How Using Video in Email is Easier Than Ever

Email may be one of the most despised technologies out there, and for good reason. You’ve probably heard (and experienced firsthand) frequent complaints about having to set aside chunks of the day to sift through overflowing inboxes. Most of the time, it’s an impersonal and frankly dull means of communication. And as far as we can tell, this technology isn’t going away anytime in the foreseeable future.

But there’s good news in spite of the mundanity of emails — they don’t have to be boring! In fact, you can even have a little fun with them, thanks to Wistia’s video recorder.

Video + email = the dream team

At Wistia, we’re not about to sit back and let uninspired emails take over our inboxes. Which is why we’ve been championing our new video creation tool as an all-purpose solution for replacing email with video when it comes to everything from pitching your product to “circling back” with a teammate.

By using video in your emails, you can quickly and easily take the strain out of hum-drum inbox catch-up, in addition to showing the people you interact with that you want them to have a delightful experience with your business.

“By using video in your emails, you can quickly and easily take the strain out of hum-drum inbox catch-up.”

Need some video-in-email inspiration? You’ve got it. Start off by substituting these 3 types of emails with video recordings by copying the thumbnail link right into your email provider. Your recipient will open the email and be greeted by your smiling face.

Email doesn’t deserve to be this fun. But what can we say? Video works magic like that.

1. The “touch base” email

Right up there with “reaching out” and “circling back,” “just wanted to touch base” is one of the most overused email greetings. (It doesn’t even make a ton of sense outside the contexts of tag and baseball.) So if your goal is to contact someone who hasn’t replied back to you yet, or you’re just looking to reach out to a partner or customer, video provides a far more personable, friendly way to get in touch than email ever could.

Here, Wistia’s own Shannon shows how she uses video recordings in lieu of a cold email to get in touch with a sales prospect. The CTA at the end makes for a compelling conclusion to an already engaging outreach video.

2. The meeting eliminator

Be honest: you really don’t need to have another meeting. Between all the work you have piling up on your desk and, yes, answering emails, your schedule could probably use a breather. Thankfully, you can forego your next meeting and give all the info you need to share with your team in a video.

“You can forego your next meeting and give all the info you need to share with your team in a video.”

Perhaps best of all, there’s no need to set up a studio to make your video recordings. In fact, you don’t even need to get off your couch. With our video recorder’s screen-sharing capabilities, it couldn’t be easier to run through detailed agendas or complex information. And don’t worry: you can still order bagels and coffee to-go to snack on during your “meeting.”

Molly normally meets with her team in-person at the start of each week to brainstorm and plan for the next few days. But thanks to Wistia, she can do it all from her computer without having to worry about everyone’s schedules aligning.

3. The out-of-office reply

You’ve planned every part of your vacation, right down to the cow-milking tour with a local Icelandic farmer. One thing you probably haven’t given much thought to, however, is what your automated out-of-office message will look like. So instead of the totally expected, “I’ll be away on vacation for the next week,” why not wow your email recipients with a quick rundown of where you are and when you’ll be back in touch?

In his out-of-office video recording, Daniel covers the essentials, from who to contact in case of a work emergency, to making everyone experience FOMO when he mentions where he’ll be.