13 Email Ideas to Amp Up Your Engagement


January 21, 2024
Written by
Reviewed by
Ayanna Julien
Contributor
Opinions expressed by Twilio contributors are their own

13 Brilliant Email Ideas to Amp Up Your Engagement

Are your email ideas going dry?

Don't get me wrong—there's a time and place for black text on a white screen. But it's fun to spice things up with different types of email content ideas now and then.

Think outside the box. You can include elements like:

  • Images
  • GIFs
  • Animations
  • Buttons
  • Countdowns
  • Amp for Email

And that's just a taste of what you can do inside an email. Below, we're breaking down 13 email ideas you can include in your campaigns.

Let's dive right in.

13 email ideas to add to your emails

1. Images

Image

Most email aficionados know how to add a brand logo and hero image to their emails, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. You have plenty of options to make your emails fresh and personalized:

  • Branded images
  • Stock images
  • Illustrations
  • Photographs

Don't have a budget for fancy images? No problem. Here's a list of places you can find great (nonstock) artwork for your email campaigns without spending a fortune (or anything):

Ready to add an image to your email campaign? There isn’t just one right way. Learn the 3 most popular (and efficient) methods to add images to your emails in our post: How to Embed Images in Your Emails (CID, Inline & More).

2. GIFs

GIFs (pronounced with a hard G, of course) aren't just for tweets, texts, and Slack threads—these are a tried-and-true element of email campaigns. The hardest part is finding the right one.

New to adding GIFs to your emails? Brush up on the basics with How to Insert a GIF Into Email.



True creativity and ingenuity come when you stop finding GIFs and start creating them. Learn how to make email GIFs in our step-by-step guide—you could even make your logo a GIF, like Disney does in its emails.

3. Buttons

Ah, who doesn't love the classic button? Look at it. It's just dying for someone to press it.

Button

Your email should have one super-duper, irresistible call to action (CTA), and this CTA should be in an easy-to-find button.

Sure, you might sprinkle buttons throughout your email design, but try to keep it to a minimum. We recommend adding one above the fold and at the end of your email—that way, you can capture both the skimmers and the folks that took the time to read from top to bottom.

4. Countdowns

Add countdown timers to your emails for a bit of interactivity and urgency. Dynamic countdowns will let your recipients know how much time they have left to take advantage of a promotion. And if a recipient opens the message after the promotion is over, the countdown timer will display a message like "Time is out" or "This offer has expired."

Countdown

Want to make an impact? Use countdown timers during holidays and seasonal sales, like Black Friday or Cyber Monday

5. Charts

Charts, graphs, tables, and maps—use any of these to tell a story. Or, any time you want to share data with your subscribers, consider packaging it in a chart. 

Chart

It'll make your statistics visually more interesting—much more so than any ol' bulleted list. 

6. Emojis

Emojis in email has always been a hot topic, but we think that if it feels right for your brand, go for it. A well-timed emoji could help your message stand out in the inbox or add color and pop to the text in your emails.

Emojis

Consider using emojis instead of bullet points to illustrate concepts or blow up an emoji's size to make it as big as an image. You can add a lot of creativity and character to your emails with emojis.

7. Icons

When possible, replace bullet points and numbered lists with icons. Icons act the same way but give a picture of what you're trying to communicate. 

Icons

You can use your brand's icons or generic stock icons—either will work. But if you go the stock route, try to find a large, uniform set. Icons have a lot of character, and it’ll be pretty noticeable if you mix and match different styles.

8. Forms

Want to collect sign-ups for an event or survey your shoppers on a recent in-store experience? Rather than send them a link to a stand-alone page, embed your form right in your email.

Forms

You'll need AMP for Email and a bit of coding know-how (or a developer), but this interactive element can be a game changer for your engagement.

9. Accordions

Accordion elements in your emails will make your subscribers whistle like a missile. For example, when you have lots of content you want to communicate but don't want to make your email as long as an ebook, opt for accordions.

Accordion

Again, you'll need AMP for Email—but the outcome is worth the development hassle.

10. Dynamic content

Dynamic content is content personalized to your email recipient's open time and preferences. For example, you can tailor what product recommendations end up in their unique inbox based on their shopping behaviors and past experiences.

Dynamic_Template-1

You can also use dynamic content to serve up-to-date shopping recommendations, regardless of when they open the email. For example, if you sell out of a hot product, and a recipient opens your email late tomorrow, they won't see the sold-out product—instead, dynamic content will serve them something else in their inbox.

Learn how you can send dynamic emails with Twilio SendGrid.

11. Hover and rollover effects

We all see hover and rollover effects on websites all the time, but these are still an untapped experience in the inbox. Relatively easy to include, you can add a nice touch of creativity and interactivity to your emails with them.

Rollover

12. Product previews

Let your recipients do more shopping right from your emails with product previews. That means instead of sending them to your website to view/experiment with different colors or patterns of products, empower them to act right from the email.



Previewing a new color could make the difference between sealing the sale and losing the deal—and it doesn't take too much upfront work to make it happen.

13. Text

Yes, text. This simple email element often goes untapped, but there's so much you can do with it. Look there! I just gave you a teaser.

Here are a few ways you can use text to spice up your emails:

  • Upgrade to new email fonts
  • Increase your font size
  • Reduce your font size
  • Bold text
  • Italicize text
  • Underline text

Click, clack, bada bing, bada boom. It's that simple.

Of course, don't go overboard with these fun text ideas—but experiment and add 1–2 variations to your email content. 

Bring your new email ideas to life with Twilio SendGrid

Whether you want to add dynamic content to your campaigns or interactive AMP for Email elements, trust Twilio SendGrid to help you get the job done. Our design editor has the support, widgets, and documentation you need to make just about any of your email dreams a reality:

Ready to get started? Sign up for a free account and dive in with our email design editor.


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