Writing content partners will actually engage with is harder than it sounds, especially in an era where skimming text is the norm. Still, whether you’re writing an email or an update in your channel marketing platform of choice, you can write content partners won’t automatically tune out.

Following tried-and-true email templates is easy — slide in your new text, click on what segment of channel partners you’re targeting and hit send. But that approach is unlikely to give you the results you want. Consider how much information partners are already receiving. We’re all facing inbox overload. The average office worker receives 121 emails per day. Would you read an email that looked like it had been given very little thought if you didn’t absolutely have to?

How can you get heard over the chatter? Rise above the ruckus of your partners’ inboxes with relevant information they’ll want to know. Personalization is, of course, another important consideration — it generates higher open and click-through rates. From “Hello [FIRST_NAME]” to targeting partners by their specific role or vertical, personalization makes a difference. Modern audiences expect it.

Here are some more tips and trends you can use to keep partners engaged in your communications.

 

Dynamic Surveys

Surveys can help you learn more about what keeps your channel partners up at night, so you can resolve those issues and proactively anticipate future snags. Here’s a tip: Instead of redirecting partners to another link for the survey, embed dynamic questions directly into your email so recipients can respond instantly. By putting the survey right in front of partners and not having to click a link to a new page, participating in the survey is so easy, they might just do it.

 

Deadline Countdown

Want a sense of urgency in your mailing? There’s nothing better for that than a countdown. It’s just like watching the New Years’ Eve countdown of your choice (our Cary, NC office is partial to the Acorn Drop). Consumer emails use this with limited-time offers or using the word “urgent” in their subject lines, and you’ve likely seen it in countdowns to events.

Adding a dynamic countdown timer in prime real estate at the top of your email that displays the actual time remaining will ratchet up the sense of urgency — and likely catch your partners’ attention.

 

Convenience Features

When it comes to partner satisfaction, making it easy for them to get work done is key. Anything you can do inside your email to help them out will reflect well in your engagement rates. Want examples? Add dynamic features that, when clicked, instantly add an event to their calendars or send a direct message to customer service, instead of routing them to your “Contact Us” page. Going the extra mile pays off.

 

Videos

Video content is here to stay. Everyone is applying it to their marketing strategies, so why not use it in emails too? You’re probably creating videos for your partner portal and using them in Learning Management Systems and using them for social media. Carrying them over to partner communications makes sense. Embedding muted autoplay videos not only captures and holds attention, but research from Wistia shows that viewers stay 2.6 times longer on pages with video than pages without.

 

Social Networks

You’re already likely taking full advantage of every social media marketing opportunity you can. Given the amount of audience reach social networks provide, it’s an easy investment to make. Chances are, you’re already delivering relevant content to your partners. Why not leverage this elsewhere? Embedding real-time social feeds in your emails lets you kill two engagement birds with one stone. Dynamic social feeds mean partners can open and receive the email, see live feeds of your social accounts and click through to interact with the actual social site, doubling your potential reach.

 

Making your communications more dynamic, no matter what method you use, is a good way to up your open and click-through rates. What have you done in the past to get partners clicking and reading your emails? What worked and what didn’t? Let us know in the comments.