I received this email campaign from Ancestry.com that shows an excellent example of using video in email. The email had YouTube link in it, that took you to this landing page.

STORY is the operative word here. Each of the five 1-minute videos tells stories rather than talks about the features and functionality of the ancestry.com site. The focus of the video is how each person’s search impacted their personal lives.

(Think about impact to a prospect’s personal life as you put together marketing stories. You may not always be able to work that in, but it’s always worthwhile to give it a think.)

The production values in all of these videos are excellent. Interesting shots and angles; beautiful lighting; good use of stills; nice, rich colors. The story starts with the subject wondering about their father, grandfather, grandmother.