It appears at least one of my 2011 video commerce predictions may have come true.  Microsoft has released HTML5 video support in Hotmail.  Such a move, should it prove part of a broad-based rollout and not some kind of limited beta test (details on this are still sketchy), could dramatically alter the landscape for video in email almost overnight.

Prior to Hotmail’s support for HTML5 video, B2C retail email marketers could deliver HTML5 video in email only to iOS devices and a smattering of other fringe mail clients.  For most marketers, this might only mean a 5% – 15%…

I confess.  There is no other topic in the online marketing world that both draws and repels me as much as “video email.”

Prior to joining the online video universe in 2008 with Liveclicker, I spent seven years in the email marketing industry, espousing best practices while working to advance the channel.  Yet as much as I was enamored with the business value of email, seven years in the industry was too much for me.  The pace of innovation made watching paint dry seem exciting by comparison.  The vast majority of market participants rioted against “best practices” on…

Grant Crowell interviews Daniel Dreymann, Founder and CEO of the certified email solutions provider Goodmail, about their video technology products, CertifiedVideo and CertifiedVideo .GIF, which ensure delivery and playback of video at an expanding group of ISPs for 2010-2011 and beyond.

Today, there are only four ways email marketers can use video in email: static images linked to Flash videos on landing pages, animated .GIF/.PNG videos, HTML5 video, and Goodmail’s CertifiedVideo service.  B2C marketers could have a video email bonanza, with all major webmail clients supporting animated .GIF video (Gmail, Windows Live Mail, Yahoo Mail, etc).  And with the emergence of the iPhone and iPad, HTML5 video is increasingly accessible for B2C emailers.

But what of the B2B marketers among us?  To say that video in email was difficult to achieve in the past for B2B marketers…