It’s very easy to fall into the trap of doing the same things week in, week out when creating emails. This formulaic approach may be useful if you have limited resources to develop your email campaigns and rely on set layouts for speed. However, without enough variety (variety is after all the spice of life) this could lead to your readers just skimming over their emails, feeling like they’ve seen it all before and failing to absorb the content.
“Hey, we’ve got a sale on this week!”
“Here’s some of our best sellers!”
“Hey, it’s another sale!”
“Guess what, we’ve extended the sale!”
Using the same format and style is of course fine to maintain brand identity and make your emails instantly recognisable, but NOT the same content. One obvious mistake to avoid is to keep using the same hero image email after email.
The hero image is the first thing your readers will see, so this is your best opportunity to grab their attention. If you repeat it 4, 5 even 6 times in a row the likelihood is they will nod off.
Spice up your emails
So how can you spice up your emails? My first suggestion is…
Tap into the hectic melee that is “day” celebrations
Yes, a good old fashioned themed email. You’ve got a whole host of National, International and even World Days that cover every day of the year and there simply MUST be at least one that fits in with your brand identity.
You’re a chocolatier? 7th July is “World Chocolate Day”.
You sell animal products? January 14th is “National Dress Up Your Pet Day”.
Swimwear? Why, 5th July is “National Bikini Day”.
I’m a stationer – nobody could possibly celebrate the humble pen and paper? Oh yes, they do…for a whole week every year in the middle of May!
The sillier the better to entice your readers in. 21st June is World Giraffe day? You’re having a giraffe! Here’s how some companies have been making use of these type of days for some one-off, attention grabbing campaigns:
To get started, here are a few useful sites to look up for inspiration:
https://www.un.org/en/observances/list-days-weeks
https://www.awarenessdays.com/
https://www.nationaldaycalendar.com
Next up…
CSS effects
CSS is typically used for prettifying websites but it is available for use in email design, albeit slightly more primitively, and is often overlooked. You can use it for things like fixed positioning, parallax scrolling with perspective attribute, manipulating 3D objects – all of this will enhance your emails and garner that coveted attention.
It has its drawbacks as it is not supported everywhere, but if you have decent fallbacks there is no excuse for not implementing some of these tricks.
And another thing about CSS…
Information as images
Life is changing – people just don’t want to read anything for any length of time anymore. So we really need a way to condense lots of information into something digestible. Here’s where CSS can step in again turning your data into eye-catching charts.
Is there anything else you can do with CSS?
Surveys
It is possible to insert simple surveys into your emails without sending anyone to any external site. By reducing the steps in the user journey you are likely to get both a higher response and email engagement rate. Why not check out Development Project 4 to see it in action. We can provide the ability to capture the responses in a database and then view the results.
And?
Games
Simple games can be included to play inside the email which is a great user experience. Simple doesn’t mean not fun! If they can’t play because it’s not supported, they can be directed to a browser to get the same experience.
If you want to see it for yourself in action, just enter your email below and we’ll send you the Black Friday special we made (don’t worry, we won’t use your email for anything else):
Finally…
Interactivity
To get your users to engage, give them something to actively engage with. As humans, we are pre-programmed to wonder what a button does, consequences be damned. Fortunately, most emails aren’t going to trigger a bomb with the mere click of a link, but you can still offer up a little more spice before directing them to your website.
We’ve come up with 4 useful ideas for interactive things that can be included in your emails across a range of industries, from colour palettes to rotatable products to see every angle. The possibilities with adding interactivity are ever growing and will boost the attractiveness of your emails no end.
Just get in touch if you need help with implementing any of this in your emails. You can also become an interactive master by checking out our complete guide to interactive email.