5 Interactive Email Design Ideas to Make Your Subscribers Go Wow!

Ever since 1971, when computer engineer Ray Tomlinson sent the first email, email has come a long, long way. The first emails of the world were just plain text. 

Gradually, they started hosting colors, illustrations, images, and even videos. Cut to the present, and we now have emails with whom we can actively interact (who’d have imagined!).

The evolution of this marketing channel has been fueled largely by a need for making this medium more accessible and engaging for recipients all over. And what’s a better way of grabbing your subscribers’ attention than by allowing them to interact with your emails? 

Interactive elements are now an inherent part of every email marketer’s toolkit out there, and this trend is here to stay. Today, we take a look at five interactive email design ideas that are sure to add oomph to your campaigns. Dive in!

Hover Effect

If you’re new to the world of interactive emails, then the hover effect is a great place to start for you. 

Generally, brands make use of the hover effect to highlight text in their emails. However, they are just as effective at sprucing up other elements as well, such as product images, CTA (call-to-action) buttons, and backgrounds. 

Currently, the hover effect is supported by multiple email clients like Apple Mail, Gmail, AOL, and Yahoo! Mail. But the hover effect isn’t just confined to changing the color of your text or adding an underline; it can also be used to swap images and introduce motion effects to your emails too. 

This email from HomeAway is a perfect illustration of how you should go about using the hover effect in your emails.

Flip and Scratch Effect

A set of captivating interactive elements, the flip, and the scratch effects help brands employ the “uncover the hidden information” trope, subsequently enabling them to drive greater interaction and engagement from their customers. These two effects are extremely popular among email marketers for they allow them to downsize the content in their emails. 

As a result, they’re able to deliver an exceptional customer experience. The most popular use case for the scratch effect is undoubtedly in emails announcing special offers and discounts. 

There’s something inexplicably thrilling about scratching a coupon to unearth your reward, isn’t it? On the other hand, the flip effect comes in quite handy when you have to exhibit multiple products in your emails. This is because it gives you the luxury of utilising both sides of a display tile. You can save space by displaying the image on the front side and the product description and price (or any other necessary details) on the backside. 

Take a look at this scratch effect example from Bose.

This email from PlayStation showcases how you can put the flip effect to use. 

Sliders

Wouldn’t you be glued to an email from a brand that lets you preview its products or services in the email itself rather than asking you to visit their website? Well, that’s precisely the kind of interactivity that many brands are working into their emails these days. 

Employed in the form of interactive slides, this technique allows viewers to preview multiple products in multiple colors exactly as they would on an e-commerce website. However, there’s also a certain downside to it. Since this design essentially does away with the need for visiting a website, the number of clicks registered between the initial discovery and the final purchase goes down. 

So, if you’re planning to use this interactive feature, make sure to include something that’d still incentivize your subscribers to interact with your CTA and browse your website.

Here’s an example of an interactive product preview email from Oakley.

Gamification

Who doesn’t love games? Well, email marketers certainly do. As a result, a lot of modern-day emails, especially those delivered during high-traffic seasons, can be seen employing gamification. 

Gamification lets you work in simple narratives into your emails which works wonders towards grabbing your readers’ attention. Sure, coding such emails might be a touch taxing, but they generate quite the buzz if executed successfully. Here, take a look at this email from Email Uplers; they send out interactive emails during the Holiday season that use gamification.

Take a look at Email Upler’s Halloween emailer from the previous year.

Interactive Quizzes

Using interactive quizzes in your feedback and survey emails is a great way to engross your subscribers while simultaneously soliciting their opinions. Feedback emails have a reputation for being drab which causes many recipients to dismiss them. Infusing them with interactive elements can help you avoid that fate.

Here’s an example from GoDaddy.

Wrapping It Up

So, which interactive email design technique caught your attention the most? The flip and scratch effect or gamification? Irrespective of which of the above methods you’re going to use in your future campaigns, we can assure you that they will only usher in greater engagement and conversions for you! 

Start your email marketing campaigns now. Seek the help of design crowdsourcing website and have your email newsletters designed by professionals from DesignCrowd. Or you can read more email design tips to improve your email design knowledge and experience.

However, in the course of designing these emails, don’t lose track of your branding. Ensure your email logo is prominent and placed appropriately to announce itself on your customers’ radars the minute they open your email. Especially, if your business has a text logo, be mindful of the typography and colors you use.

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Written by DesignCrowd on Wednesday, February 16, 2022

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