Using Videos In Emails – 19 Brilliant Examples From eCommerce Brands

Want to increase your email’s click-through rate by 300%? Use a video in your email.

Although, that’s just the surface – here are 19 awesome examples of eCommerce brands crushing engagement and conversions with video email marketing.

Let's go! 

19 Top Video Email Marketing Examples to Inspire Your Own

1. Do a tease

Subject Line: 📢Stay Tuned: PETLIBRO New Feeder is Coming Soon!

Preview Text: 🐈Feeding Made Personal

👉 How does this email marketing example leverage a video to create a teaser

As a GIF to build intrigue – shows a silhouette in multiple angles to reveal key details of the upcoming product, like:

→ how the product works 

→ the shape of the product

Pro Tip: Create your teaser GIF by finding the best frames from a longer teaser video, which you may be using on your landing page – or your socials.

Also read: 15 Top Examples of eCommerce Teaser Emails (+ Templates)

2. Hold contests or a challenge 

Subject Line: Feeling lucky?

Preview Text: Spin to reveal your deal.

👉 How is video used in this email marketing example to hold a contest 

Helps visualize the reward – features a single GIF image – in which only the spinner wheel portion is partly animated, showing a mystery discount.

Pro Tip: Merge your social and email marketing strategy – use an animated GIF to invite users to join a ‘pause the video’/giveaway contest on your socials – your email just needs to use the animated GIF to establish the rules.

Also read: Converting Mid-Funnel Customers in eCommerce: 14 Effective Strategies

3. Show a meme

Subject Line: Say goodbye to this one

Preview Text: Almost done

👉 How is a meme video used in this email marketing example 

To foster rapport with the target audience – features a single GIF from a wildly popular cartoon TV series among millennials.

Pro Tip: Consider using memes and GIFs from Tenor in your ‘thank-you’ emails – but, only use them if they seem authentic to your brand’s tonality and target audience.

4. Show product variants

Subject Line: Guests notice…

Preview Text: Wow them with this popular tub mat

👉 How does this email marketing example make use of a video

Reduces length and complexity – and creates a solid visual nudge – shows a GIF that shows multiple product variants.

Pro Tip: Experiment with visual hooks to help increase your click-through rate – for example, displaying an Instagram story by showing a ring around product photos – and showing nudges like “view story.”

Also read: 25 Best Examples of Nudge Marketing in eCommerce 

5. Make upsells & cross-sells

Subject Line: &(AND), a unique style guide

Preview Text: A new place to get inspired

👉 How this video email marketing example creates a cross-sell

Optimizes the first fold – and primes users to scroll down – shows a GIF featuring the looks displayed in the email.

Pro Tip: Use your email copy to create continuity from your video – note how the static image at the footer ties in with the GIF to make sure shoppers click through.

Also read: eCommerce Upsell Emails: High-converting Examples (+ Templates)

6. Show your manufacturing process

Subject Line: 🤫 Pssttt… want a behind-the-scenes peek?

Preview Text: There’s a story inside every jar.

👉 What does the video do in this email marketing example

Builds trust – shows two GIFs – one to show the process of manufacturing – and another to show the ingredients.

Pro Tip: Use this format to build a yearly recap email – all you would have to do is replace the ingredients with the highlights, add in a countdown timer – and maybe add in a founder’s story.

Also read: 17 Retention Strategies that Actually Work (for eCommerce)

7. Show what’s in that bundle

Subject Line: Trial-Size Minis For Regimen-Building Perfection

Preview Text: Shop now and receive a mystery gift with purchase

👉 How video has been used in this email marketing example

To show the product sizes and build a reason to scroll through – shows a GIF of the entire bundle being put together in a small container. 

Pro Tip: Use a shorter version of this email as your delivery confirmation email format – feature an animated video showing what the order contains – along with a short how-to-use blurb.

Also read: 46 easy-to-copy confirmation email templates (+ best practices & FAQs)

8. Flaunt your USP

Subject Line: The freshest nutrition possible…

Preview Text: Even though raw is millennia old.

👉 How does this email marketing example use video

To reduce the length and communicate faster – features single frames that showcase different USP(s) of WeFeedRaw, along with powerful images.

Pro Tip:  Use this format for cart and browse abandonment emails, sent to new subscribers – try highlighting close-ups of your products – show what makes you unique like stitching, fabric, nutrient information, etc.

Also read: 40 Abandoned Cart Email Examples that Actually Win Back Lost Customers

9. Showcase a new product

Subject Line: Breaking News: Vista V3 Just Landed! 🎉

Preview Text: Ready to make it yours?

👉 How does this email marketing example use video

To show what has changed – features two GIFs, one in the first fold to show the product in real-life use by the target audience – and, one at the bottom to help differentiate between previous offerings.

Pro Tip: Adapt this video email marketing template to show a back-in-stock product –  bring out what’s different, the updates to your products, etc. 

Also read: 19 product launch email examples that drove massive sales (+ templates)

10. Help shoppers take a quiz

Subject Line: What Does Your Jewelry Personality Say About You?

Preview Text: And unlock a surprise rewards just for you ✨💎

👉 How does this email marketing example use video

Makes users feel like they received something personal (the Barnum effect) – shows a GIF of a diamond rolling through a maze to show a personality type. This, in turn, affirms or challenges the user's preconceived notions about themselves – and helps increase the CTOR (click-to-open rate).

Pro Tip: Consider showing a sneak preview of the questions in your quiz – and, animate the answers to show fictional results – your goal here is to show how easy it is to complete the quiz.

Also read: The Best Quiz Funnel Examples for your eCommerce Store

11. Stand for a cause

Subject Line: October is Eczema Awareness Month

Preview Text: Here’s how we’re helping

👉 How does this email marketing example use video

To showcase social proof as well as the brand's commitment towards the cause – shows animated before and after headshots of the brand's shoppers who have benefited. 

Pro tip: Use this format for your cart abandonment emails – feature user comments in your animations to showcase the popularity of your products. 

Also read: 12 eCommerce Brands Acing Cause Marketing in 2024

12. Feature your brand teaser

Subject Line: New Chef Videos: Nancy Silverton + Levain Bakery + 2nd Ave Deli!

Preview Text: Iconic chefs are shipping their signature dishes nationwide – Watch them on

👉 How does this email marketing example use video

To showcase the people behind the brand – features several GIFs made out of clips from interviews with chefs whose meals are available for delivery on Goldbelly – shows the quotes, dishes, and the people. 

Pro Tip: If you feature multiple products through videos in one email, track interactions for every individual product – and send deeper video narratives based on what a user interacts with. For example, the next follow-up email for the above example could contain a taste test video featuring the dishes of a restaurant, a subscriber interacted with. 

Also read: eCommerce Behavioral Segmentation Examples For 2024

13. Inspire shoppers – share some hacks

Subject Line: Our favorite recipe on repeat 🥘

Preview Text: Who doesn't like french onion soup?

👉 How does this email marketing example use video

To showcase a quick preview of what's in the email – shows a GIF of a recipe being put together and dug into.

Pro Tip: In case you don’t have expert content, repurpose your influencer collaborations to feature as newsletters – show what their picks are – how they choose the picks. Need more inspiration? Check this next video email marketing example 👇

Also read: Food And Beverage eCommerce — 41 Inspiring Email Marketing Examples

14. Feature influencer recommendations

Subject Line: ENDS SOON! Enjoy up to 25% off* Kiehl’s skincare

Preview Text: nil

👉 How video has been used in this email marketing example

To create a product page-like experience – features GIFs across the email – to subtly create visual cues as well as feature products in use by influencers. 

Pro Tip: A/B test with static images showing sneak peeks to find which works better – note how this example leads to a video with a screenshot from an Instagram video, a quote, and a CTA:

Also read: Influencer Marketing 101: Step-by-Step Strategy For eCommerce Store Owners

15. Tag your shoppers

Subject Line: Autumn Grilling Adventures with HitchFire 🍂

Preview Text: Sweet Potato Chili + Tailgater of The Month!

👉 How does this email marketing example use video

Builds rapport, and acts as a nice surprise, while the primary CTA leads to video content about the product being used.

Pro Tip: Consider showing a blurb about your featured shoppers along with animated GIFs of their photos – this will help build shares.

Also read: 27 Brilliant User-Generated Content Examples (eCommerce)

16. Welcome shoppers in style

Subject Line: Welcome to Mondaine

Preview Text: Your 15% off welcome code is inside!

👉 How video is at the core of this email marketing example

Creates subtle product placement and helps users guess the size of the product – shows two frames of the product, one in a close angle, another in a daily setting.

Pro Tip:  Consider showing shoppers a quick ‘about us’ in your welcome emails –  how your product is made – or an interview of your employees using a GIF.

Also read: 13 Incredible Examples of Welcome Emails (eCommerce)

17. Feature post-purchase tutorials

Subject Line: Setting Up Your Paddleboard?

Preview Text: We’ve got you covered! 🛠️

👉 How video has been used in this email marketing example

To drive traffic to blog/post-purchase content and ensure brand stickiness – shows an animated GIF of the tutorial highlights plus, a dedicated CTA and an overlay – that ensures shoppers don’t miss the tutorial.

Pro Tip: Consider setting up videos showing how to use reward points for users who haven’t engaged after purchasing.

Also read: 29 Brilliant "Post-Purchase Email" Examples (+ How to copy them)

18. Show how to use your product

Subject Line: Did you know this about our Deodorants?

Preview Text: Yes, they smell amazing. And yes, they have award-winning performance. But, there's

👉 How video has been used in this email marketing example

As a tutorial using a stop motion GIF – shows how the refill works and helps maintain sustainability.

Pro Tip: Keep the duration of your animation to at least 5 seconds – this helps ensure your animations pull focus.

Also read: Writing Replenishment Emails That Convert

19. Get them to sign up for something

Subject Line: 🤔 Think all soaps are the same?

Preview Text: Think again >> ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ 

👉 How does this email marketing example use a video

By featuring two GIFs, one shows what it’s like to be a part of the brand's SMS program – and the other shows the brand's USPs. 

Pro Tip: Use a similar format to explain how shoppers can redeem rewards and referrals.

Also read: 7 surefire ways to grow your email list in 2024

10 Essential Best Practices For Using Videos In Email Marketing

1. Pass the silence test

Videos in emails are silent by default, as 99% of videos in emails are just animated images with links to landing pages or video hosting platforms (Dailymotion, YouTube, Vimeo). 

The way out? Use visual hooks to make sure shoppers click through – here are some ideas:

• Show captions on the videos
• Keep the length under 10 seconds
• Avoid revealing every detail

2. Thumbnails are what drive clicks

However, if you don't use animated images, visual hooks become even tougher. 

Your thumbnails are what induce people to click through – this is why these ideas are extremely important when it comes to videos in emails:

• Show the play button clearly – make sure shoppers can identify that the image is playable
• Make the play button animated – make it look like a loading screen to make shoppers hover over it – and play (set CSS to play on hover)
• Use a custom thumbnail layout instead of your standard YouTube-generated thumbnail – take inspiration from this example:

Also read: 17 Proven Ideas to Improve Email Marketing Conversion Rate (+ Examples)

3. Let them know there’s a video inside

Use your subject line to let shoppers know what to expect. The reason: if you include videos in emails and let no one know, you may just as well miss out on a lot of opens. 

Remember: It's just not about adding the ‘🎥’, ‘🎞️’, and ‘📽️’ emojis to your subject line – this is about setting your subject line apart to drive open rate. 

4. Use CSS

Cascading Style Sheets are almost always supported across all email clients – but the only drawback is that CSS needs to be coded. 

That being said, CSS can help you not only autoplay videos on user interaction but also create text animations and display multiple frames, without the need for heavy animations. 

5. Track link clicks

By this, we mean tracking how many times the link to your video/social media post gets clicked on. 

If the number of clicks is greater than the number of people who opened the email, it's a great sign – it means shoppers are engaging. 

However, the best way to measure the effectiveness of your video efforts is to tag all links to your video landing pages with custom UTM parameters (provided your cart and checkout pages record these UTM parameters). 

6. Optimize file formats

Videos in emails can become extremely large. It's never a good idea to include anything over 20 seconds in your emails. 

The reasoning is simple, the more the frames, the larger the size. If required, use a lower frame rate video with a low duration. 

Use a WebP or a WebM format for your GIFs and videos. Above all, keep all file sizes under 200 KB (or else your email’s deliverability and domain reputation can take a hit).

7. Make it responsive

Try going for vertical over horizontal video formats. This helps ensure that your GIFs scale across your mobile as well as desktop devices.

Also read: eCommerce Email Mobile Optimization: 35 Guidelines For Store Owners

8. Directly tag products on videos

In all chances, your email videos lead to YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or, a landing page. 

If it leads to a landing page on your store, you don't have to worry about tagging products. However, if it has to do with any of the other platforms, try finding a way to tag links to your products, if there are any – here's an example from Abercrombie:

9. Well-shot videos are key

Remember, no matter what, your videos have to be well-shot and uniquely driven to actually pull users. 

Experiment with visual hooks, different narratives, and modes of shooting.

Also read: eCommerce Video Marketing Ideas That Actually Improve Sales

10. Adapt for holiday marketing

Holiday emails deserve a special touch – and your videos in emails must reflect the same. Try to show elements that fit in with, not only the theme of the festival at hand – but also, the promotion you're running. 

Also read: Best-Performing Holiday Email Templates for eCommerce (+ Brand Examples)

Summing up: Don’t forget UX

Videos help improve your email’s usability – by reducing cognitive load. However, most eCommerce store owners don’t see email as a serious revenue stream.

Ask them about the importance of email marketing, and you'll hear:

“We don’t really have a major strategy,”

“We mostly use generic templates,” or

“We just send emails to people on our list.”

BUT AT THE SAME TIME: 

There are stores out there that drive 30%+ of their revenue from email marketing. 

Engage can help you do the same - Book a free demo.

We’ll show you:

• workflows we can create for your store,
• proven ways to drive 30% or more $$ from email alone, and 
• successful templates and strategies from your industry (and others).

People Also Ask

1. Do videos in email work?

Videos in emails are a proven hack – with over 300% more CTR. It’s always worth remembering that the human brain responds better to visual stimuli – which is why even animated GIFs do the job that videos do. So, are videos in emails effective – yes and yes. 

2. Do email clients support videos?

As of 2024, they don’t – most email clients that do show videos support HTML5 formatted videos – however, to get that to work requires a great deal of coding. This is why most email marketers and brands stick to GIFs. 

3. Can you directly embed videos into emails? 

Yes – but, should you do it for your email marketing campaigns?  No—because only a few clients actually support video. So, how do you do it – here are the 5 best ways of sending a video through email marketing:

• Use a GIF using clips of the video
• Use a static image with a play button overlay
• Show a still from a video with a CTA button
• Show an image with a YouTube play button overlay
• Use a CSS animation to create transitions between two frames on hover