We live in an era where emails are opened more but clicked less.
- Mailchimp, the leading email marketing platform of all time, reported an average email open rate for all industries to be 21.33%, wherein the average click-rate is just 2.62%.
- Campaign Monitor, on the other hand, reports average email open rate to be 17.8% and average click-rate to be 2.6%.
The pattern here clearly shows a huge gap between the numbers of emails being opened and clicked, and the benchmarks have always had this gap. Not to mention, email is still the most preferred and ROI-generating marketing channel, but the quest will always be to get more clicks and not just opens.
Emails have evolved with time. With the latest advancements, consumer preferences, and smart marketing approach, emails are not just another boring message that we get in our inboxes. The ultimate goal for an email marketer is to carry out campaigns that can house user-engagement. How your subscribers or customers perceive your emails and get involved with it, is how you can measure the success of your email campaigns.
In order to gain engagement, email developers and campaign managers keep playing with elements, and media is a game-changing aspect for all. Visual cues or Rich Media in emails is like the gluing element that binds attention and interaction. These rich media trends keep changing with time, industry, purpose, metrics, and many other factors. Today, we are going to talk about a few rich media trends that are creating traction in the email world. Letās get on with themā¦
What is Rich Media for emails?
The embedded elements like videos, audio, images, animation, and other interactive digital media is known as Rich media for emails.
A step-up from text-only emails was necessary and we got one a long time ago. The rich media elements add a pinch of excitement and grab attention that may instigate action. 81% of people just skim through the content they read online, and if they find a wall of text to decipher, there are higher chances that they might lose interest. An image is worth 1000 words – and there is no better explanation as to why visuals are so important to any medium of marketing.
The relevance and significance of embedding rich media into emails are high to gain, sustain, and retain the recipientsā engagement.
Given that, letās explore some of the rich media trends that you should consider incorporating in your email campaigns if you arenāt already.
1. Images in Emails
Now it is a no-brainer and one of the classic trends that email marketing has ever experienced. Static images never go out of style as far as emails are concerned, but the placement, quality, and kind of images are the things that make a huge difference. Some of the latest image trends consist of using illustrations, 3D designs, and playing with the background colors. Here are some of the examples you can get inspiration from as to how you can use static images to make a difference.
(Source: Really Good Emails)
The template – This email from Bite is a depiction of how you can utilize product photography with some illustrations to send a clearer message across. Mix and match to come up with an appealing email design that draws attention.
(Source: Really Good Emails)
The template – Here is another email example of Austin Eastciders on how products can be highlighted with the help of some suitable, attractive illustrations and background colors.
Tips for using imagery
- Do not use stock images for your campaigns.
- Sending images directly as emails is a big NO. HTML coding and adding relevant ALT attributes are a must (for email client compliance).
- Text to image ratio is a key factor. Keep it at 80:20
- Embed images into the email templates and do not send them as attachments.
2. GIFs in Emails
Yet another trending and effective rich media component is GIFs. With the increasing need of eye-catchy email templates, HTML developers are getting creative with adding animation to the static images and buttons in an email. On a brighter side, the majority of the email clients also support GIFs on mobile as well as desktop screens. Tech advancements have helped marketers in sending out beautified content with the help of such rich media elements like animation and GIFs.
The visual appeal the GIFs create is extraordinary and can boost engagement. Here is an example.
(Source: Really Good Emails)
The template – This email by Tushy is a great representation of how you can use animation to explain aspects of your product or service without having to explain it in long paragraphs. Such notions grab eyes and trigger action.
Tips for using GIFs
- GIFs need fallback support for the email clients that are capable of showing just the first frame.
- Use the āimg srcā HTML code and then insert the source code of HTML as follows: <img src=ā/wp-content/uploads/emaildesign.gifā>
3. Cinemagraphs
A more sophisticated version for GIFs is the cinemagraphs. These are capable of creating the illusion of a video or animation in the most subtle way possible. Comparatively, they are lighter in size and can provide similar utility as a GIF. Check out the following example.
(Source: Really Good Emails)
The template – This email by Harryās has used 3 different cinemagraphs to portray three distinct fragrances they offer. The illusion perfectly blends with the elements and color palette to give them a more enhanced look.
Tip – Cinemagraphs are incorporated the same way you code GIFs into an email template.
4. Videos in Emails
Providing landing page links or YouTube thumbnails for redirecting to a video is a great, actionable way to drive traffic and increase views. But we are talking about taking a step ahead and incorporating videos into the email template itself. These are the embedded videos that play within the inbox without having to switch tabs.
As a challenging factor, not all email clients support built-in videos, and yet, marketers are ready to invest in video marketing for all the positive impact this rich media element has to offer. Videos are capable of boosting email opens, click-throughs, and reducing unsubscribes by 19%, 65%, and 26% respectively. Check the example outā¦
(Source: Really Good Emails)
The template – This email by Robust Designs has a clickable video section which plays an excerpt of a long video. The users then have to click the link to get access to the full content. It is a great gated-content source for brands to gain views, clicks, and leads.
5. Interactive elements in Emails
The final rich media component that is making its way through usersā inboxes along with their hearts is interactive elements within the emails. We live in an era of hyper-customization and people like to explore options. Interactivity is the type of design that enables users to take action within the email itself and provide a more seamless user experience.
The same challenges of fallbacks and ISP support still persist, but you need to analyze where your subscribers open your emails and accordingly plan to implement little to extensive interactive elements. Kinetic emails, carousel banners, graphs, branded QR codes with logos, AMP, timers, accordions, email hotspots, and more are interactive elements that you can utilize in an email. Here is an apt example by Burberry.
(Source: Really Good Emails)
The template – This email is a perfect example of how you can use animation and interactive elements both in an email to make it more user-friendly and appealing. Here, the hero image is an animation that works like a video, while print selection options are interactive and engaging.
Pro-Tip
Incorporating videos and interactive elements are tricky and demands expertise. If you have a client base with email client support for both these rich media components, consult a skillful, well-versed HTML email developer who can help you create responsive email designs with such rich media cues.
Wrap-up
Emails are getting better with tech support and demanding user-experience. Incorporating rich media into your email campaigns can get you an edge over all the conventional, boring plain email messages.
In order to get noticed, you need to do something noticeable, and embedding rich media into emails is the way to go!
Make use of any or many rich media components from the list and share your experience with us. Happy ārichā emailing to you!
Author Bio
Kevin George is Head of Marketing at Email Uplers, one of the fastest growing custom email design and coding companies, and specializes in crafting professional email templates, PSD to HTML email conversion and free HTML email templates in addition to providing email automation, campaign management, and data integration & migration services. He loves gadgets, bikes, jazz and eats and breathes email marketing. He enjoys sharing his insights and thoughts on email marketing best practices on his blog.
