How Pet Supplies Plus Boosted Open Rates with Video + Email

When you add [visual content](https://movableink.com/blog/your-guide-to-visual-content-in-email-marketing/) to your email campaign, you have the potential to [boost engagement](http://www.inc.com/larry-kim/visual-content-marketing-16-eye-popping-statistics-you-need-to-know.html) and get your content [shared](http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/visual-content-marketing-strategy#sm.00000vplbb1h26ekzswqal2nqtztq) a lot more frequently. Add video to your emails, and it’s possible to lift click-through-rates [200-300%](http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/video-marketing-statistics#sm.00000vplbb1h26ekzswqal2nqtztq).The problem? Adding video to email is no small task, especially when many email service providers won’t display embedded videos in email at all. It’s a common roadblock among marketers.So when pet supplies retailer Pet Supplies Plus wanted to boost engagement with video in their emails, they needed a way to display video in a way that all of their subscribers would enjoy.Their solution? An animated GIF. A GIF is a moving image that plays well across email service providers. Pet Supplies Plus used a GIF in their email that linked to their full video promoting Fresh Step cat litter. (As an aside, [cats + marketing = win](http://www.inc.com/zoe-henry/godaddy-cats-hats-viral-marketing-campaigns.html).)They used a subject that they knew would be popular among subscribers – _$5 Dollar Off Coupon on Cat Litter – Coupon Inside_ – to entice people to click. Then, they let the email content handle the rest.Here’s the email. The image nearest to the top is the GIF – it animates automatically in each subscriber’s inbox. When you clicked the GIF, you could watch the full video. [Here it is](http://preferredpetclub.com/a/hBW12lrB8rM0bB9LUw-AAAAAAhS/video).[](https://s3.amazonaws.com/movableink-blog-production/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/12162652/Screen-Shot-2016-07-12-at-10.48.56-AM.png)#### The resultsThe GIF and video content was not only fun and engaging, it delivered real results. The email had a 32.7% unique open rate with an 84.8% total open rate. Typically, Pet Supplies Plus sees unique open rates of 24.7% and total open rates of 43%.“Having a video in our email has almost doubled our total open rate whenever used,” said Jacqueline Orow, Digital Marketing Manager at Pet Supplies Plus. “The Fresh Step email also led to an increased redemption rate and became one of our top 10 redeemed coupons for that month.”Video packs a powerful punch when you add it to your email campaign. To learn more about incorporating visual content into your emails, check out [Your Guide to Visual Content in Email Marketing](https://movableink.com/blog/your-guide-to-visual-content-in-email-marketing/).