How to use GIFs in your email campaigns

If you’re anything like us, we’re sure you know that life is too short to send boring emails.

GIF Source: Giphy

We’re living in a time when audiences are constantly hungry for more and more engagement. As marketers, we literally have no room for slack. We have to stay on top of our game and one of the game-changing ways to increase engagement is the use of GIFs in email marketing campaigns.

Journey with us as we explore what GIFs are, how they came about and how you can use them to send your subscribers more engaging campaigns.

What’s a GIF?

It was the year 1987, a time when the internet was still in its infancy, and accessing email or transferring files required an hourly subscription to companies like CompuServe. Enter Steve Wilhite, a brilliant developer and his team, faced with a challenging puzzle: how to display images on a computer while conserving precious memory. Space was limited and they needed a solution that wouldn't hog the computer's resources.

Wilhite embarked on a mission to crack this code and after some serious brainpower, he came up with a groundbreaking idea. He combined a compression algorithm with clever aspects like limiting the available colours to 256. And just like that, his creation was born: the Graphics Interchange Format, or as we know it today, the GIF.

Fast forward to the present day, and GIFs have become an integral part of our online interactions.

Why use GIFs in email campaigns?

1. Grab attention

Nowadays, we're constantly bombarded with emails left and right. So how do you make yours stand out from the crowd? Well, GIFs are like little attention magnets. Their movement and visual appeal instantly catch the eye, making your email impossible to ignore.

Are you having an upcoming sale? Why not use this magical weapon to make things pop?

GIF Source: Uplers

2. Increase engagement

Let's face it, long paragraphs of text can make your campaigns fall flat. Meanwhile, GIFs inject life into your emails, keeping your readers hooked and engaged. Studies have shown that emails with GIFs have higher click-through rates and increased time spent reading. They make your message more enjoyable and memorable, increasing the chances of your readers taking action.

3. Showcase products or services

Are you promoting a product or running an e-commerce business? GIFs are your secret weapon. They allow you to demonstrate how your products work, showcase different features or even give a sneak peek at upcoming releases. With a well-placed GIF, you can entice your audience to click, explore and ultimately make a purchase.

If you missed it, we suggest you take a minute to read our case study on how Dell increased their revenue by 109% just by using a GIF to showcase their new XPS 12 Convertible Ultrabook.

4. Simplify complex Ideas

Some concepts are easier to grasp visually than through words alone. GIFs provide a dynamic way to simplify complex information or demonstrate step-by-step processes. Whether you're explaining a recipe, a DIY project or a software tutorial, a well-crafted GIF can break it down into bite-sized visuals, making it easier for your readers to follow along.

GIF Source: Litmus

5. Enhance brand personality

GIFs can be a powerful tool to express your brand's personality and values. You can align your choice of GIFs with your brand's tone, making your emails feel more authentic and relatable. Whether you want to be funny, quirky or professional, GIFs help you convey the right vibe.

Best practices for using GIFs in emails

1. Keep the file size in check

GIFs with large file sizes can slow down the loading time of your emails or even get blocked by certain email clients. Aim to optimise your GIFs by reducing their file size while maintaining reasonable image quality. There are online tools available that can help you compress your GIFs without sacrificing too much visual appeal.

It’s recommended to keep your GIFs under 1 MB.

2. Use clear calls-to-action with your GIFs

If your goal is to drive action through your email, it's important to pair your GIFs with clear and compelling calls-to-action (CTAs). Guide your readers on what steps to take next by including well-designed buttons, hyperlinked text or interactive elements alongside your GIFs. This way, you can leverage the attention-grabbing power of GIFs to direct your audience towards your desired outcome.

3. Consider accessibility

Accessibility should always be a priority in your email campaigns. Some of your subscribers may have visual impairments or rely on screen readers. When using GIFs, it's important to provide alternative text (alt text) that describes the content or purpose of the GIF. This ensures that everyone can understand the context and engage with your emails.

We have a useful article that explains how to use alt text for the benefit of your readers. You can use it as a guide to ensure that you understand how alt text works and how to use it to make your emails more inclusive.

What if the GIF doesn’t play?

When it comes to email clients, not all of them are built to support animated GIFs. So, to ensure that your GIFs still make an impact even if they don't play, it's a good idea to make the first frame of the GIF clear and informative on its own.

Think of the first frame as the "poster frame" of your GIF. It's the snapshot that people will see when the GIF doesn't animate. To make it stand out, you want to choose a frame that effectively conveys the message or captures the essence of the animation.

Let's say you have an animated GIF that showcases a product with multiple features. In the first frame, you would want to select the most important or visually appealing feature and highlight it. This way, even if the GIF doesn't play, the viewer can still get a sense of what the product is about. Another technique is to use a visually engaging and attention-grabbing image as the first frame. This could be something that sparks curiosity or generates interest, prompting the viewer to want to see the animation. By doing this, you increase the chances of them taking the extra step to click and view the GIF in action.

Remember, the first frame of a GIF is like the cover of a book. It should entice and give a glimpse of what's inside. By putting thought into the first frame and making it engaging on its own, you can make sure your message comes across, even if the animation isn't supported in certain email clients.

Happy GIF-ing!

The next time you're crafting an email campaign, consider the power of animated GIFs. They are a versatile and engaging tool that can make your emails pop, capture attention and boost engagement. With a little creativity and a dash of motion, you'll be on your way to creating emails that not only inform but also entertain. Happy GIF-ing!