Seems GIFs aren’t only for reacting to tweets — they’re additionally a incredible technique to drive engagement in your e-mail advertising and marketing.
There are many manufacturers driving eye-catching outcomes through the use of GIFs in emails. For example, tech large Dell ran a GIF-centered e-mail marketing campaign that, when in comparison with quarterly benchmarks, delivered a:
- 42 % enhance in click on fee
- 103 % enhance in conversion fee
- 109 % enhance in income
So it’s no shock that over half of entrepreneurs use animated GIFs in emails a minimum of a few of the time.
Enthusiastic about becoming a member of them? You’re in the best place. On this article, I’ll clarify the way to put GIFs in emails, discuss by way of the advantages of doing so, and share a few of my favourite real-world examples.
4 Causes You Ought to Use GIFs in Emails
Earlier than we get into the practicalities of the way to add GIFs in emails, you is likely to be questioning: “Do GIFs work in emails?”
That’s a superb query. In spite of everything, the very last thing you need is to embed a bunch of non-functioning GIFs in your emails, or make investments a ton of effort and time with out producing any outcomes.
Whereas I can’t assure that together with a pair GIFs in your subsequent marketing campaign will double your click-through fee or ship income by way of the roof, there are some fairly compelling advantages to doing so:
1. GIFs Add Visible Curiosity to Emails
The obvious profit to utilizing GIFs in emails is that they make your emails look extra fascinating by including a component of movement to in any other case static content material.
2. Motion is Eye-Catching
Until you’re including dozens of animated GIFs to a single e-mail, your GIF will seemingly stand out in opposition to the remainder of the (non-animated) content material. This helps GIFs to attract the attention. Use this strategy to information readers towards an important stuff in your e-mail — like a name to motion or promotion.
3. GIFs Work When Movies Don’t
Typically talking, if an e-mail consumer helps embedded picture recordsdata (JPGs and PNGs), it’ll additionally help GIFs. Nevertheless, numerous purchasers — together with Apple Mail, Gmail, and Outlook — don’t help embedded video recordsdata. So if you would like a dynamic format with widespread help, GIFs are a protected guess.
4. Showcase A number of Merchandise in a Small Area
GIFs are like a flipbook, as a result of they’re made up of plenty of particular person photographs spliced collectively. Which means you should utilize them to show a number of merchandise inside a single “component”, with out taking on a ton of area in your e-mail.
Insert a GIF Into an E mail
The method of inserting GIFs into emails is fairly easy, however varies relying in your e-mail service supplier. Right here’s the way to do it with Drip:
- Click on Picture inside our e-mail builder.
- Click on Select picture to insert an animated GIF out of your native drive, or enter a URL to embed an internet GIF utilizing the Enter a URL bar.
- Select your GIF file.
- Use the Place picture device to maneuver your GIF to the specified place.
- See the way it all seems to be.
In the event you’re pleased with the outcomes, that’s all there may be to it. If not, return and mess around with the GIF location, vertical spacing, alignment, and measurement.
Create Your Personal GIFs (6 GIF Creation Instruments)
Creating your personal GIFs is straightforward, with loads of instruments to do all of the exhausting give you the results you want. Listed here are a few of our favorites…
1. PixTeller
Worth: From free; paid plans begin at $7 per thirty days
PixTeller is an easy on-line picture and animation-maker that enables customers to create GIFs, logos, video thumbnails, and extra. All of it works immediately out of your browser, without having to obtain any further animation software program.
The animation editor makes it straightforward to tinker with particular person parts of your animation, akin to altering the dimensions and place or including completely different filters.
When you’ve completed enhancing, you’ll be able to obtain your work as a GIF or MP4 video.
2. GIPHY Create
Worth: Free
GIPHY Create is GIPHY’s built-in GIF-maker. Customers can import media from numerous websites, together with Vimeo, YouTube, and—after all—GIPHY itself. The device lets you create GIFs and backdrops, then elevate them by including filters, stickers, and captions. It really works with numerous file codecs, together with GIFs, JPGs, PNGs, and MP4s.
3. Gifs.com
Worth: From free; paid plans begin at $1.99 per thirty days
Huge manufacturers like Google and Netflix use Gifs.com to create animated GIFs from video recordsdata. Simply copy-paste any video URL and the device will rework it into an animated GIF, WebM, or MP4 file. Uploads might be as much as 150 MB, whereas GIFs created by way of the platform might be as much as 15 seconds lengthy.
Whereas Gifs.com is a superb device, bear in mind that the free product tier provides watermarks to any GIFs you create and doesn’t assist you to embrace premium results.
4. Ezgif
Worth: Free
A easy on-line GIF-maker and primary animated GIF editor, Ezgif helps you create, edit, and convert GIF, APNG, WebP, and AVIF animations. The platform additionally encompasses a video-to-GIF converter.
5. Make A GIF
Worth: Free
Use Make A GIF to create GIFs from a number of static photographs, YouTube or Fb URLs, uploaded video recordsdata, and even from footage captured in your webcam. Join a (free) premium account to entry high-definition GIFs, add customized watermarks, add social hyperlinks, and extra.
6. Superior Screenshot
Worth: From free; paid plans begin at $5 per thirty days
Superior Screenshot isn’t truly a GIF-maker, however you should utilize its screen-recording performance to seize video footage and convert it into GIF format utilizing a few of the different instruments on this checklist.
The free plan lets you file as much as 20 movies a month at 720p decision, with limitless recording size. Improve to a paid plan to unlock further annotation instruments and enhance the decision to 4k.
Use GIFs in Emails Successfully (with Examples)
1. Promote Your Merchandise
Your market dictates the way you market your merchandise within the e-mail. In the event you’re in a distinct segment like cruelty-free make-up, values will take priority over, say, product advertising and marketing.
However if you happen to’re in ecommerce — an business that maybe is greatest identified for its use of GIFs in its emails — then you’ll seemingly focus extra on character and why the customer wants to purchase you from over a competitor.
One of the crucial widespread methods to make use of GIFs in advertising and marketing emails, primarily based on my analysis, is selling a number of merchandise without delay. Listed here are 3 ways to do this utilizing actual manufacturers as examples.
a. Promote New Arrivals
When asking for a customer’s e-mail handle, it’s widespread for a lot of ecommerce web sites to phase new guests by gender, such because the under instance from Calvin Klein.
Nevertheless, manufacturers that don’t leverage e-mail popups, akin to Ralph Lauren, use an opt-in kind to gather emails, leading to emails to attraction to each women and men.
To avoid wasting on its emails restricted actual property, Ralph Lauren lately leveraged a GIF to advertise its new arrivals. The GIF featured a person and a girl modeling the brand new vary.
Outdated Navy leveraged a GIF in a current e-mail of its personal, going one step additional than Ralph Lauren and including the merchandise’s worth to advertise its newly discounted objects.
b. Promote a Bundle
Most of the GIFs I discovered whereas researching this publish deal with the product in query. However others, as with the instance under from Flat Tummy Co., deal with a promotion’s specificity.
Not solely that, however the model additionally included a countdown timer beneath the above GIF to drive urgency for the promotion, counting down from the ultimate hour.
c. Promote a Coloration Vary
Slightly than promote a variety of merchandise, it’s widespread to generally wish to promote one product, however showcase its vary in shade. That’s precisely what Violet Gray did in a current e-mail.
Whereas the opposite merchandise featured within the e-mail have been promoted with photographs, Violet Gray’s alternative of highlighting considered one of its objects with a GIF was sufficient to rivet my consideration and skim extra.
2. Present Merchandise in Motion
A standard greatest follow when photographing merchandise is to {photograph} them in context. In spite of everything, it’s simpler to check proudly owning a product after seeing it in its meant atmosphere.
One model that goes past that greatest follow is Sweaty Betty. In a current e-mail selling its new gymnasium gear, the model used a GIF to showcase its gymnasium ball.
My favourite instance, although, belongs to considered one of our favourite manufacturers, Barkbox. From its copywriting to its unmistakable humor, the model at all times goes the additional mile, and its e-mail advertising and marketing isn’t any exception.
In a current e-mail selling a limited-time deal to say a free splash pad, the model used a GIF to indicate the mat in motion, full with a cheerful canine.
Utilizing a GIF is an efficient manner of selling the freebie. Plus, including a greenback quantity to spice up the merchandise’s perceived worth was a very good contact.
3. Showcase Buyer Evaluations
To this point, we’ve seen manufacturers leveraging GIFs to advertise new arrivals or discounted merchandise, which is the widespread strategy to utilizing GIFs in emails.
One other manner, which Hollister expertly leverages, is utilizing a GIF to spotlight buyer opinions. In a current e-mail, the model featured a jigsaw-like GIF, selling its bestsellers, full with testimonials.
The testimonials, largely praising the supplies the model makes use of, vary from informative and useful (“Ridiculously comfy”) to memorable and humorous, “The fabric is so comfortable I simply wish to rub my face on it.”
Including the customer’s location, in addition to 5 stars (maybe to reveal social proof), provides to conveying the model is favored, identified, and trusted by a far-reaching fanbase.
4. Create Urgency
It’s no secret that urgency drives individuals to behave. If there’s restricted availability or a finite window to snag a cut price, we are able to’t assist however take motion.
In our analysis from 1+ billion popup periods, we discovered that popups with a countdown timer (8.07 %) convert higher than campaigns with no countdown timer (3.79 %) by 112.93 %.
It’s no shock, then, that emails that talk urgency — by way of copy and even higher, a countdown timer — are inclined to carry out effectively at driving consumers to take motion.
In a current e-mail from Brooklinen, the model leveraged a GIF of a clock counting down to indicate the tip of a promotion to get a free candle with orders over $150+.
Mattress Tub & Past, against this, leverages a GIF of half a clock — maybe to emphasise how restricted the time actually is — to drive additional urgency for its each day deal.
Despite the fact that each of the above examples aren’t counting all the way down to a deadline, the GIF mixed with compelling copy is a intelligent technique to drive potential prospects to take motion.
5. Enhance E mail Engagement
Many manufacturers leverage GIFs as an afterthought, a method of perhaps getting fun or two. One of the best manufacturers, although, leverage GIFs as a method of driving engagement.
Listed here are 3 ways to do this.
a. Pull the Reader Down the E mail
Copywriter Joseph Sugarman as soon as wrote, “Your readers needs to be so compelled to learn your copy that they can not cease studying till they learn all of it as if sliding down a slippery slide.”
Whereas Sugarman’s axiom was written with adverts in thoughts, inviting the reader to maintain studying is very related to e-mail advertising and marketing campaigns.
Gone are the times of getting one name to motion (CTA) on the backside of an e-mail. At this time, e-commerce emails, specifically, have a number of CTAs, every pertaining to completely different provides at completely different worth factors.
Writing magnetic copy is one technique to pull the reader down an e-mail. One other, as Sweet Membership has found, is utilizing a GIF to direct the reader down the e-mail.
The e-mail, selling free delivery and 50 % off all purchases, leverages a GIF of Swedish fish “swimming” all the way down to a name to motion to “Store.”
The accompanying pun-based copy (“This technique to the candy life”) cleverly spaced out helps to additional information the reader down the e-mail and hopefully, make a purchase order.
b. Make Your Emails Interactive
One technique to interact the reader, as we noticed within the above instance from Sweet Membership, is utilizing GIFs to drag the reader down an e-mail. One other ingenious manner is to make the GIF interactive.
In a current e-mail Seray discovered throughout her analysis into humorous e-mail examples, Shinesty invited its readers to reply questions within the model of Who Desires to Be a Millionaire?
After clicking a solution, no matter whether or not it was right, the model redirected you to a product web page selling its face masks assortment, together with these featured within the e-mail.
One other manner Shinesty makes use of GIFs to drive engagement is by opening an info hole on the backside of every of its emails. Oftentimes, the model will shut its emails with a cryptic headline and GIF as with the instance under.
When clicked, the model redirected you to the product web page for the product talked about above within the e-mail, serving as a closing reminder to take a look at its merchandise.
c. Create Highly effective CTAs
Whenever you consider a name to motion, you have a tendency to consider both an anchor, that’s, a hyperlinked phrase, or a button (as is commonly the case with e-commerce emails).
One model that goes past that’s Tarte, who, in a current cart restoration e-mail for contour concealer, used a GIF name to motion, flashing the phrase, “Okay. I Need It.”
Writing a compelling name to motion is highly effective. However once you add a button, and make that button a GIF, it’s exhausting to not ignore, and extra importantly, click on.
Conclusion
GIFs are considered one of many instruments and media sorts you should utilize to jazz up your emails, promote your merchandise, and compel readers to take motion.
With Drip’s highly effective advertising and marketing automation platform, you’ll be able to unlock a wealth of options that will help you design stunning, high-converting emails time after time.
Select from 50+ professionally designed, ecommerce-friendly templates—then customise to your coronary heart’s content material by syncing your model brand, colours, fonts, and extra. And perceive what resonates greatest together with your viewers by testing as much as 4 content material variations at a time.
See what Drip can do in your e-mail advertising and marketing campaigns by signing up in your 14-day free trial at the moment.
