How Do You Use Video in Email Marketing to Boost Click-Through Rates?

Use video in email marketing through a clickable thumbnail with a play-button overlay or a short looping GIF, both linking back to the full video on its hosting platform. This is because most major email providers don’t support embedded video directly.

Done well, this can improve click-through rates by up to 96%, and including the word ‘video’ in your subject line alone can increase open rates by 19%. Of all the emails landing in people’s inbox daily, only a couple are likely to include video, and that’s an opportunity.

Option 1: A clickable thumbnail

Clickable thumbnails are the most common way to add video to an email. To create one:

Take a screenshot from your video or design a related image
Add a play button overlay using Canva or a similar tool
Download it as a JPG at 100KB or less. JPG keeps file size down better than PNG, especially for detailed images, which matters since every KB affects load time.
Add the thumbnail to your email, linking it back to the video on its hosting platform.

Option 2: A looping GIF

A GIF gives the illusion of an embedded video and helps you stand out in a crowded inbox. It’s a short, soundless, looping clip, usually only a few seconds long, and unlike a thumbnail, no one needs to press play. You can upload it directly into your email as an image file.

Always looping: grabs attention through repeated motion.
Compact but not tiny: smaller than a full video, though larger than a static image.
Naturally engaging: hard to scroll past, which helps lift click rates.

Creating your GIF

Upload our videos to Vimeo and create GIFs there, which works on both free and paid accounts, though free accounts add a watermark. Giphy Create is also a free alternative if you’d rather not use Vimeo.

From your video, open edit mode, select ‘Make a GIF,’ choose 2 to 3 eye-catching seconds (longer risks a file too large for email), then download at the small ’email’ file size and add it to your email as an image, linking through to the full video.

Optimising your GIF for email

Aim to keep GIFs under 1MB for fast loading and broad compatibility. A file that’s too large risks rejection by your email platform, slower load times, spam filtering, or failing to display for mobile users on weaker connections.

If it’s too big, reduce the width and height using a free tool like EZGIF’s cropping or resizing feature, keeping the original aspect ratio intact so nothing looks stretched.

For desktop-heavy audiences, aim for around 800 pixels wide; for mobile-heavy audiences, around 600 pixels. Setting the GIF’s width to 100% or using a max-width property lets it adapt automatically to whichever device it’s viewed on.

Testing GIFs before you send

Test your GIF across major email clients before sending, since Outlook, Gmail, and Apple Mail can each render GIFs differently. Some show only a static first frame; others struggle with large files or distort the aspect ratio. To do this, you can:

Use a preview tool like Email on Acid to see how your GIF renders across multiple clients.
Send test emails to your own accounts across different platforms and devices.
Ask colleagues on different email clients to check playback.
Always have a strong first frame, since that’s what displays if the GIF doesn’t play at all.

Where to position your thumbnail or GIF

The top of the email is the strongest position for a thumbnail or GIF. It’s the first thing readers see, with no scrolling required. Other effective spots include just after your intro, midway through longer content to break up text, or right before your CTA for a final push.

Tips for video email subject lines

Writing video email subject lines is similar to writing ones for regular emails. It should:

Include the word ‘video’ (or a 🎬-style reference) at the start or end of your subject line.
Keep it short: 41 to 50 characters is the general guideline for desktop, dropping to around 25 to 30 characters for mobile, since that’s roughly where most clients cut off the text.
Personalise it with the recipient’s name or company name to lift open rates further.
Be clear and specific about what the video actually delivers, rather than being vague about its content.

Calls-to-action for video content

Choose a CTA that matches the type of video content it’s paired with. Options worth considering include: Watch now, Learn more, See it in action, Get the full story, Take the tour, See for yourself, Hear from the expert, and Join us, each suited to a different type of video content.

Placement matters too. A CTA directly below the video sees the highest engagement, one placed beside the video performs moderately, and one buried at the bottom of the email performs worst.

Measuring success

Several ways of measuring success include:

Click-through rate: the percentage of recipients who clicked your video link.
Video views and play rate: how many people viewed the video, and how much of it they watched on average before dropping off.
Conversion rate: whether recipients took the action you wanted, from watching a set portion of the video through to completing a purchase.
Unsubscribe rate: worth tracking as a check; a rise after adding video may signal the approach isn’t landing with your audience.

Together, these metrics show what’s working and where to refine your approach.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does adding video increase email open rates?

Yes. Including the word ‘video’ or a video-related emoji in your subject line increases open rates by an average of 19%, since it signals dynamic, easily consumable content.

Why won’t my video play directly inside Gmail or Outlook?

Most major email clients disable native HTML5 video playback for security and spam prevention. The industry best practice is an animated GIF thumbnail with a play button that links through to your video’s web page.