To get the live twitter feed working, we used HTML and CSS that would only display in WebKit clients. Although not ideal, it actually proved to be highly engaging! Users needed to re-open the email or refresh the web version to see updated tweets. While we updated the CSS file every 10 seconds, the actual content in the email couldn’t be updated in the same way-it needed a complete refresh of the document to work. This allowed us to make the tweet stream feel real time and had the added benefit of keeping people engaged for longer. So how did we make it work? Using the fifteen most recent tweets that included the #TEDC15 hashtag, we displayed the first 5 tweets by default, then animated the remaining tweets one-by-one over a span of a minute. While we could have used dynamic images for all email clients, we opted to use dynamic CSS for progressive enhancement in WebKit email clients, like the iPhone and iPad native email clients, to make the Twitter feed feel more realistic. That being said, the live Twitter feed was supported (in one way or another!) in the following inboxes:ĭynamic CSS Content for WebKit Email Clients While the dynamic CSS worked for WebKit clients, we needed to implement a proper fallback using dynamic imagery for our subscribers using non-WebKit clients. However, we also used an entirely brand new method to implement dynamic content: dynamic CSS. We used dynamic images in our launch email to make the live dynamic Twitter feed work across several popular email clients. Both of these methods enable you to create a unique, personalized email experience for your subscribers. Dynamic images are linked to a single source file, which gets dynamically overwritten to display a new image for a certain subset of subscribers based on pre-defined personalization parameters. Historically, dynamic content has been implemented strictly through the use of text or images, and pulled through merge tags or variables via an ESP. In fact, it’s frequently used to create personalized, targeted emails. Dynamic Content in Emailĭynamic content in email is not a new concept. You can also view the full code here and Litmus test results here to see how it displayed across 40+ email clients. After many brainstorming sessions, we decided to use the common approach of dynamic content, but with a twist. Our goals were twofold: generate interest in the conference and use an innovative-and inspiring-technique in the email to do so. How do we top HTML5 video background technique in email? By using dynamic content: a live Twitter feed. As we started nailing down logistics for Litmus Live (formerly the Email Design Conference) in 2015, conversations about making our launch email bigger and better than last year’s began.
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