Or will you assume that this is actually a blog post from 1996 that was somehow mistakenly sent to the future? As great as the mid-90s were, you can’t think about web development in that era without also reminiscing about frames, guestbooks and, yes, animated gifs. Lots and lots of animated gifs.

Those of us in the email marketing industry appreciate mid-90s web development techniques, since a lot of what was in vogue then is really what’s best suited for email now. We still, ahem, know how to use tables. We still code our styles inline. We wouldn’t think of using rollovers. Thanks to Outlook 2007, we don’t even get to use background images. Oh, and adding Flash will get our content blocked and our messages filtered, so if we want animation in an email, it’s gotta happen with the animated gif.

But much like those of the 90s, a lot of the animated gifs I see in email today don’t seem to do much to enhance the content of the email itself. That’s why I was pleasantly surprised to see this great-looking email from the retailer Lands’ End. They used an animated GIF to show off their new bathing suit top, which can be cinched up or tugged down, depending on whether you’re in a cinching or tugging mood.

Cinched:

Tugged:

Using an animated GIF here was intentional - it actually helped to actually illustrate how the product worked, with each frame alternating between the two adjustable options. I think it’s a great example of intentional email design, a principle to which animated gifs are not immune. If you’re thinking of using animated GIFs in your next campaign, here are a few ideas and suggestions:

1. Keep your animation simple. If you can say the same thing in 4 frames that you can in 8, opt for the shorter sequence.
2. Make sure your animation reinforces a major point of your campaign. If it’s just for show, it’s, well, just for show.
3. Consider combining animated GIFs with Flash. If you’ve got a compelling Flash presentation on your website, put together a simpler version as an animated GIF. Include the GIF in your email, but link it to the fancy Flash page.
4. Try a simple test. If you’re not sure whether animation will help you make your point, try sending an animated version to half your audience, and send a regular image to the other half.
5. Watch your file size. We recommend keeping your entire email’s size to under 40K, so it’s easily managed by servers and inboxes. Plan your animated gif accordingly, and opt for simpler colors and graphics in your frames to keep the gif’s file size in check.

Technorati Tags: email design, lands end, email best practices, animated gifs

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