While digital communication continues to change at an extremely fast pace, email remains a reliable and versatile marketing tool for all businesses. But don’t be fooled. Your email audience is savvy and short on time. They aren’t combing through their inbox looking for your email. Instead, they are scrolling quickly and only opening emails that grab their attention. So, is there a magic trick to stop the scroll?
Not exactly. But it’s important to deliver high-quality, interesting content experiences that can be consumed on-the-go – anytime, anywhere. This is where embedded content really shines.
Embedded content is content you place within your email that comes from other online sources. This can be anything from images, videos, microapps, infographics, social media feeds, news feeds, calendars to slide shares and more. It’s a pretty broad list!
Many businesses utilize images in their email campaigns to grab the visual interest of their audience. And it’s true that images are more powerful than words at grabbing attention. However, what we’re seeing is that images are not enough to cut through the noise. Interactive, experiential content is king.
Below, we have shared the top three reasons why you should be using interactive embedded content.
The first step to creating a loyal audience or increasing sales is by getting exposure. You want more people to see your content and get excited about your brand. Creative, enticing emails will do just that by boosting click-through rates.
Video and microapps have a positive effect on email conversions. A study by video software genius, Wistia, found that video thumbnails increase click-through rates up to 40%.
This is a powerful statistic, not just because of the percentage, but because a thumbnail can direct visitors to a landing page with strong call-to-action (CTA). This means that you don’t need to allow users to play the video within their email client. Provide a thumbnail that directs them to the video instead. This is helpful because there are still some email platforms that do not allow in-email video.
A microapp, such as Tiled, allows for even more interactive experiences within your email. This takes otherwise boring content and makes it engaging. Your audience would much rather participate in an experience. You can offer entertainment and educational value in a much more exciting format. Check out how Tiled works here.
Another great option for embedded content is customer surveys and feedback forms. People love to give their opinion, so take advantage of that and ask for it! Remember, that you will likely get some negative feedback, but this will help you grow and adapt to better meet the needs of your customers.
A customer survey embedded in an email has a much higher completion rate than one that must be completed elsewhere by clicking a link. It’s also helpful to offer an incentive for filling out a form or survey. If you are a product or service-based company, consider offering a percentage discount or something similar. It’s an easy way to say thank you!
Interactive content like this is an effective way of shaking up your email campaign a bit. Plus, you’ll gather useful data from your audience.
Your social media pages may be the bees knees, but no one will know about them if you don’t advertise. Encourage your email audience to follow you by embedding your Instagram and/or Facebook feed. Make sure the feed shows some top-notch content when you send it to encourage followers.
The content you post on social media shouldn’t just be re-shares of articles and quotes. Original, unique content is important because it provides value. It’s also one of the reasons people use social media.
Remember, content should differ based on the channel you’re using. Followers will find your content redundant if they see the same thing on Facebook and Instagram. Since Instagram is a visual platform, content should showcase your brand’s personality through images. Facebook can have more diverse content, like blogs, quotes, and articles.
There are a lot of visually appealing ways to include interactive embedded content in your emails, so go ahead, and test it out! It’s a great way to make your emails more effective.
