People love to play online. Part of the appeal of Facebook is that it gives you so many opportunities to interact with people and with the companies you're following. Email has traditionally been less interactive than websites or social media, but the current trend in email marketing is to enable interaction with the subscriber. That way, you can capitalize on the surfer mentality (give me something fun to do) while still taking advantage of the more personalized and intimate communication venue of email. Here are some ideas to get your subscribers involved. 1. Ask for a vote Whether it's a vote on a new ice cream flavor, a cutest photo contest, or a new logo, asking for a vote gives readers a chance to click a button and get involved! It also makes your subscribers feel valuable by encouraging them to influence the decision you make as a company. 2. Include Video Links While embedding a video in the body of your email isn't a good idea, you can include links to videos hosted on your website. Ideally, you should include a linked screenshot of the video to arouse interest rather than a text-based link. Videos can engage subscriber attention by offering how-to demonstrations, funny clips, or new product demonstrations. 3. Ask for Subscriber Input on a Marketing Concept You can spin subscriber input a couple of different ways. If you're brave, ask for subscriber submissions, photos, content, designs and promise to include the winner on your site or in your next email. Or, you can simply ask subscribers to share experiences and ideas in a comments section on your website, giving them a link to click in the body of your email. This is an excellent option to showcase testimonials. 4. Consider a Secondary Call to Action If your email is primarily sales oriented, a secondary call to action can seek to engage subscribers who may not be quite ready to buy. Use any of the ideas above as your secondary call to action or simply give them an opportunity to find out more. The goal is simply to get them interacting without the commitment of hitting the buy button. source: TheEmailGuide
