4 Types of Must-Have Email Marketing Content

Humans are visual creatures – we’re naturally attracted to colorful and dynamic images. This means it’s in the best interest of email marketers to leverage this impulse.

And the evidence goes beyond anecdotal: A 2015 BuzzSumo study showed marketing content with images has higher engagement than content without images.

To attract subscribers and keep them interested in your emails, take advantage of these four types of must-have email marketing content.

1. Quizzes and Puzzles

People love to test their knowledge and showcase their intelligence, which makes email marketing content like puzzles and quizzes a powerful way to engage subscribers. Audiences are intrigued by this type of content and are more likely to click and interact with these kinds of campaigns longer than those with static content.

Example of a Quiz

In this “What Type of Digital Marketer Are You?” quiz, people can find out where they belong in the five classifications of marketers. The quiz includes fill-in-the-blank statements such as:

• My go-to platform to connect with my audience is…
• When I want to learn or boost my knowledge, I reach for…
• My media strategy is mostly…

Based on their answers, readers are placed in such categories as “Smooth Savvy Social Streamers,” “Content Marketing Moguls” and “Email Marketing Mega Machines.” After receiving their results, readers can easily share these results on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

2. Interactive Video

A video is a powerful piece of email marketing content. A study by Animoto found four times as many consumers would prefer to watch a video about a product than read about it. And more than half of the consumers surveyed have watched a company video that they received via email.

If you’re looking to take your visual experience a step further, try using interactive video in your emails. Interactive videos allow email recipients to control what happens on the screen. The technology uses “interactive hot spots” that enable viewers to click on links in the video, mouse over objects to reveal more information or choose the path they want the video storyline to take.

Example of an Interactive Video

In Philips’ award-winning interactive video (titled Designed to Play), viewers can click on one of six facial hairstyles to see a unique story path. With its “Choose Your Own Adventure” approach, users feel compelled to explore every storyline – in other words, interact with the content for an extended period of time.

3. Polls

Polls are effective pieces of email marketing content because they simultaneously serve two goals:

1. 1. They engage subscribers and get them to interact with the brand
2. 2. They provide valuable information for your marketing team

As you create your email poll, be sure to ask a unique question. Share the results to satisfy your subscriber’s curiosity and request further comment to foster continued brand engagement.

Example of a Poll

During the 2016 election, video game publisher Ubisoft invited email subscribers to vote for one of their characters for president, instead of choosing the actual Republican or Democrat candidate. After voting, customers could post the results to Twitter and visit Ubisoft’s online store.

4. GIFs

GIFs are great at grabbing the attention of your subscribers and showcasing multiple products or features within the same area of an email, allowing you to use the remaining space for other content.

GIFs are also an effective way to make sure your subscriber’s eyes lock onto the most important part of your email. Plus, GIFs are mobile-friendly and highly shareable content thanks to their small file size.

Example of a GIF

When rideshare company Lyft redesigned their app, they emailed subscribers to let them know about the updates. They listed the benefits of the new app and included an animated GIF of the app in action as the header image.

Remember: Don’t use interactive and visual content in your emails simply to include it. Make sure the imagery is relevant to the messaging and is being delivered to the appropriate subscribers.

In addition to quality content, your most important email marketing investment areas should be improving deliverability via email validation. Get your free Email Address Validation report and start increasing your inbox placement rate.