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How to Send Video Emails

Video emails send a clickable video thumbnail that opens your video on a hosted page. Here you'll learn how to record or upload a video, send it to a contact or list, add it to email templates, and set a GIF thumbnail.

Written by VipeCloud Support

Video emails send a clickable video thumbnail that opens your video on a hosted page, since email clients can't play a video inside the email itself. Videos you record or upload are hosted by VipeCloud, so you don't need to put them on YouTube first, and you can also link to a YouTube or Vimeo video.

How to Record and Send a Video Email With Your Webcam

  1. Click the + button in the top navigation.

  2. Select Video Email.

  3. Allow your browser to use your camera and microphone when it asks.

  4. To record with a different camera or microphone, select it from the Camera or Microphone dropdown.

  5. Click Start recording.

  6. Click Stop when you finish.

  7. To replace the take with a new one, click Record again.

  8. Click Use this video.

  9. To rename the video, edit the title under Edit Title & Tags in the Video Saved! pop-up.

  10. Click Send To Contact to send it to one contact, or Send To List to send it to a contact list.

  11. Enter the recipient and subject line. The video is already inserted in the email.

  12. Send the email.

Recordings stop automatically after 10 minutes. If your browser blocks the camera, the recorder shows a message instead of the preview. Allow the camera and microphone for VipeCloud in your browser settings, then open the recorder again.

Send the video only after it has finished encoding. Encoding is the processing that makes the video ready to view - see How to Check Whether a Video Has Finished Encoding.

How to Record a Video to Send Later

Record Video saves the recording to your Content Library without opening an email, so you can add it to an email or template later.

  1. Click the + button in the top navigation.

  2. Select Record Video.

  3. Click Start recording, then Stop when you finish.

  4. Click Use this video.

  5. Click Content Library in the Video Saved! pop-up to see the video on the Content Management page.

Once the video has encoded, you can insert it into an email template from the Rich Text Editor or the HTML Builder.

How to Upload a Video File

  1. Click the + button in the top navigation.

  2. Select File / Media.

  3. Choose a video file from your computer.

  4. Click Upload.

  5. Click Go To Content Management in the Upload Complete pop-up and confirm the video's thumbnail appears, which means it has encoded and is ready to use.

If the video is longer than 30 seconds, upload it from your computer rather than a mobile device. Long uploads over a phone connection are more likely to be interrupted.

How to Check Whether a Video Has Finished Encoding

  1. Click Content in the sidebar.

  2. Find the video on the Content Management page. A video with no thumbnail is still encoding, and a video with a thumbnail is ready to send.

  3. Refresh the page if the thumbnail hasn't appeared yet.

How to Record or Upload Videos in the Mobile App

You can record a video with your phone's camera, or upload one from your phone, in the VipeCloud mobile app. Short videos usually upload without issue, but longer ones can fail if your network connection drops during the upload.

To upload a long video:

  1. Upload the video from your phone to Google Drive or Dropbox.

  2. Download it to your computer.

  3. Upload the file from your computer using File / Media in the + menu.

How to Add a Video to a Rich Text Email Template

  1. Go to Email Templates.

  2. Open or create a template that uses the Rich Text Editor.

  3. Place your cursor where the video should appear and type a space, which helps the video land in that spot.

  4. Click the Insert Video button in the toolbar.

  5. Select a video from your library.

  6. Save the template.

How to Add a Video to an HTML Builder Email Template

  1. Open an email template in the HTML Builder.

  2. Drag a Video block into the template.

  3. Click Choose Video to select a video from your library, or click Link to Video and paste a YouTube or Vimeo URL.

  4. Save the template.

When you link a YouTube video, its thumbnail is pulled in automatically.

What Recipients See When They Click a Video

Where the video opens depends on whether the email template has a landing page enabled.

If no landing page is enabled:

  • Hosted videos open on a standalone video page.

  • YouTube videos open on YouTube.

If a landing page is enabled:

  • Videos play on the landing page, alongside the rest of the email template.

  • YouTube videos play embedded in the landing page.

How to Create a GIF Thumbnail

A GIF thumbnail plays a short moving preview of the video in the email instead of a still image.

  1. Click Content in the sidebar.

  2. Click the options menu on the video's row.

  3. Select Change Thumb.

  4. Check Create GIF thumbnail.

  5. In Thumbnail Time (in seconds), enter how many seconds into the video the GIF should start.

  6. Click Update Thumb.

Change Thumb appears only on videos you own. To use your own image as the thumbnail, click Upload Image in the same pop-up and choose a PNG, JPG, or GIF file up to 10 MB from your computer. An uploaded animated GIF is saved as its first frame, so use Create GIF thumbnail for a moving preview. You can also check Create GIF thumbnail in the pop-up that opens right after you record or upload a video.

What to Send Support If a Video Won't Upload

If uploading a video isn't working, support needs a few details to troubleshoot:

  • Where you're uploading from (web recording, web file upload, mobile recording, or mobile gallery upload)

  • Any error message (exact text or a screenshot)

  • Recording length (an estimate is fine)

  • Web browser, or mobile OS and app version

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