Most marketers are familiar with the rise of interactive content, which is anything that online users click on, swipe or interact with. This includes the emails that they receive daily from the websites they’re subscribed to.

Based on Martech Advisor’s research, incorporating interactive email content increases the click-to-open rate by 73% and adding videos boosts click rates up to 300%. As interactive email starts dominating the marketing sphere, businesses are joining the trend to experiment. Many of those companies are discovering that their subscribers are more engaged with the interactive content in the emails.

What is interactive email content?

Interactive content is anything that requires the participation of online users. This type of content encourages users to actively engage with a webpage’s text, photos, videos and links to gain the full experience. Interactive email, on the other hand, incorporates those elements into an email campaign. For instance, you can add videos to the email body that better present a new product or to greet customers during holidays. Most digital marketing agencies in Melbourne also put CSS-animated buttons to add excitement and comply with brand design.

Here are other ways you can add interactive content to your email marketing strategy:

• Surveys

Email marketers often ask for feedback from customers through surveys. It can be a single question asking the subscriber to click the image that matches their answer or an embedded questionnaire with multiple questions.

• GIFs

Animated GIFs are a simple way to breathe life into your emails. They’re great for optimising space and promoting products in a more engaging way than fixed photos. They can also illustrate the multiple features of a recommended product, making it easier to encourage consumers to buy the item.

• Image carousels

Think of carousels as another version of GIFs. They serve the same basic purpose of showing multiple images or product features in the same space except they give subscribes full control on the specific product or feature they want to view.

Due to technical challenges, email is still playing catch-up when it comes to adding interactive elements. However, there are effective ways to provide your emails with the interactive edge to stand out. For instance, Webmastered’s comprehensive list of marketing tools for small businesses includes a section featuring tried and tested email marketing platforms that can help you send engaging interactive emails.

What are the benefits of interactive email marketing?

The modern consumers are savvy. They know when they’re straight up being pitched by online brands and most of them are turned off by it. Often, it’s because they aren’t in the buying cycle yet, and they’re just trying to gather info about a particular product or service.

With interactive content, you educate instead of pitch through infographics and videos, allowing subscribers to move through a story until they’re finally ready to buy.

Many emails that subscribers receive are run-of-the-mill, unlikely to pique much interest. By transitioning to interactive email marketing, you have the opportunity to surprise and delight your customers with new and fresh content that excites them. Using creativity in your emails will give them something to look forward to when they open their inbox, which also means they’re more likely to open your emails and click through to your website.