Add Video to an Email

Most email clients can't display embedded video content, and will strip the code from your email. When you create an email in Mailchimp, use our Video content block, video merge tags, the link tool, or our Auto-convert feature to share your video content.

In this article, you'll learn about each of these options and how to use them in your email.

Insert Video content block

The Video content block adds a play icon on the thumbnail image from your Vimeo or YouTube video. When recipients click the thumbnail, the video will open in a new browser window. For more information about Video content blocks, check out Use Video Content Blocks in the New Builder and Use Video Content Blocks in the Classic Builder.

For videos not hosted on long-form YouTube or Vimeo, including YouTube Shorts, upload an image to the content studio to display in your email.

Video merge tags

Video merge tags work with popular video hosting services, including Vimeo, YouTube, and Wistia.

Rather than embed video directly into an email, video merge tags generate a thumbnail image of a video player and link it to your video online. Although the video can't play directly in an email program, the video player image mimics an online player with a play button and progress bar. When a recipient clicks the thumbnail, they can watch the video in a new browser window.

Basic format

All video merge tags require you to enter some specific information about your video. The video merge tag uses this format.

*|SERVICE:[$vid=XXXX]|*

Replace SERVICE with the service name where your video is hosted, and replace XXXX with the unique identifier for the video.

Services and unique identifiers

Several services are supported in Mailchimp's video merge tags. Use this list to find the service name and how to locate your video's unique identifier.

• BLIPTV
  The unique identifier is found in BlipTV's embed code. Click the share option to get the embed code. The video ID comes just after the iframe src= part of the code. In this example, the video ID is AYLljHwC.

  <iframe src="http://blip.tv/play/AYLljHwC.html?p=1" </iframe>
  

• VIMEO
  The video ID is the number at the end of the video page URL. In this example, it's 6223439.
  http://vimeo.com/6223439

• WISTIA
  As long as your Wistia video is public, the video's share link will include the unique ID at the end of the URL. In this example, it's mcLUn.
  http://home.wistia.com/m/mcLUn

• YOUTUBE
  YouTube's unique ID is found at the end of the URL. In this example, it's fj77lSG6Bl8.
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj77lSG6Bl8

Center the video merge tag

By default, the merge tag aligns your video's thumbnail image on the left side of the content block. To center the video, you'll need to add some code to the content block's HTML code.

To do this in the email builder, follow these steps.

1. Select the content block where you want the video thumbnail.
2. Click the Code tab in the new builder, or the Source icon (< >) in the classic builder.
3. Add this code where you want your video to appear.

   <table align="center">
   <tbody>
   <tr>
   <td>
   *|SERVICE:[$vid=XXXX]|*
   </td>
   </tr>
   </tbody>
   </table>
   

4. Replace SERVICE with the service name where your video is hosted and XXXX with your video's unique identifier.

Video merge tag options

In addition to the basic video merge tag, you can set other parameters for how the thumbnail image will appear in your email. Some video-hosting services don't recognize all of the merge tag options, so check this table to make sure your service supports the tags you add.

Here's an example YouTube merge tag with all of the supported parameters specified.

*|YOUTUBE:[$vid=fj77lSG6Bl8, $max_width=300, $ratings=N, $views=N, $border=N, $title=N, $trim_border=N]|*

This example shows a thumbnail with and without added parameters.

Video only	Parameters set to N	Video with parameters
	Optional parameters are all set to "N" YOUTUBE:[$vid=XXX, $max_width=250, $title=N, $border=N, $trim_border=N, $ratings=N, $views=N]

In the past, you may have used video merge tags that look like *|YOUTUBE:xxxx:max_width|*—these will continue to work, but you should use the tags above for new emails and templates.

Manually link to video

If merge tags don't support your video hosting service, or if you want more control over the image shown in your email, you can design your email to look like there's a video in it. In the email builder, upload a screenshot of your video player and add a link to the video's URL. When the recipient clicks the image, the video will open in a new browser window.

Auto-convert embedded videos

Our Auto-convert video feature finds embedded videos in your email and converts them to linked screenshots. This feature is useful for content imported from HTML or RSS feeds.

To turn on Auto-convert video, go to the builder checklist. Click Edit in the Settings & Tracking section, then check the box next to Auto-convert video.