11 Powerful Examples of Dynamic Email Content [+ Guide]

5) Generate excitement with countdown timers

Featuring a real-time countdown timer within your emails can be an easy yet highly effective way to elicit enthusiasm or urgency from your subscribers.

Ikon Pass features a countdown timer in their email header, driving a sense of urgency with subscribers that time is running out on low pass prices. They also highlight additional savings and perks of being a pass holder.

iClothing does this for Black Friday promotion, featuring lightning deals that mirror the offers on their site, changing as the day unfolds.

6) Show—don’t tell—with social proof

Email marketing offers an incredible opportunity to build community and demonstrate authority in your space by adding elements of social proof.

Mamas and Papas takes a multi-faceted approach to personalized emails in a campaign for expecting parents. 

They tailor content to match the current pregnancy stage of the subscriber, then incorporate images from their Instagram feed into the email, highlighting how to stay connected with contests and product updates. This strategy encourages cross-pollination by prompting subscribers to follow them online, expanding their audience for continued engagement across platforms.

Source: The Email Personalization Handbook

7) Gather first-party data with live polls

With third-party cookies on their way out, your email program will need to lean more heavily on zero- and first-party data. Good news, email marketers: this is where your medium shines!

In particular, live polls are a rich source of first-party data. Hunter’s campaign promoting an update to their classic rain boots features a live poll asking subscribers to pick their favorite boot. This not only boosts engagement (each vote counts as a click) but also captures valuable data on subscriber preferences.

Bulk used the excitement around the upcoming London Marathon to engage their fitness enthusiast audience. They launched a campaign to gauge participation, using a live poll that captures valuable first-party insights into their subscribers’ interests for better personalization for future campaigns.

Take it personally

At Litmus, we want our subscribers to take things personally. Hear us out: if “Hello, %%first_name%%” is the norm, then you’ve got to think outside the box to make a lasting impression with your subscribers.

That’s why we advocate going beyond the MERGETAG with elements that dynamically update at the time of open. Here’s how we can help you do just that.