Using Animated GIFS

eShoutz have noticed that there has been a subtle growth in the use of animated GIFs in email marketing during 2008. This has been especially true in this month, where subscribers are bombarded with numerous email campaigns and so companies are using animated GIFs in order to stand out from the crowd.

This subtle growth in the use of animated GIFS could be because, despite popular belief, they are supported by all of the major email clients and also because they do still hold a novel quality when used in email.

So what are the benefits from using animated GIFs in your email marketing?
- They can grab your reader's attention - Since animated GIFs are not greatly used in email marketing there is still quite a lot of novelty surrounding them and this is great attribute for grabbing your reader's attention.

- They can allow for a more creative message - Animated GIFs are great for drawing attention to particular elements of your email marketing message and for encouraging your reader to complete a certain action. The eShoutz team have seen in previous emails that animated GIFs have been used to encourage the reader to scroll down the email and also to highlight the call-to-action.

Here are a few points to bear in mind when using animated GIFs in your email marketing:
1. consider the file weight - animated GIFs can be considerably larger files than static images, especially since they use more and more colour.

2. consider how file compression affects your email design - Your email marketing message may lose its effectiveness if the design doesn't look good. Therefore, keep an eye on how the file compression affects the design, if it looks pixelated and garish, then may be animation isn't the right method for you.

3. keep it simple - You should assume that you only have your readers' attention for 10 seconds and so you should keep the copy to a minimum and make sure that your message is clarly defined.

4. consider compatibility issues - the major compatibility issue is that Outlook 2007 uses Word to render HTML emails and so animated GIFs do not display correctly. Instead, in Outlook only the first frame is displayed and so, for that reason, you may want to design your animated GIF so that the first frame contains all the information.

For more tips and advice on email marketing visit eShoutz.com.