10 ways to create an interactive email newsletter to boost engagement (with examples)

Email marketing is not only about promotion. People don't open your newsletters just to go to another place; they want to interact within your emails, communicating with your brand directly.

And this goes beyond animated GIFs and bright CTA buttons to "click for more info". It’s about adding real functionality that enables the subscriber to interact. So what are the most popular interactive email options? And when is the right time to use them?

Keep reading to find out more.

Here are some of the ways that interactive email designs are impacting email marketing results.

• It hooks the audience, increasing the read time of your emails.

• It helps provide clearer data: Since Apple’s privacy updates, marketers are using click rates over open rates to measure campaign performance

• It brings higher engagement rates when compared to traditional emails: Find out how Souplantation increased traffic to their website by 1,430%.

• It helps with segmentation by giving you additional insight into subscribers' preferences and behavior, which will enable you to create highly targeted campaigns.

• It increases ROI: Read how Seagate gained an 807% return on investment.

When it comes to interactive content in emails, forget about GIFs, buttons, and hyperlinks. They work, but they are separate from "interactive."

Yes, people click on them. However, they lead to your website, blog, Google form, or wherever else you want to take them. Nothing happens within the newsletter.

Interactive newsletters have specific elements directly built-in to the email design, inviting some kind of action within the message. According to an IBM survey, the most effective type of interactive content for your business depends on what stage of the buyer’s journey your target audience is in:

Ready to try one? Let's take a look at 10 interactive email examples and how they work.

1. Surveys

When done right, email surveys can be powerful tools. They triple engagement and response rates, allowing you to get feedback and create more value for your customers.

In just a few clicks you can integrate a survey into your newsletter. For example, the drag & drop editor in MailerLite helps to design all kinds of survey questions.

All you need to do is drag and drop a Survey block into your newsletter design, pick the survey type, fill in all the fields, and set the rules. Subscribers will view the survey directly in a newsletter, and you can see results in the Survey Report tab.

To get the most out of this survey feature, make sure your surveys are:

• Short and sweet. Avoid asking complex questions that might cover a multitude of answers. They confuse readers, killing the desire to respond. Make questions to the point.

• Asking questions that meet your goals and lead people to desired directions and actions. And make sure to inform them about what you are going to do with their feedback.

• Creating opportunities for open answers. Open-ended questions give people an opportunity to share a more detailed response with you.

You can create a customized survey and then connect it to your email marketing tool. Responses will be automatically transferred to your contact database, allowing you to segment your target audience and later generate content ideas for emails with their feedback in mind.

This interactive survey email from Wise is an excellent example. The bold text, interactive scale and emojis are eye-catching and make the purpose of the email instantly recognizable. It’s easy for customers to get started with the survey—just one click!

2. Games/Quizzes

Gamification allows you to communicate marketing messages in a way people love most—entertainment.

Quizzes, educational kits, multiple-choice, GIF-animations—they all engage, prompt subscribers to complete an action, influence your brand loyalty, and demonstrate your creativity and UTP. This results in higher-performing email marketing campaigns. 

Just look at this interactive newsletter example from BHLDN, inviting subscribers to take a quiz and choose the most suitable wedding shoes. When a subscriber clicks on a pair of shoes, they are directed to a landing page where they can purchase them.

3. E-commerce product previews

This is not just another product email! Make browsing and previewing new products easy by embedding a shopping widget in your email. Not only are these interactive product emails more engaging, but they also help to decrease the number of steps needed from discovery to purchase. 

Here's a great example of an interactive email from Sainsbury's. They send a newsletter to customers, based on their viewed products, with suggestions of other items they might be interested in. 

In addition to showcasing their products, they even give the subscriber the ability to select a color and size and then add the item to their shopping cart. This enables subscribers to interact with the product before even visiting the store website itself, improving the user experience.

In MailerLite, you can use the e-commerce blocks to create captivating interactive content for your email campaigns. These blocks allow you to seamlessly integrate product listings, pricing, and promotional offers directly within your emails.

By providing subscribers with a streamlined shopping experience, you can boost engagement, drive sales, and nurture customer loyalty. Plus, the e-commerce blocks are mobile-friendly and customizable, ensuring your campaigns shine across devices and align perfectly with your brand's aesthetic.

4. Company/product reviews

Gathering reviews enables you to gain invaluable insight into what your customers think about your product, brand or service. You can also use these testimonials to provide social proof on your digital marketing channels. 

Sounds great! So how do you get started? Well, you could include a call-to-action in your email, directing customers to a landing page where they can submit a review. 

Or, a more engaging method that is likely to result in more responses is to create an interactive email that lets subscribers respond directly from within the message. Not only does an interactive email make it easier for subscribers to participate, but it also makes the purpose clearer for those who like to quickly scan the email content. 

Marshall keeps it simple with a 1-5 star rating option and the ability to write a review directly from the email.

5. Image carousels

Add a touch of pizzazz to your email campaigns with image carousels, guaranteed to make your subscribers go "ooh" and "aah" as they swipe through a collection of curated visuals.

By utilizing image carousels, you can efficiently highlight various aspects of your offerings, tell a visual story, or showcase promotions, ultimately driving conversion rates. MailerLite's image carousels are easy to implement and customize, making them perfect for creating a dynamic and immersive experience that sets your emails apart from the competition.

6. Accordions

Accordions are a versatile tool that adds a new dimension to your newsletters. This collapsible content feature allows you to present information in a clean, organized manner, making it easier for readers to digest.

By clicking on a section header, subscribers can expand or collapse content based on their interests, ensuring they only view what's relevant to them. The accordion block not only saves valuable space in your email design but also offers a visually appealing and user-friendly way to deliver your message effectively.

7. Interactive invitations

Event blocks offer an interactive and streamlined user experience that revolutionizes the way you’ll promote events with email.

With this feature, you can effortlessly showcase your event details, including date, time, and location, right within your newsletter. Recipients can RSVP with a single click, demonstrating their interest and commitment to your event. Plus, the event block enables users to add the occasion directly to their Google calendar, ensuring they don't miss out on the fun.

This smooth combination of event advertising and audience engagement will boost your campaign success, increasing attendance and building solid relationships with your subscribers.

Interactive email templates in MailerLite

Need inspiration? Here are just a few of the newsletter templates in MailerLite that you can use to build effective interactive emails.

1. Interactive infographics

Infographics have become a huge hit and powerful piece of marketing content. Why?

The reason is simple.

This type of content is perfect for engaging all types of audiences. Since 90% of people are visual learners, infographics are an ideal way to share info and communicate marketing messages.

You can differentiate your own brand from your competitors by taking infographics to the next level with interactive infographics within your newsletter. Yes, they require more time and resources, but they also bring more engagement and conversion.

The above is an interactive email example from Dominos. They designed a new menu as an interactive email infographic where subscribers can view previews of their new pizzas that they can then order right away.

For an interactive infographic to appear in your newsletter, you need to hand-code your interactive emails, which requires some coding knowledge.

2. Calculators

This content form works best for brands willing to demonstrate how their service can help clients save money or a return on investment. Calculators are easy to customize and invite users to input their own numbers to get answers.

They are perfect for generating leads because people appreciate tools that help them solve real problems.

Take a look at this example from Cengage Unlimited:

Build a calculator in a newsletter to show readers the benefits of purchasing from you. It will influence their consideration when the time comes to buy.

You'll need basic skills in HTML and CSS to embed calculators in newsletters. 

While Calconic, uCalc, and Calculoid are tools to design a calculator for your website, you can use certain CSS pseudo-classes with MailerLite's HTML email editor to add a calculator to your newsletters.

3. Anchor links

One simple yet effective interactive email element you can easily add to your emails with HTML is an anchor link. Anchor links allow users to navigate within the email content by clicking on text or other elements that direct them to specific sections in the email.

This feature is particularly useful for lengthy emails with multiple topics or sections, as it enhances the user experience by providing a convenient and organized way to access the desired information without scrolling. To implement anchor links, you'll need to use the HTML <a name="anchor"></a> with an attribute pointing to the desired section's unique ID.

Here's how:

1. Add the code block to your email directly above the section you want to link to.

2. Add this code to the block: <a name="anchor"></a> If you want, you can change the keyword "anchor" to something relevant to the section.

3. Link to the anchor by adding a block to your email with linking functionality, such as a button or text block, and adding the link #anchor. Change "Anchor" to the text you used in the step above if relevant. See the image below for how it should look.

4. Make sure the link isn't set to open in a new tab.

5. Send a test email to check the anchor works as expected.

Be aware that some email clients may not support anchor links. We tested it with Gmail on desktop and the Gmail Android mobile app and it worked perfectly.

Since adding anchors to emails involves custom code, we can't provide support about the process beyond the above walkthrough.

Adding interactive elements to your emails is easy but it’s important to test them out before you send them to subscribers. 

Different email clients, such as Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook and Apple Mail, implement different restrictions and display settings, so it’s important to make sure your interactive email takes this into account. 

And with 41.6% of email opens occurring on mobile devices, it’s important that your interactive emails are mobile-friendly. MailerLite’s Preview feature enables users to view their email for desktop and mobile, so there’ll be no surprises!

With so many conversations crowding subscribers’ inboxes, sometimes directing them to your website just isn’t enough to get that all-important engagement. Placing interactive elements within your newsletters eliminates that extra step, resulting in higher conversion rates, click-through rates and increased feedback you can use to optimize your campaigns.

Moreover, email has become a content destination rather than just a tool for direct product promotion. Interactive emails will help you stand out from the crowd and create fruitful two-way conversations with your subscribers and customers.

What are your thoughts on interactive content? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

Editor's note: This post was originally published in April 2019, but it has been updated with new tips and examples.