Once upon a time, notes Ryan at the MarketFish blog, email was the pinnacle of cutting-edge online technology. But that was then and this is now.

"While there [are] a bunch of really cool companies driving innovation in the email space, as a whole, email still lags behind the breakneck innovation that you find in other digital marketing channels," he notes.

And that's why embedded video still presents such a quandary for email marketers. When you're not even sure that images will render, should you even attempt to use video, or should you stick to a safer—though less elegant—bet like animated GIFs?

Ryan cites a study from the Web Video Marketing Council and Flimp Media that suggests video embedded in an email—for all of its logistical drawbacks—is worth the effort:

• A vast majority of senior marketing executives—88%—report that email with integrated video improves campaign performance.
• A smaller, though still sizable, majority of 76% say these campaigns generate high click-through rates.
• Finally, 72% say "prospects are more likely to make a purchase or take other desired actions after viewing video content sent via email."

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