6 Tips to Create Interactive Email Campaigns [by Marketing Experts]

With 4 billion daily email users, businesses try to capitalize on email marketing campaigns as much as possible. While this does mean there are many businesses vying for customers' attention, including interactivity in your email campaigns can help you stand out from your competition. If you craft them with style and a creative flair, you can expect to see increased levels of user engagement, higher conversion rates, and increased social sharing. You'll also get more feedback, reviews, and ratings. Simply add interactivity and watch as your email campaign soars above and beyond your expectations.

1. Partner With the Right Email Service Provider

That's right, you will need to partner with an email service provider to get your interactive emails off the ground. With so many providers to choose from, it can become overwhelming. Consider these factors when you search for the perfect partner:

• Functions: Can the service provider do everything you need?
• User-friendly: Is the platform easy to navigate and use?
• Scalability: Can the service provider grow with your business?
• Cost: Do the available packages fit your budget? Will you be sacrificing necessary features by going for a cheaper option?
• Customer support: Does the service provider offer efficient customer support?

It's a good idea to test features or ask for a demo wherever possible to allow you to get a better sense of the service provider and what they offer.

2. Use the Right Type of Interactivity in Your Email

In email marketing, content is definitely king. Take your time to establish the goal of your email campaign, then align your chosen interactivity with your goal and the behavior of your target audience. Just remember—never overload your readers with too much content. They won't read it and your efforts will go to waste. Let's look at some examples:

• Polls, quizzes, and surveys: Get to know your readers better through their feedback and insights.
• Countdown timers: Build excitement and anticipation about a product launch.
• Showcase new products (GIFs or videos): Launch a new product by showcasing its features and uses.
• Reward new customers: Turn a potential customer into a loyal lifelong customer by encouraging them to play a quick game to redeem a discount code.
• RSVP for events: Provide customers with convenience by letting them RSVP directly from an invite in the email.

3. Link to Social Media

Sharing is caring, right? That's why you should always allow your readers to share your email content on their social media platforms. But it doesn't end there. Encourage them to view your social media channels, and, if you really want to keep them coming back, alert them to new content you're uploading.

Here's another pro tip: make some of your content exclusive to social media, for example, competitions and exclusive videos. This builds FOMO (fear of missing out) and therefore drives more viewers from your email to your social media platforms.

4. Tell Your Story

Your brand has its own personality and its own story—from inception to where it is today. Your interactive email campaigns should not focus on attracting new customers only. You should also use it to retain your current customers by building your brand and its presence every time you send another interactive email.

5. In-Email Shopping

User experience is everything. If you can get your users to shop straight off your interactive email, you're giving them less work and making it easier for them to buy your products. And they will love you for it! Especially if you have a special deal that's hard to ignore. A good example is to launch a new product at a special price for a limited time to build excitement. What's more, a seamless and pleasant purchasing process will stay in the back of their minds. They'll trust your brand more the next time they receive an email from you.

6. Make It Personal

Address your user by their first name, create copy that makes them feel like you're talking to them, and make sure all the interactive elements you use come across as personal. Research has proven time and again that personalization works, so why not combine personalization and interactivity for a double helping of success? You can also make the emails real-time to amplify the personal experience. Include time-based events to make your campaign feel fresh and ripe for the picking!

A Final Thought...

Data published by Statista indicated that over 300 billion emails were received and sent daily in 2020, and is forecasted to increase to 376 billion by 2025. To drive the point home even further, studies done by MartechAdvisor concluded that interactive email newsletters experience 73% higher open rates compared to conventional email marketing. How much more proof do you need to come to terms with the fact that interactive marketing is the way to go if you want to optimize sales and boost your bottom line?

» Where to get started? Let Tolstoy help you create interactive content