How can I email a long video clip?

You never need to worry about seeing an error message like this one ever again. Because today, you're going to email school to learn the ABCs of zipping, driving and dropping. Ready? Let us begin.

Size Matters

What are the size limitations to sending a file? It all depends on the email platform you use.

Message size limitations for:

Gmail: 25 MB

Ymail: 25 MB

Outlook: ~20 MB (for default internet email, but your company may limit sizes at the Exchange level)

So, typically if your file is in the 20+ MB range, you will need to do something about it. 

Besides the annoyance of an error message and time lost working around it, there are other good reasons to shrink the size of your email messages and attachments. Those reasons include keeping inboxes clean if your Exchange server has storage problems, file and document sharing integrity, and security, just to name a few.

1. Zip It

If you need to send a really big file, or lots of little files, one neat trick is to simply compress the file. This means, you're sending the actual PDF or PSD, or whatever, but you're compressing the data so that the file size is smaller.

On a Mac or PC (the directions are roughly the same), you simply right (control) click your file and select Compress. This will create a new file on your desktop with the same name and .zip extension.  

If you have several files to compress, create a folder with the files you want to zip, and then control-click and Compress.

2. Drive It

Gmail has provided its own elegant workaround for sending large files: Google Drive.

If you use Gmail, you have the option from your message window to attach a file from Drive. Instead of including the file in your email, it links to the file or folder in your Google Drive. 

Make sure to adjust share settings to allow your contact access to the folder or file.

3. Drop It

Dropbox is your everything when it comes to file sharing. We keep our entire LIFE on Dropbox. You can share massive files, a folder of 1 zillion photos, movie files, anything that you can think to upload. 

Another tidbit about Dropbox is a nifty security feature that allows you to send an exploding link. This is a great way to send a file that you can't securely or practically send over email, and you don't want someone to have access to the file for more than a set amount of time.

So, now you can Zip It, Drive It or Drop It (like it's hot) anytime you need to hurl a big file across the internet.

What is your preferred method? Add your comments below!

Stephanie Fisher

Steph leads our client delivery team and is obsessed with delivering quality work, creating an efficiency machine, and mastering the tools and disciplines to achieve success for our heroes. At home, she loves listening to true crime podcasts, playing with her daughters and two pugs, and singing in a local rock band with her husband.

Have you experienced repeated warnings or error messages from your email clients when trying to attach a large file or a corporate video that you think will be helpful in your sales pitch?

via GIPHY

And when you have a great video, you want to share it with the world! But if it's too big, you need some tips on how to send large videos via email without exceeding the attachment size limit of most email programs. We've got them for you right here!

Why Does It Happen?

There is no limit to the data transfer via email attachments in theory, according to Email standards, but in practice, it's not possible to successfully send an email with an attachment above 10.MB to 25.MB, depending on email servers and email clients.

However, some servers may have a smaller limit than this standard size and you should be aware of these restrictions before sending large emails with multiple attached documents or images so as to not overwhelm the receiving server with too many downloads at once.

Emails are subject to many rules & regulations, and what you send can get rejected by an MTA (mail transfer agent) if it's too big. This size depends on the service that receives your email - emails often go over several different MTAs when they're sent.

Another thing is MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) encoding increases file size by 37%, so a 7. MB will be about 10.MB while attaching.

What Can You Do?

via GIPHY

Here are some ideas:

1. Determine The Size Of Your Video

Reduce file size. If you have a lot of videos to send in one email, try reducing their sizes individually before compressing them into one large attachment. You might also want to reduce the quality settings so that there's less data to transfer.

Compress your large video files into a smaller size before sending them via email attachment. The simplest way is through an online file converter, but you can also use dedicated software or apps for this purpose if you prefer that route (or have access to it). Here's how:

2. Check Email Provider's Maximum File Size For Attachments

Most email servers do not let you attach a file if it's above the predetermined size.

Here are some references:

Gmail: up to 25.MB that includes text and other text attachments

Outlook: 10. MB

Of course, you have to be skeptical about receiving email servers. There might be a chance that it gets rejected or could be sent to the SPAM folder

3. Use A Cloud Storage Service To Send Large Videos

Try sending large videos through a file-sharing service, such as Dropbox or Google Drive. This is a good alternative for sharing; long videos. You can just copy the file link from the web browser and share the link.

It is the quickest way without affecting email performance or does not interfere with storage space quota when sharing files with intended individuals or with a large group of recipients.

4. Remove The Audio Track Of Your Video

Some email programs can't handle videos with sound, so you don't want to risk it! You might even be able to reduce the file size by removing or reducing the volume of background music as well.

5. Consider Using YouTube

Instead of sending long videos as attachments via email, consider using video hosting platforms like YouTube. The videos are hosted there for public view, and you can copy the link directly from your channel and paste it into your email.

This is another hassle-free way of sharing videos of any size.

Is This The Best Solution For You?

via GIPHY

You can use these circumvented tricks, but the real question you should ask yourself is, "Is this the best you can do?"

Does it look professional?

Do you get analytics on your video viewership?

Or are you letting your prospects reply with ease?

If the answer for all the above is a big "NO!", then there is a better way, in fact, the best way to accomplish this.

You are looking for video emailing or video prospecting solutions. Also known as asynchronous videos.

You can personalize videos to suit your prospect's requirements, share the videos directly in your email, and you can record videos from the apps or platforms you already use, like Outlook, Gmail, Salesforce, HubSpot, and LinkedIn.

Here's A Much Better Solution!

Now that we are talking about video emailing and video prospecting, bringing to your attention the easier to use- video emailing platform there is in the market. Videoform.

Videoform lets you record your personalized pitches to prospects or upload a large video and also lets you screen record to elevate any presentation.

This is a hybrid solution!

The icing on the cake is that you can add your brand colors to your video, collect your prospects' feedback and add CTA's (call to action) to make it easier for your prospects to respond.

You can simply add our chrome extension and you are ready to use all the features and impress your prospects/existing customers.

Here is a small example:

Your email with links only shows thumbnails and your prospects/audience cannot take any action after watching the video

Whereas, when you use Videoform, CTA’s are added and your prospects can respond with the action of their choice.

Choose for yourself which is a better option.

How to Embed Video in Gmail?

Here are two methods add Videos to emails in Gmail With YouTubeFollow these 3 steps to add YouTube videos to your Email Step 1 - Select Video to be SharedGo to video on YouTube you need to share Step 2 - Find Shareable LinkClick on Share - Copy the URL

How To Use VideoForm For Sales Emails?

It's simpler than you think! Follow these simple 4 step process

1. Register on Videoform to make a Personalized Video via live-video recording or screen record
2. Pick an impressive thumbnail.
3. Add a relevant CTA and let your prospects take action on your pitch. Let them schedule an appointment with you at an available date and time.
4. Write an interesting subject line and body and send.

Make sure you use the analytics to see your response rate and to customize your pitch to your audience.

How can I email a video that is too long?

How can I send a large video clip?