Stand Out In Your Customers Inbox With Gmail Annotations: Boost Email Open Rates And Engagement

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Email marketing continues to be amongst the highest RoI channels for marketers today, and Gmail is the second most used email client with a 30% market share.

However, as inboxes grow increasingly cluttered, with limited opportunities to differentiate – standing out in the inbox has become a formidable challenge for marketers – with lower email open rates and engagement.

Introducing Gmail Annotations, an innovative feature that allows marketers to enhance their email campaigns sent from MoEngage and capture customer attention in the crowded Gmail Inbox.

Gmail Annotations brings your promotional emails to life with images, coupon codes, expiration dates, and product recommendations – viewable by recipients in the Gmail Promotions tab right at the outset—without them having to open the email.

What can you showcase with Gmail Annotations?

Gmail Annotations enable marketers to stand out in their customers email inboxes by embedding rich, interactive elements directly into their emails, which appear in the Promotions tab of Gmail.

This allows brands to highlight key promotional details – such as discounts, expiration dates, and product images – without requiring recipients to open the email.

Apart from the Email subject line and sender name, there are five additional areas where you can add information and visuals with annotations.

• Logo.
• Deal Badge.
• Discount Code.
• Discount Code Expiration Date.
• Images and Carousels.

How can Gmail Annotations and MoEngage help Email Marketers?

Email fatigue among consumers is accurate. With an average consumer receiving over 100 emails daily, many promotional messages go unnoticed.

By integrating Gmail Annotations into your Email strategy, marketers have an innovative way to cut through the noise, offering a sneak peek into the email content and encouraging recipients to engage, impacting open rates and conversions.

Gmail Annotations offer several compelling benefits for marketers:

• Increased Visibility: Annotations make promotional emails more noticeable in crowded inboxes, effectively capturing attention before the email is opened.
• Enhanced Engagement: Annotations encourage higher click-through rates by allowing customers to interact with elements directly within their inbox.
• Improved Brand Perception: Rich media offers brand communications that are more professional and engaging.
• Personalization and Recommendations: With MoEngage’s recommendations and customer profiles, marketers can create tailored Gmail annotations that resonate with individual recipients. By analyzing customer behavior and preferences, brands can display personalized product promotions, personalized offers, and codes that reflect what each recipient is most likely to engage with.
  
• Seamless and Direct Navigation: Through Gmail Annotations, recipients can click on specific products directly from the annotated email without opening it. This seamless transition enhances the customer experience by allowing immediate access to products they are interested in.

Key Use Cases of Gmail Annotations across Verticals

E-commerce

• Promotional Offers:
  E-commerce brands can utilize Gmail Annotations to display limited-time discounts directly in the inbox.
  For instance, a fashion retailer could showcase “30% off” and guide images of popular items. This immediate visibility encourages recipients to click through to the product page without opening the email.
• Product Carousels:
  E-commerce brands can entice customers with multiple options at a glance by featuring a carousel of products. Each product in the carousel can link directly to its respective product page, streamlining the shopping experience.

Banking and Finance

• Account Offers:
  Financial institutions can use annotations to highlight new account openings or special interest rates. For example, a bank could display an offer for a high-yield savings account with an attractive interest rate and an expiration date, prompting customers to act quickly.
• Transaction Alerts: Banks can also utilize annotations for transaction notifications, providing customers with immediate access to details about their recent transactions or alerts about suspicious activity, enhancing customer trust and engagement.

Travel

• Exclusive Travel Deals:
  Travel Booking platforms can leverage Gmail Annotations to showcase exclusive vacation packages or last-minute deals. By including stunning imagery of destinations and a direct link to booking pages, they can capture the attention of potential travelers right from their inboxes.

Media and OTT Services

• New Releases and Promotions:
  Streaming services can highlight new movie or series releases using eye-catching images and promotional codes directly in the inbox.
  For instance, a streaming platform could annotate an email with the latest blockbuster release and offer customers a free trial link to access it immediately.
• Subscription Offers:
  Media companies can promote special subscription rates or bundled offers through annotations. By providing clear expiration dates and direct links to sign up, they can encourage immediate action from interested viewers.

Conclusion

Gmail Annotations present a unique opportunity for B2C brands to enhance their email marketing strategies. Brands can capture attention and drive engagement by utilizing rich media elements and direct links within the Gmail Promotions tab.

This innovative feature boosts visibility and simplifies the customer journey, leading to higher conversion rates across various industries. Contact your favorite account manager if you’re a MoEngage customer and want to get started with Gmail Annotations. If you’re new to MoEngage, you can schedule a demo here.