To build relationships with customers and improve lead generation, marketers need data. One great source of this data is looking at how people interact with emails. In this article, we’ll outline six tips to improve your email marketing so that you can create interactive emails that encourage your subscribers to take action.
1. Use responsive design
These days, you always have access to your emails, whether you’re working at your office PC, taking the dog for a walk with your smartphone in your pocket, or sitting on a train playing Wordle on your tablet.
Mobile devices now account for 41.6% of all email opens, followed by webmail opens (40.6%) and desktop opens (16.2%), according to the 2021 Email Client Market Share report. Therefore, your email campaigns simply have to look great and work well on every device.
A responsive email is one which is optimized so that it always appears how you want it to, regardless of the device the recipient opens it on. This means the email adapts to all screen sizes and resolutions, allowing the recipient to consume content from anywhere, anytime.
2. Make it easy for readers to scan
People don’t have time to read all their emails, so achieving a good open rate is a triumph. Unfortunately, it’s only the first step. You’ve then got to engage the reader and entice them to click through.
Recipients will judge your email’s value in seconds and they could discard it if it’s hard to read. To improve engagement and click-through rates, strive for simplicity and get your readers to consume and interact with your emails.
Designing an easy-to-scan interact email layout is part science and part art, but take these tips into account:
Keep your email copy minimal and avoid being too salesy
Make your call-to-action (CTA) button attractive, big and bold, so your email recipients know it will direct them to a landing page they’re interested in
Use images to break up the text and make the entire email more digestible
Use readable fonts and various sizes to create a hierarchy
3. Add interactivity to delight subscribers
Despite the visual and engagement benefits, only 23% of marketers say they’re using interactive elements in their emails, according to Litmus. To stand out from the crowd, use interactive items and AMP technology, such as hover effects, rollover effects, previews of new products, games and interact quizzes or surveys.
The aim of interactive items is to captivate your email subscribers and entice them to read the message, which will hopefully lead to an increase in conversion rates. Look at your social media feeds for inspiration as they’re likely full of interactive content.
While time counters (to indicate how long a discount is running, for example) and animated GIFs bring dynamism that can differentiate your newsletter from those of your competitors, these aren’t things that recipients can interact with. Instead, experiment with things like click-to-reveals, carousels and interactive accordions for your email content.
4. Pay attention to iOS updates
Here’s the market share of the most used email clients in 2021, according to Statista:
Gmail - 36%
Apple iPhone - 33%
Apple Mail - 10%
Apple Mail Privacy - 6.6%
Microsoft Outlook - 5.9%
Yahoo Mail - 2.7%
Google Android - 2.2%
Outlook.com - 1.1%
Apple iPad - 1.1%
Samsung Mail - 0.6%
With one in three emails being opened on Apple iPhones , you should always pay special attention to new and updated versions of Apple’s iOS.
Test how your email design looks on iPhone and iPad before sending a campaign and look for ways you could improve it.
5. Optimize for Gmail
Google’s Gmail remains the dominant force in webmail email opens, with 36% of all emails opened in Gmail (according to Statista).
Google announced in 2016 that Gmail had started to support media queries, meaning marketers and designers no longer needed to be HTML wizards, study tutorials or use hacks to render their emails properly.
Gmail has powerful competitors, but there’s no sign that its supremacy among email service providers (ESPs) is in danger. Always make sure your interactive emails are perfectly optimized for Gmail.
6. Use personalization to build relationships
Personalization combined with automation helps marketers develop a real partnership with their email list. An automation software solution lets you send emails triggered by the user. It gives you options to personalize and segment subscribers so your emails can adapt to each user’s needs.
For instance, someone who enjoyed your webinar might now have an interest in your product. Send them a personalized email thanking them for their participation, with your contact details (phone number, email, social media links etc.) clearly presented. You might even want to consider offering them a discount on pricing. You could then follow up with notifications for future webinars or product developments.
Final thoughts
Anyone can send out traditional email templates, but sending an effective interact email which entices your recipients and inspires them to take action is a whole different matter.
A key factor for any successful email marketing campaign is to understand the people who receive your email and provide them with a fantastic user experience. After all, you receive plenty of emails yourself, so you’ll know what engages you and what doesn’t.
If you haven’t already, go find out what engages your customers. There’s a high chance it’s interactive content.
