the “here’s looking at you” approach:

Or the “looking in the opposite direction”:

With the occasional “looking at something”:

While I find the research fascinating, I’d like to see eye-tracking studies that compare when a model looks head-on vs. at a headline vs. at a featured product vs. at a call to action button — combined with actual impact on conversion and average order value / revenue.

Anyone?