Beyond The ABCs – Acing Email Marketing with Advanced Design Paradigms

Email design has come a long way, so much so that it is no less an artist’s medium than a marketer’s. As a result, consumers expect more from brands using email for marketing than just typographically and chromatically “pretty” announcements/offers from time to time.

With higher design standards commanding the focus of consumers, it is critical for email-relying brands to step up their game.

From video infographics to animated GIFs to cinemagraphs, the last being among the trendiest email designs, sky’s the limit for brands eager to entertain and engage their audience.

In this post, we will look at the last two design paradigms just mentioned and try to explore the farthest potential reaches of each in relation to email marketing. Let’s get cracking!

Using Animated GIFs in Email

Now GIFs in email are nothing new. Like email, the humble GIF boasts quite a number of yesteryears. What has evolved is how marketers incorporate it into their email campaigns.

Increasingly, marketers want to do something more with animated GIFs than just keep them in a template for effect.

Indeed, as far as we can see, the GIF is no longer just a creative effect but an attitude. which is increasingly leveraged by brands to sell themselves as portals to livable experiences rather than as drably turning conveyor belts of this and that.

To illustrate, consider the following email by Oakley.

It’s exactly what we meant by ‘experience’ and ‘attitude’. The long GIF commands the entire email, which is otherwise quite simple.

The subscriber can’t help but sit up in their chair and take notice. In fact, it’s one of those rare instances where you want to keep viewing a GIF.

Our example shows the potential of GIFs in email marketing. Evidently, it’s not so much about the style itself as about the vision that drives it.

Regardless, here are some best practices you should follow if you want to use GIFs in your campaigns:

• Don’t add GIFs just for the sake of it. Determine what exactly you want the GIF to accomplish. Not all emails require a GIF. Abandon the “effect” mindset.
• Keep tabs on the file size. You don’t want your email to take minutes to load, especially on mobile devices, which is a major turn-off. Avoid wasting bankable email opens.
• Make sure that the GIF is properly embedded in your email. If you are not a code nerd, just test your email thoroughly before sending it.
• Don’t take accessibility for granted. Avoid flashing GIFs in your emails, as it may harm certain viewers with visual impairments. We recommend testing GIF-like content on the Photosensitive Epilepsy Analysis Tool (PEAT).
• Be on-brand. Customize your GIFs according to your unique brand identity. You are not providing your audience with something that is extraneous to your brand image. Again, it seems to be the result of the “effect” mindset.

The key takeaway from our analysis of animated GIFs in email would be that you should not treat GIFs solely instrumentally.

Experience is not instrumental; it’s complete in itself. Given how far you could go with GIFs, delivering memorable experiences is a better objective.

Using Cinemagraphs in Email

Increasingly, more and more marketers are leaning toward cinemagraphs. After NetFlix’s groundbreaking application of the cinemagraph to promote Season 2 and 3 of House of Cards, this visual technique is greatly beloved by email marketers.

Now it’s debatable how far you can go with cinemagraphs in email. Unlike animated GIFs, cinemagraphs may be justified as mere effects.

No, it’s not bad news. But what if you want to transcend the realm of ‘mere effects?’ Is that possible with cinemagraphs?

Let’s try and figure it out. Consider the following email by Pur. Evidently, the cinemagraph is meant to be an effect, which works gloriously fine.

Now take a look at this next email by Moo. The slightly shifting balloon is a cinemagraph, but the hand with the scissors looks like a GIF.

If you look at the entire email, the cinemagraph and, to the designer’s credit, the GIF as well, are not meant to be “mere effects.”

What’s the distinguishing feature? It’s the story. The animation is nicely placed within the context of the email’s message. More interestingly, the viewer is invited to participate in the story.

It seems like one can use cinemagraphs for more than just creating effects for the viewer. It can be made a part of storytelling and be meaningful.

Let’s look at some best practices when it comes to using a cinemagraph in your emails:

• One of the dangers of using advanced design paradigms in email is superfluity. Make sure that the cinemagraph adds to, rather than takes from, your core message. After all, you want the subscriber to visit your product page.
• Cinemagraphs are meant to be subtle, so keep them subtle. Avoid going overboard with them. Use just one cinemagraph per email.
• Provide clear alt-texts for those who may find it difficult to view the animations.
• Optimize cinemagraphs for email. Are they compatible with most email clients? Are they device-optimized? Also, make sure to compress them for quicker load times.

Like GIFs, cinemagraphs are not meant to be used frequently. Here are some ways you can use a cinemagraph in your emails:

• To highlight a product or a specific feature in a product. For instance, if you are launching a new range of essential oils, you may include the image of a cup from which the oil is drizzling continuously.
• To illustrate a product in action. This will aid the subscriber in decision-making. It’s almost like a live demo.
• To set the mood, especially during the holiday season. Indeed, cinemagraphs go well with Christmas and New Year messages.
• To animate the CTA button. This is as per your taste. Because CTAs are meant to stand out, you can try animating in order to make them all the more prominent.

Wrapping up!

Throughout our post, our focus has been more on how you can use advanced design techniques in your email rather than what those techniques are.

Neither animated GIFs nor cinemagraphs are novel techniques – at least not as novel as incorporating augmented reality in emails, let’s say.

What makes these paradigms so interesting is that they allow designers to bend the rules to their advantage and leverage email to the hilt.

Ultimately, email is only successful to the degree that it can deliver experience to your audience.