Efficient emails have interaction the reader and inspire them to take motion. There are many methods to try to do this, however GIFs in e mail advertising and marketing have one thing nearly magical about them.
Why? For one factor, individuals don’t actually anticipate to see shifting pictures in an e mail.
However it’s additionally as a result of pictures are extra highly effective and extra memorable than phrases. They get consideration. They elicit emotion. GIFs in e mail advertising and marketing can talk a key concept shortly and successfully.
GIFs aren’t only for social media. Sure, they do effectively at getting consideration in that crowded panorama. However the e mail inbox is crowded too, and when readers scan by means of an e mail after opening it, a GIF is bound to catch their consideration and make them spend extra time together with your e mail.
After all, it’s about extra than simply throwing in random finds from Giphy. You’ll get essentially the most out of including and creating animated GIFs for e mail campaigns if you happen to achieve this strategically. We’re going to discover some manufacturers which can be utilizing GIFs to make their emails extra impactful.
However first – let’s reply a number of questions on GIFs in e mail.
Are GIFs in e mail supported?
You’d suppose that by now, supporting GIFs could be fairly normal amongst e mail purchasers. And you’ll be appropriate… apart from some variations of Outlook.
Desktop variations of Outlook (2007 – 2016) don’t assist animated GIFs. Outlook 2019 performs an animated GIF as soon as after which produces a play button to see it once more. Nevertheless, GIFs will work simply fantastic for subscribers utilizing Outlook.com and on the app utilizing iOS or Android.
Electronic mail builders can tackle Outlook GIF assist points with some conditional code that creates a GIF fallback, which shows a static picture as an alternative. The opposite choice is to ensure the primary body of a GIF has crucial info, since that’s what desktop variations of Outlook will show.
Don’t miss our different suggestions for fixing Outlook e mail rendering points.
A technique round that is to write code that tells Outlook the way to deal with GIFs in your e mail. That doesn’t utterly resolve the issue, however it does present a greater expertise for the reader.
Why use GIFs in emails?
A greater query may be, why not use GIFs in e mail advertising and marketing? Let’s be trustworthy, it’s an incredible (and fairly simple) option to convey static emails to life. However that’s not the one purpose.
Methods to make use of GIFs in e mail:
- Create an animated call-to-action (CTA)
- Embrace as an alternative choice to video in e mail
- Present how one thing works with an animation
- Add humor to an e mail marketing campaign
- Draw consideration to one thing necessary in an e mail
- Showcase a number of merchandise in a single picture
When Dell used GIFs in one in all their e mail campaigns, they noticed a 42% enhance in clicks. Extra importantly, they earned a 109% enhance in income. Granted, that was again in 2014. Nevertheless, it’s nonetheless an instance of how e mail design modifications could make a giant distinction.
Let’s take a look at the technique from 5 manufacturers which have used GIFs in emails extra lately.
6 manufacturers utilizing GIFs in e mail creatively
It’s fairly easy to move over to Giphy and search for pre-made GIFs referencing popular culture, present occasions, animals, and many extra. And there’s nothing fallacious with that — so if you happen to discover one thing that matches inside the tenor of your e mail, go together with it.
However when it comes to advertising and marketing that nudges clients and subscribers to take motion and obtain true worth out of your e mail, you often wish to make your individual GIF pictures. Let’s take a look at a number of examples.
1. Apple: GIF as how-to content material
Apple despatched an e mail exhibiting subscribers the way to handle and simplify their iTunes subscriptions. The e-mail included a GIF, proven beneath, that walked subscribers by means of precisely the way to find the proper settings on their system.
This GIF delivered worth to customers by giving useful info and fixing a selected downside many confronted.
2. Adobe: GIF illustrates a function
To unfold the information of one in all their coolest product options, Adobe used a GIF to convey their e mail to life. Their subscribers may instantly see the facility of the software. For his or her present clients, this might additional solidify their reliance on and loyalty to Adobe. And for a lot of of their potential clients, the “wow issue” of this demonstration was probably sufficient to transform them.
3. EPIC: GIF promotes a sale
A typical use of GIFs is solely to attract consideration. EPIC despatched out an e mail selling massive reductions. Folks get these kinds of emails on a regular basis and reductions alone usually don’t get sufficient consideration. However anybody who opened this e mail could be drawn to the colourful GIF animation and provides the message above-average consideration.
On this case, EPIC’s e mail GIF isn’t what most of consider as a typical GIF. The model used the GIF file format so as to add a shifting background to a graphic. There’s no popular culture reference, no merchandise, not even any animated textual content. It’s easy, however it’s additionally form of… hypnotizing.
4. Loom: GIF as an alternative choice to video
One other efficient manner to make use of GIF animation in emails is to preview or promote an precise video — like what Loom did right here. Movies don’t often play in emails, however if you happen to create a GIF from the one with a ‘play’ button overlaying the picture, it will probably appeal to extra clicks to the actual factor.
5. Everlane: GIF showcases a number of merchandise
Right here’s an e mail instance from Everlane the place the GIF does the promoting. This kind of animation works effectively for merchandise which can be very related however are available in a wide range of colours, shapes, flavors, sizes, and many others. On this case, the GIF exhibits completely different t-shirts worn by completely different fashions.
So, proper within the e mail, with out even clicking, the subscriber has already began the purchasing course of.
6. Starbucks: GIF to assist create buzz
Once you’ve bought a particular occasion or a giant announcement, somewhat animation can boost your e mail marketing campaign, making it extra memorable. Starbucks did this with an unique animated GIF to advertise pop-up events the place subscribers may get free espresso.
If the information you’re sharing is thrilling, it solely is sensible to create a extra thrilling e mail!
Fast suggestions for utilizing GIFs in e mail advertising and marketing
GIFs are an incredible addition to your e mail design, however that doesn’t imply you possibly can throw a number of in and name it a day. Listed here are some tricks to get essentially the most from utilizing GIFs.
1. Don’t overdo it
Placing a GIF in each e mail will, ultimately, be like placing a GIF in no emails. In advertising and marketing, if you happen to do one thing on a regular basis, it inevitably finally ends up changing into background noise. Use GIFs neatly, strategically, and selectively.
2. Think about e mail accessibility
Animations which can be too quick and flashy can truly trigger hurt to individuals who undergo from seizures. So go simple on the motion.
And if you happen to bury necessary copy inside the GIF picture itself — as with all different picture — you run the danger of individuals not seeing that textual content if the GIF doesn’t present up for some purpose. And for individuals with visible impairments, together with shade blindness, you run the danger of them lacking your message.
So watch out when together with key messaging on the precise GIF except you repeat the identical message elsewhere within the e mail.
3. Embrace fallbacks
Anytime you add advanced parts to an e mail, you enhance the possibilities of it not working. Whereas there may be a lot you are able to do to attenuate this, as you’ll see in a bit, you do wish to embrace a static picture that may present up rather than the GIF if for some purpose it doesn’t perform.
4. Use GIFs to tease video content material
You noticed this earlier within the Loom instance. Video usually doesn’t play in emails. It may be executed, however it’s difficult and never universally supported by e mail purchasers. There’s a superb likelihood many subscribers gained’t see it.
So if you wish to ship a video by way of e mail, you usually have to only embrace a screenshot with a play button that clicks by means of to the video. With GIFs, you may make the video look like taking part in, which might enhance clicks.
5. Watch the file measurement of GIFs in e mail
This once more is true with any graphics. Massive file sizes enhance load time, and subscribers shortly lose persistence if they’ve to sit down there whereas the picture slowly comes into view.
Identical to you wish to cut back file sizes for normal photographs and graphics, make sure to hold your GIF file sizes small too.
Optimizing GIFs for the e-mail inbox
Gradual load occasions. GIF animations not exhibiting up or not animating (Outlook!). Incorrect picture placement. There are a selection of how your GIFs and different graphics can present up incorrectly when your subscribers open your emails on the handfuls and dozens of attainable gadgets and platforms.
Electronic mail on Acid’s Marketing campaign Precheck automated checklist contains the Picture Validation step, which exams load time for pictures, ensures appropriate borders and widths, and confirms that your GIFs are working correctly.
We even make it simple to do the workaround talked about earlier for subscribers who could also be opening your emails in Outlook. You may shortly select the body in your GIF that you simply wish to present up as a picture for Outlook customers, in case the animation doesn’t perform.
Understand that while you take a look at with Electronic mail on Acid, you gained’t have the ability to see the GIFs in motion, as our previews are static. Odds are the platform will seize them mid-animation, however relaxation assured that is completely regular. It means they’re animating simply fantastic!
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Creator: The Electronic mail on Acid Staff
The Electronic mail on Acid content material workforce is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up e mail geeks.
Join with us on LinkedIn, comply with us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on e mail advertising and marketing.
Creator: The Electronic mail on Acid Staff
The Electronic mail on Acid content material workforce is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up e mail geeks.
Join with us on LinkedIn, comply with us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on e mail advertising and marketing.
