The Top 5 Ways to Use Animated GIFs in Your Emails
Animated GIFs aren’t just for social media anymore! We’re guessing you’re familiar with these moving images, often designed as pop culture references and sent by that one friend who always replies to the group text chain with a meme. GIFs have classed themselves up recently, and they deserve a second look for your email marketing strategy.
Animated features that move and sparkle are the most engaging form of content. That's why videos always perform so well -- but videos, by their very nature, cannot be played directly in an email. To get someone on your email list to watch one, you need to ask them to click through to a different platform like YouTube and leave the email itself (chances of that happening = slim, given most emails see a 2-5% click-through rate). GIFs, on the other hand, do all of their eye-catching movements right in the body of the email itself.
From HelloFresh
Here are our top 5 favorite styles of GIFs in email that caught our eye recently:
Style #1: Animate your logo
Display your company logo or the title of your message in a fun, engaging way at the top of each email.
From Wonder Valley
From the Co-Co
Style #2: Present a slideshow of images
Why settle on just one image for your email, when you can create a GIF that cycles through 4 or 5 of them?
From Hipcamp
From Intrepid Travel
Style #3: Highlight one element of an illustration
This might be our personal favorite. If you have a beautifully designed graphic for your email, why not bring more attention to it by animating one small portion of it? Light up a window, make some vegetables wiggle, or change the color of your headline.
From Amazon
From 5280 Magazine
Style #4: Turn a video into a GIF
Want to show your team waving to your supporters? Or illustrate your program in action? Take a short video clip and turn it into a GIF -- works for screen recordings, too!
From BlinkNow
From Brooklinen
Style #5: Use stop-motion animation to bring your product to life
You can string together a series of still images to create what’s known as a stop-motion animation, which makes it look like things are moving on their own. This is easily done with photos, or graphic illustrations. It can be an excellent way to make your product come alive, or to show that something is on the way to your customers!
From Starbucks
From Chubbies
And of course, now that we’ve sold you on how wonderful GIFs can be, you’re probably wondering how to make your own. We’ve got you covered! Click here for our free guide to creating your own GIFs (it’s fast and easy!).
Questions about how to put this in action for your organization’s email strategy? Let’s talk! Pick a time to sit down with our digital marketing experts for an hour, free: https://www.the-purpose-collective.com/free-office-hours.
