Interactive Email Design: Everything You Need To Know

Interactive Email Design: Everything You Need To Know

If we had told brands before the 2010s that they could design emails that allow readers to take action in the email instead of just passively reading it… they would've looked at us like we were pitching flying cars or teleportation pods. 

Ridiculous, right?

Except it's not.

Your subscribers are playing games in emails, flipping through product catalogues like they're browsing Instagram, and making purchases without ever leaving their inbox. Yes, inside the actual email.

This shift of emails becoming interactive experiences is probably the biggest plot twist in email marketing since marketers replaced plain text emails with HTML in the late '90s. (We all know how that turned out!)

Interactive emails are the reason for this. 

If you've ever wondered whether you could create emails that deliver experiences as memorable as your website, experiences that make subscribers forget they're in an email—this is the read for you. 

Today’s blog is all about interactive email design. We're going beyond GIFs to explore how to transform static emails into engaging, interactive experiences that stand out in even the most crowded inbox.

What Are Interactive Emails?

Interactive emails, one of the hottest email design trends in 2025, consist of functional design elements that encourage readers to engage with the email content by clicking, swiping, scratching, hovering, or revealing additional content. Hence, the name interactive.

Said another way, interactive elements have features that require user input, unlike static emails. 

But here's what trips people up: Aren't all email campaigns technically ‘interactive' because you can click links?

Not quite.

Here's the key difference: In traditional emails, clicking a link redirects you to a landing page, and the rest of the interaction occurs on the website. That's not interaction—that's, let’s say, transportation. 

On the other hand, interactive emails let your subscribers interact within the email itself rather than leaving their inbox. It’s like the difference between watching a YouTube video about a game versus playing the game.

Why does this matter? 

Because when subscribers can interact with your email content right there in their inbox, they're not just reading your message. They're experiencing it. And that experience does something more powerful. It turns passive readers into active participants. And yes, higher engagement brings you better metrics across the board. 

What Are the Benefits of Using Interactive Email Templates?

Yes, interactive emails boost engagement. That's like saying water is wet. When you give subscribers something to do in an email besides just reading, they will interact more. However, interactive email templates in your email marketing toolkit have other benefits. 

Before we discuss those benefits, though, let's talk about the elephant in the inbox: You can't just sprinkle interactivity around like magic dust. That's a rookie move. Instead, you sit down with your email marketing team and strategise the best places to use different interactivity elements. In short, use them thoughtfully, not everywhere. 

Also, while things are improving technologically, interactive email support isn't universal yet. Litmus's latest email client data says that only half of all email opens happen in clients that support interactive elements. What about the other half? They'll need a fallback version of interactive email.

Image Source: Stripo

FYI: A fallback is an alternative or backup version of the content. Hence, even if an email client does not support a specific interactive email element, the subscriber still gets your core message.

Translation: Before you go big on those fancy interactive features, know which ones are possible for your subscribers based on their email clients and devices. 

Now, it is time to see how interactive email templates can uplift your email campaigns:

1. Users love it when they are given the chance to engage with your email content. 60% of email recipients are likely to engage with an interactive email, and over 50% want to interact with the email content. By adding interactivity to your email campaigns, you make them feel valued and increase the chances of them recalling and engaging with your email next time. 
2. Interactive elements like live polls give subscribers a say in their experience and turn your emails into two-way conversations. This way, your brand perception improves, which helps build brand loyalty. 
3. The first-party data and inputs that consumers provide when using interactive email content lead to richer profiles and better nurturing of prospects along the buyer’s journey. 
4. Unique interactive content gives you a competitive differentiation by adding a dash of novelty to your email campaigns compared to the rest of the look-alike emails in the inbox. 
5. When designed and used purposefully, interactive emails reduce steps and save recipients some time. Less friction means more action and neat conversion rates.

Examples of Interactive Elements for Emails

While the opportunities to add interactivity to your email campaigns are not endless compared to the web design’s interactivity, they are still pretty extensive. 

Have a look:

Hover Effect

The Hover effect is the best type of email interactivity for brands new to interactive email design—a simple, fuss-free, yet engaging twist to your email design element. 

It changes or activates the style of the element—such as font colour, background colour, or border style—when the mouse hovers over a specified area on desktop devices. 

Exactly like how you see in this email from Really Good Emails. 

This email interactivity feature lets you design eye-catching buttons and CTA, drawing the reader's attention and enhancing your email engagement. Even better, it is supported by about 60% of email clients.

However, there is a small problem: while the hover effect works well with desktop users, mobile users won't have a complete experience with this interactivity. Most mobile devices primarily use touch input, which doesn't have a “hover” state like a mouse cursor. Hence, you should have a fallback option for this one. One day, our mobile devices will support the hover effect better.

Image Carousels

Building an image carousel for an email is a smart way to display diverse content more effectively without overwhelming your subscribers, especially for mobile users where vertical space is at a premium. 

It’s a user interface design element where subscribers can navigate through multiple content with a click without leaving the email.  

There are plenty of solid ways to put image carousels to good use:

• Showcase multiple images in the hero image space of your email campaign. 
• Spotlight the key features of your new product. 
• Design step-by-step guides in a visual format. 
• Display limited-time offers and coupon codes. 

Many popular inbox providers, like Apple Mail, and devices like iPhone iOS, Android, and Windows Mobile support interactive carousels. The primary email clients you might have issues with are Outlook and Gmail. Hence, the fallback of stacked content blocks should be ready for subscribers using them. 

Live Polls

Only 7% of marketers use live or real-time content. Hence, that’s an excellent opportunity to implement it for open-time email personalisation and delight your subscribers. 

Take, for example, Live polls.

Live polls are a significant interactive element that gives your subscribers a say. They show results in real-time. As participants submit their responses, poll results update and display instantly. 

Not only do they encourage clicks, but they also encourage re-opens as subscribers check results. The repeated interaction serves as a positive signal to inbox service providers that your audience loves your brand emails. 

Another plus of using interactive emails with live polls is that you can rely on them to capture first-party data. 

That’s gold. Especially amidst Google’s plan to end third-party cookies by 2025 and Apple Mail Privacy Protection, which hides subscribers’ IP addresses, limiting the traditional data sources for email personalisation. 

The results from live polls can be analysed and used as valuable data points to inform future campaigns.

Gamification

Stripo found that gamification can boost ROI by a mind-boggling 300%. Not a typo. Three. Hundred. Per cent. 

Thanks to gamification in email marketing, turning your routine email interactions into memorable adventures is within reach. It involves designing email templates with game design elements like points, badges, and challenges. 

But what needs to be remembered is that designing a gaming email template comes with time-consuming coding and significant efforts behind fallbacks. 

Other than the technical considerations, ensure that the gamified elements do not pressure users into buying. They should feel in control of their choices while having fun rather than being manipulated by the game's mechanics. 

Videos and Animation

If you're feeling adventurous and are comfortable with HTML, consider embedding videos in your email templates. These are particularly effective for sharing short promotional videos and tutorials that play directly within the inbox.

However, be aware that video support is limited. Only a few email clients—Apple Mail, Outlook on Mac, iOS Mail, and Samsung Mail—support playing videos in the inbox. Other email clients typically display videos as static images. To address this limitation, you can use a GIF as a fallback or provide a link to view the content externally.

The same principle applies to animations. Since support varies across email clients, reserving animated design elements for special occasions like holiday email campaigns, product launches, and promotions is best. Remember that subtlety can be powerful—you don't need elaborate animations to make an impact. A simple animated CTA, a subtle fade-in effect, or moving text can be enough to delight subscribers when they interact with your email.

Countdown Timers

Using countdown timers to create a sense of urgency is like seeing the last few slices of your favourite cake at a bakery. No one is forcing you to buy it, but you know it won’t last long.

The ticking clock can be a very effective tool to make your subscribers take action before it’s too late. This interactive element's anticipation helps you drive higher click-through and conversion rates for a limited-time offer, a sale, or a significant event. 

Here’s how Bulk pulls this off:

• The bold “48 HOURS ONLY” and “EXCLUSIVE 40% OFF” header signal this deal is time-sensitive. 
• The countdown timer is placed at the top, making it the first thing recipients notice. 
• The contrast between the bright orange background and black text ensures the countdown timer is highly visible and impossible to ignore.
• The additional incentive, “FREE MACRO MUNCH PROTEIN BAR,” encourages higher spending by setting a minimum purchase requirement.

Email Hotspots

Interactive hotspots in the email are clickable areas that reveal additional content or images in an overlay. In the most simple version of this interactive element, you can use a product image to let the user explore its features and benefits. 

Add-to-Cart Features

With an interactive shopping cart within the email, you create a more seamless checkout and reduce purchase friction. It lets the subscribers go through their options without clicking through to a landing page. By pulling the checkout page content into an email, eCommerce brands can make it more likely for customers to complete the transaction. The fewer steps between ‘I want this' and ‘I bought this,' the better your conversion rates.

Below is an example of an interactive email from Google Store with add-to-cart functionality. It lets users toggle between colour options and add items to their cart directly from an email. 

Search Bar Entries

An integrated search bar is an interactive element that allows subscribers to search your website from their inbox! They can use the search box to fill in search words within the email. 

For retailers and eCommerce brands, subscribers do not have to work harder to find their favourite products; they can search for them within the email.  A search bar helps users quickly locate content they remember seeing in newsletters. 

Accordions

What do you do when you have a lot to say in email but want to let your subscribers stay in control of what they see?

You use accordions.

These fantastic interactive elements save much of your email estate while adding more content. 

In its most basic design, accordions look like a bar that expands the content block to reveal additional information when users click on it. Only the selected section expands while the sections remain collapsed. 

This way, you can hide otherwise too-long content, keeping the email design sleek and scannable. This type of interactive content is best for long-form content and newsletters. The best part is that it also gives subscribers the choice of selecting the sections that interest them, making them feel more involved. 

Progress Bar

Progress bars are a compelling visual nudge to communicate customer status and encourage desired behaviours within email marketing. This interactive, live element gives the subscriber a straightforward, fun representation of an individual's progress, making the experience more engaging. 

Now, what can you track with these little loading bars? Anything! 

Multi-step signups, reward points accumulating, loyalty scores, the number of [items] purchased, days until subscription renewal, and the status of a shipping confirmation!

From a technical perspective, progress bars can be a breeze to implement using HTML table structures and CSS styling. Another key advantage is their broad compatibility across diverse email clients, ensuring consistent rendering in environments ranging from Outlook to Gmail.

When deploying progress bars, prioritise clarity and user experience. The visualisation should indicate progress, and the end goal should be easily understood. Use thoughtful design to ensure the element enhances the email without overwhelming the recipient.

Limitations of Interactive Emails

While interactive emails offer plenty of solid bets to design stand-out emails for your email marketing campaigns, you need to be aware of specific considerations:

• Email interactivity needs fallbacks. A significant challenge with interactive emails is that CSS-based interactivity is not supported universally across all email clients. What Apple Mail handles well might look broken on Outlook. That means you must create fallbacks for subscribers whose email client does not support the interactive element. 
• Coding interactive email design is not easy. You will need advanced coding expertise in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. 
• Interactive features add code weight to your emails. When email clients have size limits, this becomes a real issue.  If the email size exceeds this limit, it affects how the interactive element appears. In Gmail, for example, your carefully crafted interactive email might get cut off with a frustrating ‘[Message clipped]' notice and a link to “View entire message.”
• Email interactivity often blocks accessibility. That’s because many people with disabilities rely on assistive technologies, like screen readers, to access email.  Interactive elements usually don't work well with these technologies as the user might not understand what the interactive element does. To make interactivity understandable, you have to use ARIA labels— bits of code you can add to your email to describe what an interactive element does. 
• Ensuring fast email loading times with interactive email is another major issue. Heavy interactive features slow down email loading, especially for mobile devices. This causes frustration and a potential loss of engagement from the audience. 

Case Study: Disney's EMEA Email Marketing Win with Interactive Emails 

When Disney aimed to boost engagement and revenue across EMEA, they didn't just add a sprinkle of pixie dust to their emails—they reimagined the entire experience. Working with the Armadillo agency, they created an email program that brought Disney's storytelling magic to subscribers' inboxes using interactive elements. 

The Challenge 

Disney needed to increase user engagement and revenue while collecting valuable first-party data. The key insight was that long-term customer value depended on how deeply users engaged with different Disney products and services.

The Interactive Solution 

The agency developed interactive experiences that worked without JavaScript (which isn't supported by most email clients). Their creative team built a custom code base using HTML and CSS to deliver reliable interactive content with web-based fallbacks for unsupported email clients. Users were given web-based fallbacks for email clients that didn't support the interactive elements. 

Examples of interactive elements included:

• Word searches promoting films like Encanto
• Interactive crosswords testing Disney knowledge
• A Star Wars-themed Star Destroyer that revealed content when tapped
• Having users “crack” a screen to access the She-Hulk series.
• Halloween tarot card games with streaming CTAs

After a year of implementing their interactive email strategy, Disney got remarkable results. The company saw its incremental revenue more than double, with a 120% increase compared to the previous year. 

Their active customer base grew by 15%, showing that the interactive elements successfully attracted and retained subscribers. Engagement metrics were equally impressive. The unique clicks jumped by 38%. Most importantly, these engaging experiences boosted conversion rates by 26%. 

These numbers demonstrated that bringing Disney's storytelling magic into the inbox through interactive elements delighted subscribers and drove significant business growth.

The Key Lesson 

Disney's email strategy wasn't just about adding interactive elements. It used interactivity to enhance its core strength: storytelling. Each interactive feature reflected the brand’s promise to entertain, inform, and inspire through unparalleled storytelling. 

The takeaway from this case study is to develop interactive emails based on strong brand values and strategic objectives to deliver engaging experiences and meaningful results.

The Future of Email Is Interactive, But Let's Be Smart About It

Interactive emails have moved beyond being a popular email design trend. It has to become a proven strategy for driving engagement, traffic, and conversions. 

But let’s all remember this: the success of your interactive emails does not depend on how many interactive elements you can cram into an email. Instead, it is about implementing them thoughtfully and purposefully.

Like any other email marketing tool, interactive emails are only effective with expertise and intention. Poor implementation can frustrate subscribers and damage the user experience you've worked so hard to build.

So, start small and build up. Use simple interactive elements like countdown timers or animated GIFs. Get comfortable with how they work, how your subscribers respond, and how to create effective fallbacks. Once you've mastered these basics, gradually experiment with the more advanced interactive features we've discussed.

The goal should be to create interactions that feel natural and valuable to your subscribers. The elements should enhance their experience rather than complicate it. Because at the end of the day, the best interactive emails aren't just technically impressive—they're genuinely helpful to your audience.