Using animated images in an email message can be bit risky. It can be over the top and adds few surplus value to the story. There is an example from our own mailbox we definitely would like to share with you. It is an adjustment to an animated gif image which we have not come across with yet, animated prices…
Mama Shelter is a unique chain of hotels that has started their first hotel in Paris some time back, nearby the famous cemetery Père Lachaise. From day one the hotel chain targeted a young and fashionable audience with whom the thought of a loft is never far away and new media are key. As well as in the offered rooms as in their marketing. So with email marketing, they try to seduce their audience to other cities where they have established new hotels by now. Even outside France, such as this one in Istanbul.
1 A simple logo without any addition, apart from the lookalike of a menu of a website. Note the subtle detail. Istanbul is in bold, just as the menu item on a website that has been clicked on and active.
2 We start with the bold letters and a baseline. It is the offset of the storytelling in which two elements come back: Mama as a reference to the brand, Big as a reference to the product. The big rooms where the loft feeling is never far away.
3 Here you can see a clothesline with pictures. The pictures have been selected carefully. Two of the four show the product, namely the room. The two others show the preconditions. Number two exhibits the happy people who will also be delighted in the room, or you as a customer in the large room. The fourth shows pictures of the city where the hotel is set up. With a few snapshots it becomes quickly clear that Istanbul is the destination.
This clothesline tells the complete story, about the rooms, the citizens that seduce you to visit the city. The second photo with the products are static. You can view them well. And you instantly see the core business of Mama Shelter. The wink occurs in two and three. And that is where the animation appears. You can figure for yourself. Two winking photos is quite a risky area. Four would have been over the top.
4 Another spot where animation is used. The original price comes first, crossed out with a thick line. The new price is in the same colour as the baseline at the top and the badge at the bottom right. And not only larger, but also to discover. The animation that drives the images determines the rhythm of the revelation of the price.
5 The call-to-action is highlighted by two simple actions. With the first, another colour is used in contrast to the colour range of the rest of the message. That way the button saying book now pops up. The second reason is that there has been chosen not to add movement. There is a peaceful area that really draws the attention. We know the destination, the price and now we can book.
Of course it ends on a footer with common elements. The address is similar to the address of the hotel in Istanbul. Very consistent to the header. Istanbul in bold in the opening menu. The address in Paris would not be relevant.
