Say what you will about email marketing but 86% of business professionals still rely on it for business communication.

It’s safe to say that you got to have a few tricks up your sleeve to stand out from the sea of marketing emails. Speaking of standing out, we suggest you do it in the best way possible- making interactive content a part of your email marketing strategy. Here is a step-by-step guide to make your marketing emails more clickable with interactive content.

However, before we dive into the nitty-gritty of using interactive content in emails, let’s have a look at the reasons why we should.

How to Make your Marketing Emails more Clickable with Interactive Content?

Interactive Content in Marketing Emails: The Why and How

1. Personalization

According to research, marketers see an average 20% increase in sales when using personalized experiences. Interactive content, by its very character, is highly personalized. Unlike static content, interactive content actively involves the customer as their input decides the outcome that is specifically tailored for them.

The consumers love a content piece that speaks to them at a personal level. It should come as no surprise, then, that quizzes and calculators are also written in an informal, personal tone. Using words like ‘you’, ‘me’ and ‘I’ in interactive experiences make them more shareworthy. In fact, according to a study, interactive content which uses more than 30 personal pronouns generates almost 6.5X more views than those with less than 30.

Moreover, personalized content leads to returning and loyal customers. And considering the fact that a company’s 20% loyal customers are responsible for 80% of its revenue, we cannot let the personalization aspect of the interactive content slide

2. Targeted Content

What’s the difference between a good and a great email. A single ‘T’ that stands for targeted content. The power of targeted content cannot be underestimated as it generates 58% of all revenue.
Interactive content can collect valuable information about your customers or prospects through the email. As a result, you can send them more targeted and segmented emails in the future.
For instance,  you build a healthcare savings calculator. The users will be required to answer questions like their age and insurance plan to obtain an answer. All this information that can help you develop your customer persona and better target your emails.

3. Engaging Content

In the wise words of Shuri from Black Panther, “ just because something works fine, doesn’t mean it cannot be improved”. Interactive content already generates 2x more conversions than passive content. The main reason behind this is that it turns the passive customer into an active one through the required participation.
However, you can make the interactive content embedded in your emails more engaging by including images, gifs, and most importantly, humor. Make your customers laugh out loud and feel good about themselves through interactive content. In fact, a study found that uplifting, funny and inspiring pieces of interactive content have the highest open and share rate.

amazing content

Information overload? We won’t keep going on and on. Let’s jump to some practical application of your new found knowledge. Before you do, here are some tips to ensure you’re acing the email game:

Catchy Heading

First impressions play a very important role in the case of interactive experiences, as do emails. Not unlike the email subject line, the title is one of the first things that can generate customer interest in what you have to offer. It leads the customer to take the quiz and provide valuable information about themselves.

According to studies, that analyzed 100 quizzes with 10,000+ views, “Which (blank) are you?” has been voted the most irresistible quiz title. In fact, quizzes that include the words ‘which’, ‘are’, and ‘you’ receive 3x more views. Another study found that using the term ‘actually’ in the title increased views by 100%.

Strong CTA

You don’t have to be a copy doctor to understand that a crappy CTA can ruin all the efforts you put in the interactive marketing mail. Strong but relevant calls to action on your website will help you grab the attention of your potential customers. Additionally, they will help you attain your business goals like email subscription, sales, and sign-ups.

By now, you must be wondering what kind of interactive experiences can be integrated with your emails.

Well, Wonder. No. More.

How to Use Interactive Content in Marketing Emails

1. Recommendation

Interactive content is highly customer-centric. It focuses less on brand promotion and more on customer appreciation and acceleration. This is perhaps why the customers trust the personalized recommendation provided by interactive content.
This recommendation sourced from interactive content can be used in your marketing emails. Use recommendation quizzes for the bottom of the funnel leads suggesting the appropriate offer for them. You can also use it to upsell to your existing customers. The opportunities are endless.

2. Lead Nurturing

Calculators are the best thing that can happen to your marketing emails because they are the ultimate lead nurturing tool. You can create a calculator to help your customers understand if they need your services. For example, if you’re a lawyer, you can use a calculator titled “See how much I can save you in legal fees” to qualify customers.

Additionally, you can use conditional result messaging to direct people to the next piece of content based on the score. For example, in the above calculator, if someone gets 10-15%, you can guide them to a ‘free consultation’ page.  On the other hand, if someone gets 20-25%, you can lead them to ‘book a meeting’ page.

What’s more, the information you gather here can also be used to customize follow up emails.

Interactive calculators and graded quizzes, just like other interactive content, give real-time answers to your customer/lead’s queries and add real value. Besides, instant gratification is always a winner!

3. Rewards/Incentives

Here’s a concept: You create a quiz to re-engage existing customers and get paid manifolds for your efforts. It’s a great idea, isn’t it? And thanks to interactive content, this is not just a concept anymore. According to studies, customers are far more likely to engage with a brand if rewards are involved.

Use graded quiz and ask your customers to take a quiz related to your brand or product/services and then attach incentives to the grade they score in the quiz. For instance, if on a scale of 0 to 10, they score between 0 to 5 you can offer them 30% discount and if they score between 6 to 10 you can give 50% discount. So, what are you waiting for? Embed ‘em all!

4. Customer Education and Satisfaction

Lead retention and building customer loyalty are just as important as lead generation. In fact, 60% of marketers aim at improving customer loyalty for more business. It is, essentially the purpose of marketing emails. Interactive content can help you with that by educating customers about your brand, albeit in a fun way. Moreover, it allows you to get feedback from your customers by allowing an open channel of communication. Communication is an important part of any relationship and your relationship with your customers is no different.

Customer satisfaction is another pillar of strength for any good company. There are high chances that you too are looking to better your customer service through your marketing emails. If yes, we’ve got news for you: interactive content is your friend. Embed interactive polls to ensure customer satisfaction and engagement. Odds are your customers are highly disinterested in filling out a form about customer satisfaction. Interactive content ensures that the process is fun and quick. Not to add, highly useful to you.

It's fun

Parting WOW effect: Words of Wisdom

We can go on telling you why interactive content is amazing and how you can get started with that right away. But we feel this infographic says it better!

For now, we hope that we have done justice to the effectiveness of interactive content in making marketing emails more clickable. After so much information, there is only one question left to ask:

Are you ready to stand out in the sea of marketing emails?

Author Bio:

by Etee Dubey

Etee Dubey is a full-time content marketer at Outgrow and a part-time dreamer. In her free time, she catches up with her reading and explains the meaning of her eccentric name to people around her.