More and more people are opening their emails with their smartphones. Mobile users can benefit from a smart video experience with YouTube and Vimeo links. If you add YouTube and Vimeo links into the mobile version of your Mail Designer 365 newsletter, your readers are directly forwarded to the corresponding YouTube or Vimeo apps for the iOS or the Android. This makes it easier for your readers to watch your videos while on-the-go. In this tutorial, we will show you how to add videos for mobile users with Mail Designer 365.
Insert video links within your email templates:
- Drag a layout block with an image area.
- Then, drag a video placeholder from Mail Designer 365’s library and drop it into an image area.
- Remember, you can only drag a video placeholder into an image area and not into a text area.
- Tip: Drag a photo into the video placeholder to display as the preview picture of your video.
- Tip: If you are linking to a YouTube or Vimeo video, then you can click on the video placeholder that you added into your template. Type or copy & paste your link within the “Link to Video” form. Click “Generate preview.” This will generate images from the video that you can use as the preview picture.
- Tip: If you want to only link videos for mobile users, then make sure to that you are editing on the "Smartphone" version of your Mail Designer 365 email design. Click the "Smartphone" icon on the right. Then, try to adjust any layout block, while you are on the mobile version. This will prompt Mail Designer 365 to ask you if you want to detach the mobile version from the desktop version. Make sure to click "Detach" if you only want to link your videos for mobile users.
If you do not want to use one of the video placeholders from Mail Designer 365’s library, then try this:
- You can drag the photo that you want to use as the preview picture directly into an image area.
- Then, drag your own player icon on top of the image to imitate a video player look.
- This method is a great choice to create big player icons that recipients can easily touch on their mobile screen.
- Now, make sure to link this image area with your video. Try to use a YouTube or Vimeo URL to take advantage of the smart video experience for mobile users.
- If your readers already have the YouTube or Vimeo app installed, the video will play directly on their tablet or smartphone when they touch their video preview image.
- If not, the device will prompt them to download the relevant app.
- Extra tip: With Vimeo, it is possible to deposit a CTA link at the end of the video.
- Go to your Vimeo video.
- Choose "Settings."
- Then, choose "Embed"
- Under "Interaction tools," you will find "After video"
- Choose "Edit" > "Call to action"
- You can edit the following: Title, Description, Button, and Link
- This is a good technique if you want to link to a landing or action page at the end of your video
Note: Since most email clients and inbox providers do not support video tags, Mail Designer 365 does not support embedding videos within your email template. As much as possible, to help ensure that the design you created is what your recipients receive, Mail Designer 365 only supports linking to videos from video-sharing websites like YouTube and Vimeo. This was the most effective way to safeguard your email designs while making videos accessible to your subscribers.
Until next time,
Your Mail Designer 365 team