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Can You Embed a Video Inside of An Email???

by dalvia
9 replies
Might be a silly question. Is this possible to embed a video inside of an email? I know I have received web pages inside an email.

Just wondering your thoughts,

Thanks,
Dale
#email #embed #inside #video
  • Profile picture of the author stefanjames
    No you can't actually embed a video inside a email not that I'm aware of but you can send it as a link or a attachment.
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  • Profile picture of the author dalvia
    ok, thanks
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  • Profile picture of the author Kevin AKA Hubcap
    You can embed a video in an e-mail but most e-mail web service providers/clients will block it.

    Kevin
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  • Profile picture of the author Tsnyder
    Here's another question on the subject...

    What about a You Tube imbed code in an HTML email?
    Would that display the You Tube Video within the email
    when opened?

    Tsnyder
    Signature
    If you knew what I know you'd be doing what I do...
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Tunnah
      Originally Posted by Tsnyder View Post

      Here's another question on the subject...

      What about a You Tube imbed code in an HTML email?
      Would that display the You Tube Video within the email
      when opened?

      Tsnyder
      Tsnyder,
      In my experience many anti-virus will block this and/or spam filters will be activated.

      Rich
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  • Profile picture of the author Richard Tunnah
    Originally Posted by dalvia View Post

    Might be a silly question. Is this possible to embed a video inside of an email? I know I have received web pages inside an email.

    Just wondering your thoughts,

    Thanks,
    Dale
    Dale,
    As stated embedding such things like video brings some issues - many anti-virus software will block it as a virus or it may block the recipents email as it'll be very large.

    Rich
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  • Profile picture of the author Loren Woirhaye
    I copied the following from a thread here a couple of months back.
    I haven't tested it. It's technical.

    "1. Grab your video file
    I used an MPEG but you can use Quicktime MOV (requires Quicktime player), AVI, or Windows Media Video.

    2. Encode it into base64
    This turns your video file into raw binary data, which can be read as a text string. It can be embedded into an email file which is text based. Just google base64 for a list of free encoders.

    3. Embed the base64 text into your email - the key is to use dynsrc
    Here's where it gets tricky. Create an html email with an image, and add a dynsrc parameter to point to your video file. If an email client does not play the embedded video, this image will appear. Add a link to your online video file, as a back-up measure.


    You can download a zip file here containing Sparks.eml When you double click the file it launches in Outlook, or open it in a text editor like wordpad and view all the code rather than the small segment below.

    example code:
    <html>
    <body>
    <div align=center width=100% height=100%><img src="http://www.mysite.com/myimage.gif" mce_src="http://www.mysite.com/myimage.gif" dynsrc="cid:myvideo.mpg" mce_src="cid:myvideo.mpg" width="320? height="240?/><div>
    </body>
    </html>
    After you've converted your video file to a base64 encoded string. Embed the encoded video file in the html as a unique content 'part' (emails are read as multipart documents, text only, html etc) Use the dynsrc parameter to point to this content 'part' to redirect the url in the image tag.
    example code:
    ----=_NextPart_000_0022_01C8F277.B56CB710
    Content-ID: <myvideo.mpg>
    Content-Type: application/octet-stream; name=myvideo.mpg
    Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64

    MCaydY5mzxGm2QCqAGLObPUEAAAAAAAABwAAAAECodyrjEepzx G
    O5ADADCBTZWgAAAAAAAAAZmZ4mpW9yJiHWNgOvUjZSflgDwAAA
    AAAgK1DSFIlyAEqAQAAAAAAAAAcTg4AAAIIAgCtTCwAAAAC IEwAA.......etc..
    4. Send
    We usually use Campaign Monitor to deliver - and test - our emails, but they don't accept embedded files. So we used Blat for our video test. Its free, accepts embedded files and automatically does the base64 encoding for you.

    Why Embed Video?

    A few reasons you should give embedded video a try:
    50% lift in conversion rates...
    The video starts playing immediately, even with images blocked.
    Technology costs nothing, use a free 64Base encoder.
    Email clients that don't play the video, show a screenshot with a link.
    With Christmas coming up, everyone will be rolling out the bells and whistles.
    It's at least worth one A/B test against the screenshot approach.""
    Signature
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  • Profile picture of the author dalvia
    Thanks for all your feedback and advice. So, it's possible but a little tricky:-)

    I appreciate everyones help,

    Regards,
    Dale
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    • Profile picture of the author Megas
      No,the best thing is to email links to the video that is embeded in your blog.
      Also put up a subscription box so you'll get subscribers and build a list as well.
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