Animated GIFs in email: advice and links

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One of the quiet little trends this year is the subtle growth of animated GIFs in emails. Perhaps because, contrary to expectations, they are well-supported by the major email clients and webmail interfaces.

Also, perhaps, because they seem to work. A/B tests by BlueFly, for example, found an animated email pulling in 12% more revenue than the non-animated equivalent.

Like a lot of email elements, animated GIFs don't work by definition...you have to use them right. So I got some insight on the topic from Tom Buchok, co-founder of Bannerflow and some relevant examples off Chad White, Research Director at Smith-Harmon.

After their comments, you'll find several useful links for more advice on animation in email.

What benefits can animated GIFs bring to your marketing emails?

Tom: "Overall, animated GIFs are not used very heavily in email marketing -- so a certain amount of novelty remains. Novelty can be an asset when trying to get your audience's attention."

"More importantly, animated GIFs allow for a more creative message. Retailers can use a single space to highlight multiple products, advertisers can use animation to highlight their call-to-action, or click-throughs-to-video can be easily visualized with an animated GIF."

What kind of things are retailers doing with animated GIFs?

Chad...

"Now is the time of the year when retailers pay extra attention to animated GIFs because of their ability to help them stand out in the inbox. Retailers have been using a variety of tactics, most of which are fairly subtle attention-grabbers."

"For instance, starting with a Nov. 7 email, Williams-Sonoma has been using animation in their header to draw attention to shipping deadlines and other information, but also just to get subscribers to give the email a second look."

"Avon, Piperlime and a few others have also used animation in their headers in the past."

"Another tactic I've seen used this year is using animation to draw the reader's eye down the email to encourage scrolling. Harry & David did that in a Dec. 3 email but using a cascading snowflake as bullet points, but Bluefly and Lands' End have also used this tactic."

"Similarly, in a Dec. 11 email, SmartBargains used an animated GIF to draw attention to their main call-to-action, animating a Christmas gift with the words "Tear me open!" on it. It reinforces the CTA in a delightful way that's not too in your face."

"But there are definitely opportunities to go-big with animation. One of my favorite examples remains the GIF used by Lands' End in a March 6 email last year. They not only used animation to show off some of the colors that their Beach Trekker Sandal comes in, but they also demonstrated how the Croc-inspired shoe becomes a slider."

"For products that move in simple ways, animation can be used to effectively demonstrate product features. Another example is an April 25 email from Neiman Marcus, where they show a few ways in which you could customize your Fendi Artist's Baguette."

When are animated GIFs a bad idea?

Tom: "Other than compatibility (see later), the single-most important factor to consider is file weight (kilobytes). Animated GIFs can get significantly larger than their static counterparts, especially as the GIF file includes more and more color."

"Further, if the animation is gratuitous that is a bad thing. Make sure that the animated GIF is achieving a true objective."

What are the design issues to watch for?

Tom: "While maintaining a keen eye on animated GIFs' file weight, designers should also keep their eye on how file compression affects the design. If the file starts to look garish and pixelated, maybe an animation isn't the best route. Make sure it looks good first."

"Especially in email, it's important to treat any type of animation as a billboard -- readers' interest cannot be assumed to be much longer than 10 seconds. Keep the copy to a minimum and make certain that the first and final frame of the animation says everything it needs to. Almost pretend to be working on a billboard."

[Editor: Here's what happens when you forget that advice]

"Designers also need to ensure that these animations don't look like a broken record. Never-ending animations should be done thoughtfully."

Any compatibility problems with email clients or webmail interfaces?

Tom: "With Outlook 2007's shift to HTML rendering in Word, rather than IE, animated GIFs do not display. This is the biggest compatibility issue. In Outlook 2007, the first frame is all that appears; designers may want to produce their file so that the first frame contains all the information needed."

(Chad adds, "For that reason, it's also recommended that you not use animated GIFs to communicate frame after frame of text.")

What good examples have you seen?

Tom: "Here's a classy way of using a never-ending loop -- it is clean, non-intrusive and, most importantly, easy on the eyes.

"And here's a retail example merchandising several jacket colors from REI."

Useful reads

Try these for more info:

The good folks at Style Campaign have some holiday season examples, pick out their top 10 animated favorites and have a detailed guide to making animated images in Photoshop.
Writing at MediaPost, Chad offers up five reasons to use animation and some tips on how best to do it. His RetailEmail blog has a whole section devoted to the subject.
Suzanne Norman of Emma Email Marketing also has some best practice tips.
Mark Wyner has details of support for animated GIFs in the main email clients and webmail interfaces.

More on design issues | Tags: email marketing, animated gifs, animation in email, email design

[This post brought to you by Campaigner Email Marketing]
Permalink | December 19, 2008 | 0 comment(s)
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