How to Use GIFs in Emails? An Easy Guide for Beginners
Adding GIFs can make your email marketing campaign a big hit. Wondering how? Here are some benefits and examples of using GIFs in emails.
The goal of email marketing campaigns is to catch the attention of subscribers and convince them to convert. Email marketers try their best to improve the copy, email layout, and images to gain subscribers’ attention. No matter whether you want users to try your new product, download an ebook, read your new blog post or visit your summer sale page, the key is to make your email content engaging.
The trend of adding GIFs to an email is gaining significant popularity as it can gain the attention of viewers, make your and increase the conversion rate. According to the State of Email 2021, approximately 52% of email marketers used animated GIFs in their email marketing campaigns.
If you are wondering why you should add GIFs to your emails and how they can improve subscribers’ engagement, here is an easy guide on how to make the most out of GIFs for your next email marketing campaign.
Incorporating GIFs into Emails
If you want to achieve the conversion goal, you need to add essential components to make your email content intuitive. Animated GIFs can make your emails stand out in the inbox and entice readers to engage with the email content. If truth be told, GIFs are an interesting way to bring your static emails to life.
Catch the Attention of Subscribers
One of the biggest reasons to use GIFs in emails is to catch the attention of your audience. When your email is packed with a catchy headline, persuasive copy, enticing CTA button and a GIF, it will surely grab the attention of your subscribers. Moving objects not only attract your audience, they also delight your audience and create interest to see what the email has in store for them. GIFs, if used right, convince people to take the action you want them to take.
Tell Your Brand Story
It is important for businesses to convey the idea behind your brand, its mission and what the brand is trying to promote to its audience. With GIFs, you can tell your brand story and show your subscribers how your brand contributes to the betterment of the community.
Add a Sense of Humor in Emails
Adding a fun element to your emails can make them more interesting for your audience. You can make your emails funny by adding an interesting GIF. It will not only make your emails interesting but also give your brand a personality.
Get Better ROI
Email marketers strive hard to make their emails interesting to get a better ROI. Thanks to animated GIFs, you can make the email interesting and convince readers to click the landing page. When visitors land on your website, they will explore the website and chances are they will make a purchase. This strategy will help marketers to get a higher ROI.
Some Creative Ways to Use GIFs in Emails
Now you have developed a better understanding of why it is important to use GIFs in emails, it’s time to unveil some exciting and creative ways to use them in your email marketing campaign. There are many brands that are making the most out of GIFs to make their email marketing campaigns successful. Let’s explore some really amazing ways to incorporate GIFs into your next email marketing campaign.
· Catch the Attention of Subscribers
· Show Multiple Products or Services
· Tell your Brand Story
· Make an Announcement
· Add a Sense of Humor in Emails
· Get Better ROI
· A Great Alternative to Videos
Show Multiple Products or Services
Emails are used to inform people about your products or services. An animated GIF can be used to show off your products or services. Email marketers can use GIFs to show how to use their products or services by making it easier for your audience to understand how your product/service can solve their problems. You can also use GIFs to display the variety of products you are offering to your customers. When subscribers see your products in action, chances are they will definitely give your product a try.
Make an Announcement
Whether you are offering free shipping, a special discount, releasing your new products or sale offer, GIFs are an excellent way to make your emails super exciting. You can create awareness about your products, services, discounts, sales or anything interesting.
Use for Product Demos
GIFs can also be used to give useful product demonstrations or highlight your product’s important features. You can show your audience how to use a product in a fun and interactive way and highlight how a product works. This clever idea encourages subscribers to use the product.
Create a Wow Effect
GIFs give marketers a great opportunity to make their brand unique by adding a wow effect to their emails. Surprise people by adding something interesting as people receive a lot of static emails every day. When people open their inbox and see animated visuals, they will definitely entice people to complete conversions.
Share How to Content
You can educate your customers about your products or services by sharing how to content. A GIF can be used to share helpful information and show people how to solve a specific problem. Whether you want to share a step-by-step process to use your SaaS product or help new users master your web design tool, a GIF is the best way to create awareness about your product, mobile app, software or service.
Promote a Limited Time Offer
The ultimate goal of using GIFs in emails is to grab the attention of users. If you are offering special discounts or limited time sale offers, use animated GIFs in email to give your message more attention. Readers will interact with the GIF to discover what is the discount offer and eventually, you will get a significant boost in your sales.
Welcome New Customers
When users fill a lead form and are ready to purchase your services or products, it’s time to welcome them by sending a welcome email. It will create a positive first impression of your brand. Putting an interesting GIF into your email brings excitement and builds interest among your new users.
Promote Your Blog Post
Driving more traffic to your website will become easier if you regularly post educational, interesting blog posts. Attracting more traffic to your website is no easy feat. Creating an email to promote your latest blog posts is a sensible approach to keep your audience informed about your company’s valuable content. Putting GIFs into your emails that are related to the content can set the right mood of the audience and encourage them to click the link and read the whole story. With animated GIF and emojis, you can easily achieve your goal of generating traffic to your website.
Sent a Webinar Invitation
Arranging a webinar is a sensible idea to educate users and solve their pain points. Getting more and more attendees will make your webinar successful. You can send a webinar invitation via email to draw the recipients’ attention. Don’t forget to use the GIF, as it entices people to register for the webinar to see what the event has in store for them. This strategy can also be used to invite more customers for your upcoming sale event, product launch or any other corporate event.
How to Make the Most Out of GIFS in Emails?
When it comes to incorporating GIFs into your email, it is important to consider the best email design practices to make sure the GIF works well for your campaign.
· Use GIFs for a Purpose
Creating an email campaign should have a purpose. Whether you want to promote a holiday sale, promote the latest mobile app’s feature, make an announcement of your new website design, or anything else, an email GIF will help you achieve your marketing goal. So, use a GIF with a purpose, overdoing will make things worse.
· Don’t Excessively Use It
Using too many GIFs in your email marketing campaign isn’t a suitable choice. Email marketers are advised to use GIFs smartly, don’t overdo it, as it will only make the email design cluttered. Furthermore, it will make it difficult for subscribers to understand the message as the moving objects constantly catch their attention. Using a single GIF is enough for an email to delight users and keep the size small.
· Make the GIF Size Smaller
Optimizing your email GIF size is critically important to ensure it loads properly. Since image size plays a key role in creating an awesome email experience. Your design team should focus on GIF optimization and use the image optimization tools to reduce the GIF file size and
· Use as an Alternative to Video
Yes, emails can also be used as a great alternative to video. Since you can’t embed video in email, you can convert a video into a GIF and embed it into your email to promote your corporate video. By inserting a play button attracts more and more users to click the video. There are many online GIF makers that let you convert a YouTube video into GIFs.
· GIF Design Matters a lot
A perfect email design can make your campaign successful. A professional web design company can help you create an intuitive design for your email that perfectly blends with your brand’s style. Make sure the design looks natural and the GIFs perfectly blend with the email layout. Designing your own GIFs allows you to keep a perfect balance between colors, design, and other aesthetics. This way, you will get the desired result for your email marketing campaign.
· Consider the GIF Placement
The GIF placement can make or break your whole email design. So, choose it wisely. Your design team needs to carefully decide the place to put the GIF. Choosing the perfect spot and keeping it in a perfect place will make your email design more successful.
Useful Resources to Find GIFs
Finding the perfect GIF for your email design has now become easier as there are so many online GIF makers available to create interesting GIFs.
Closing Note
If you are working on an email marketing campaign, experiment with GIF this time and see how it will make your campaign successful. Animated GIFs are a powerful way to delight your customers and add a wow element to your emails. GIFs, if used strategically, can keep your email message on top of your customers’ minds and persuade them to consider your offer and convert.
