5 fresh content ideas for your next send

As an email marketer who regularly sends out campaigns, you're always searching for new ways to increase engagement and drive conversions. Even so, you’re probably used to sending out the same newsletters and promotions. We're willing to bet they contain a lot of similar images, all created from the same templates.

Your subscribers receive mountains of emails each day, and they want relevant messages that are exciting and new. Even if your emails are well-designed and full of relevant content, they may seem boring or repetitive to your subscribers.

If you’re looking to increase engagement, you should consider how you can freshen up your content so that it entices subscribers. By sending out fresh and interesting content, you’ll not only increase engagement with subscribers but remind them why they signed up for your list in the first place. 

Looking to add some spice to your next send? Here are 5 fresh content ideas.

1. Try a new template

Templates are an email marketer’s best friend because you only have to create a template once before using it over and over again. Templates increase efficiency and improve your workflow. But when was the last time you made an update to yours?

Whether your next send is a monthly or an invitation to an annual event, it may be time to try a new template. Thankfully, most email service providers offer a variety of ready-made templates for you to try. Some of these templates even include seasonal elements to help you create the most relevant messages.

Email Templates – Increase Engagement Rates

It may be intimidating to change your templates, especially if you already enjoy high engagement rates. That’s why it’s essential to A/B test your new template against your old one. When you look at the analytics side by side, you’ll be able to assess whether your new template truly improved conversions.

2. Say it with imagery

Although you may be used to the same headers and banners, now may be a good time to freshen up the imagery in your messages. The imagery in your email has the potential to pack a punch, especially if it’s clever and on-brand. According to Fast Company, people process images 60,000 times faster than text, which is a real incentive to make sure yours are working as hard as they can. 

For example, Birchbox, a beauty retailer, does an excellent job enticing subscribers with imagery. Rather than sticking in a boring product photo, they design their emails as though they’re standalone images. The copy and imagery work together to create an extremely engaging message.

Birchbox – Email Images

Changing up imagery can happen in conjunction with other marketing efforts, and it’s a good opportunity to partner with your social media or design teams. If you work together to create new product photos or branded images, you’ll be able to freshen up your emails.

3. Set up a triggered promotion

Of course, you want to freshen up the next email you send, but what about sending a brand new triggered promotion designed to engage subscribers? This fresh content won’t be sent out once. Rather, it will continue to get results into the future.

You can use triggers such as a subscriber’s birth date, a spending threshold, or a contact with support to automatically send a promotion. For example, DSW, a shoe retailer, sends out a $5 off coupon to celebrate subscribers’ birthdays.

Yumi Kim – Email Automation – Promotional Content 

You can also freshen up the content in your welcome emails, as these messages are a key component of your subscribers’ journey. Backyard Burger’s well-designed welcome email boasts an impressive 68.7% open rate.

Backyard Burger’s – Welcome Email Content

 

4. Personalize messages based on segments

Want to freshen up the content for your next email? Personalize the message based on segments. This is a ticket to increasing engagement, as well as ROI, since marketers have seen an increase of 760% in revenue from segmented campaigns.

You can segment your audience in a variety of ways, but here are some of the most popular and creative ways to segment:

  • Geographic
  • Birthdate or astrological sign
  • Customer spend or customer lifetime value
  • Average engagement rate
  • Gender
  • Age
  • Job
  • Past purchases
  • Level of satisfaction (such as a Net Promoter Score)

Segmenting depends on data, but once you’ve assessed the information you have, you should be able to create fresh content perfectly tailored to your different segments.

For example, you can send a promotion for 20% off to everyone, but include images of women’s products to female subscribers, and men’s products to male subscribers.

5. Try animated GIFs or interactive emails

One of the best ways to freshen up your content is by making it move. Yes, now is a good time to try making your emails more interactive! Animated GIFs are a great way to grab your audience, capturing their attention and making them laugh. Interactive emails are worth experimenting with, as well.

For example, Heal the Bay sent out a re-engagement email with a GIF of a breaching humpback whale. The relevant GIF captures the subscriber’s interest, encouraging them to respond to the ask.

Heal the Bay - Re-Engagement Email with GIF

GIFs are also a great way to show off your different products. Rather than laying out a number of your products in a grid, you can tease subscribers with a compelling GIF. For example, Southern Proper created a GIF of their different shirts to show off different offerings.

Southern Proper – Email Content with GIF

Although the technology is still somewhat limited, brands are also experimenting with interactive emails. For example, Pret a Manger created an interactive message that allowed subscribers to change the color and flavor of their smoothie. This interactivity naturally increases engagement as subscribers can’t help but click.

Pret a Manger – Interactive Email Content

Wrap up

Your subscribers receive more emails in their inboxes than ever before. It’s not enough to send the same types of messages over and over again. If you want to increase engagement rates and see more conversions, it’s time to employ some fresh content ideas in your next send. 

By trying new templates, using better imagery, setting up triggered promotions, personalization messages, and using GIFs, you’ll be sending out enticing content in no time. 

About the Author

Lane Harbin is a senior content marketing manager at Emma. When she’s not geeking out over email marketing, she enjoys binge-listening to podcasts, catching up on the latest tech news, and constantly rearranging her living room.

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