Email marketing is no longer just about flashy discounts or attention-grabbing subject lines. If you’re seeing declining engagement in your emails, it’s probably because the content of the email isn’t anything unique or out of the box.
So how do you make your emails more engaging without sounding pushy or salesy?
The answer lies in something we all crave: play, or as we call it ‘email gamification’.
Gamification in emails can transform passive readers into active participants—driving more clicks, conversions, and brand love. Let’s explore how you can implement it in your emails.
What is email gamification?
Email gamification is the process of integrating game mechanics—like quizzes, spin-the-wheel, scratch cards, or puzzles—directly into your email content to increase interaction or engagement.
Rather than asking users to “click here” or visit a landing page, gamified emails offer instant, playful experiences within the inbox itself.
Email gamification can be highly effective. From what we’ve seen:
- It grabs attention fast
- It drives engagement and clicks
- It increases conversions
- It builds long-term brand affinity
How to gamify your emails
The easiest way to gamify your emails has to be by using Mailmodo. Mailmodo lets you build and send fully interactive emails with AMP-based gamification widgets using its no-code email editor that allows you to do this without writing a single line of code.
Here’s how you can do it yourself in Mailmodo:
Step 1: Access the Mailmodo template editor
You can either start with a blank or pre-built email template.
Step 2: Insert a gamification widget
In the widgets tab on the left, you can check out the different gamification widgets available for you to use. Drag and drop the AMP widget you like into your template. You also get the option to create a custom widget.
Step 3: Customize logic and rewards
Depending on the game you’ve chosen to add, modify the widget by defining the specifics like options, win ratio, message, win page, CTA, etc.
Step 4: Complete the rest of the email
Once done, you can complete the rest of the email by adding the email copy, images or gifs and even personalization parameters to make your emails personal.
Once this is done, you will have a complete email that is gamified. You can then follow the usual process of previewing, testing and sending your emails to your recipients.
Use cases of email gamification
Mailmodo supports a wide variety of gamification formats. Here are some of the games offered by Mailmodo and how you can use them in your email campaigns:
- Quiz: Ideal for onboarding, product discovery, brand engagement, or collecting data.
- Spin the Wheel: Great for flash sales, giveaways, or surprise rewards.
- Roulette: Best for randomized prize drops or contest-style promotions.
- Shuffle Cups: Use for product reveals, contest entries, or playful brand storytelling.
- Roll the Dice: Ideal for discount reveals, gamified promotions, or random gift incentives.
- Knock Down the Cups: Perfect for holiday campaigns, interactive contests, or game-day themes.
- Jackpot: Best suited for loyalty rewards, high-value giveaways, or tiered offers.
- Whack a Mole: Great for capturing attention in re-engagement campaigns or product spotlights.
- Claw Machine: Use for lucky draws, limited-time promotions, or interactive giveaways.
Takeaways
Email gamification isn’t just a gimmick, it’s a high-impact tactic to increase engagement and customer delight.
With Mailmodo, you don’t need developers or complex workflows. You can design, launch, and track fully interactive games within the inbox in just a few clicks.
Start with a simple game like Spin the Wheel and A/B test it against your standard promo emails. Chances are, the difference in engagement will be impossible to ignore.
