Email marketing remains one of the key strategies to reach customers and drive business in the digital age. Technology itself changes rapidly, however, and requires fresh approaches to email design and copy to keep up with the crowds in your inbox. Interactivity in automated emails can increase user engagement, click-through rates, and conversions. Here are 5 ways to use interactive content in your automated email campaigns:
1. Interactive Surveys and Polls
Interactive polls or surveys can give a lot of added value to your automated emails. Such apps foster an in-between dialog and store valuable data on customer preference and loyalty. Simply ask them about their previous purchases or any features they’ve just read about. Such a connection keeps you informed and makes the recipient feel heard and appreciated.
For Typeform and Google Forms, in-email surveys are a doddle to execute because of their easy-to-use tools. Either you link directly to the survey, or embed the form; users reply within the email.
Example: Try to email customers following a purchase with a quick star rating for said purchase and have them rate it. This facilitates immediate feedback and also connects customers with your brand through a sense of community and affinity.
2. Image Carousels and Galleries
You need to start moving away from static photos and toward carousels and galleries. By doing this, you’ve made an original mechanism that will cause subscribers to click on the following link to go back down. This method has worked wonders when you’re trying to promote new products, featured collections, or user-generated content. Your email is no longer a simple text message; it becomes a form of interactive browsing.
For instance, an online clothing retailer may send you an outfit inspiration carousel with new styles via your subscription emails. They can browse hundreds of varieties by simply swiping from an inbox, giving them a better shopping experience and the chance to discover something they like for the first time without going to the site.
3. Countdown Timers
Use countdowns in your marketing emails for good measure. These visually illustrate how long is left to take advantage of a promotion or event, thus urging your subscribers to act quickly. A countdown animation can give your content an eye-popping effect and encourage viewers to make the click before a sale ends.
If you, for instance, are announcing an email offer that’s only valid for a short period of time, you can add a countdown timer to indicate exactly how much time you have to take advantage of it, creating pressure to make decisions sooner.
4. GIFs and Animated Elements
Some GIFs or animated bits might just make your email look much better and more compelling. These grab the reader’s attention and give texture to what would have otherwise been a simple email message. They can be a way to explain how something operates, or to make pre/post comparisons, or just for fun when so much of the text is read.
For instance, a makeup brand may add GIFs to explain how to use a specific cosmetic item so that the customer can visualise how to use it and interact with it in a fun way in the email.
5. Interactive Navigation
If it’s rich content, consider incorporating navigational elements that allow the reader to skip to other parts of your email. Such as a table of contents or clickable links to product categories or articles within your site.
In an email newsletter, for instance, there will be links to segments — health advice, new recipes, or testimonials — so that subscribers can simply jump straight to the content they are interested in.
6. Product Recommendations
This personalized approach has become the new lingo in today’s world, and sliders of products recommendations will make it all the more so within your emails. You’ll be able to browse a number of targeted products, leveraging past purchase or browsing behavior-based algorithms to help you discover new products in an intuitive way.
For instance, an online shoe store can use this tactic for a follow-up email. It would include a recommendation slider with similar-styled shoes to the one recently purchased. It will make buying more enjoyable and upselling easier.
7. Embedded Videos
Video content always tops the engagement rate ranking. Videos embedded in emails can add a high level of engagement, but email programs can set some restrictions. A fairly decent hack is to embed a static thumbnail that opens an external version of the video to engage users in clicking on visually informative content.
For instance, a software company can attach a video that shows how to access a new function. This will save the user a lot of time and will ensure better product adoption and consequently much better customer satisfaction.
8. Animations and Micro-Interactions
The smallest of things might sometimes be the best. Animations like hover effects, animation transitions animate your emails and thus give life to the user experience. These are small animations that respond when somebody does something about it and give them feedback, which can encourage one to do something.
For instance: Say a user hovers over a CTA button and it changes color or motion. This will bring it to life by grabbing attention to the object and engaging the users to click on and discover.
Conclusion:
Interactive aspects can make automated emails highly engaging and user-friendly. Personalized content, quizzes, surveys, animation, gamification, and social feeds are all ways to create a dynamic, branded email campaign that connects with your customers and drives your business goals. In addition, never stop testing and optimizing the positioning, design, and functionality of these interactive elements to make sure they complement your email marketing campaign.
