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The latest edition of StrongMail's popular Email Breakthrough Report series is about to be released, containing innovative ideas for how you can take your email marketing programs to the next level. Given the recent changes at Gmail and Hotmail, increasing subscriber engagement is on every email marketer's mind. This report offers some unique and proven ideas for how to achieve this.

1. Getting Your Email Moving – Email marketers have been striving for years to determine the most effective application of movement in email. Whether it has been the proper use of animated gifs or the holy grail of video in email, marketers have struggled with applying them effectively. This quarter, both Intercontinental Hotels Group and Fandango have both engaged their recipients through the relevant application of motion without compromising the marketing message.

2. Tying it all Together – Unless you are seeing follow-up messages to offers being received, the idea of carrying content through more than one message seems to be a lost art, unless you are Fandango. Not only did they send a dedicated message about the upcoming release of The American in theaters, they also carried the messaging through subsequent messages, achieving recognition of the content and keeping it top of mind.

3. Taking the Subtle Approach – The tides seem to continuously turn between direct, sales-centric messaging and the soft-sell approach in email marketing. This quarter, many of our favorites chose the subtle approach. The Limited and FranklinCovey both had direct calls-to-action in their messaging; however, it became secondary to the content focus. The first goal of these messages was to either educate or engage – which, once achieved, makes the progression to conversion more natural.

4. Leveraging Word of Mouth – If you've been in email marketing for more than a day, you know that its strength is not in acquisition – unless you are using your existing and engaged customer base to help you out! Equifax reached out to its email subscriber-base (which is where most of your best customers exist) and asked them to tell their friends about their experience with the brand/product. And the incentive to win an iPad is a great way to say thanks!

5. Let the Content Flow – The amount of content you put in your email marketing campaign is always a concern….too much and no one will read it, too little and no one will understand it. But it isn't all about how much – sometimes it has more to do with how it is organized. In the FranklinCovey example, you will see that they've effectively organized a lot of content without it feeling daunting.

Want to know more? For in-depth analysis and creative samples of email campaigns leveraging these tactics from IHG, Fandango, The Limited, Equifax and FranklinCovey, download the full Q310 Email Breakthrough Report.