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Animated GIFs Inside Your Inbox

Animated GIFs were once a novelty, nothing more than an amusing and humorous Internet technology experiment. But they are popular today. They're still fun and crazy, but now they've become universally recognized and successful form of communication.It has recently been observed that they animated GIFs are also highly effective in attracting and retaining email readers. Let’s dive in deeper.

How Animated Gifs Are Useful in Email Marketing?

GIFs are made up of image frames that are identical to JPEGand PNG. These can be used in your email the same way you would include standard photos, making them quick and easy to read and scan.

According to the research conducted in 2018, 56.8% marketers find animated GIFs quite helpful to boost up their businesses.

Animated GIFs are a perfect way to bring action and a sense of life to the virtual communication strategies of a company.Animated email GIFs enable your message to stand out, maximize the click-through rate and motivate your email recipients to take action.

Guide to insert a GIF in your email

Using animated GIFs to your email is super easy. GIFs have exactly the same file type as any other image type.

• Draft the email message.
• Download the GIF that you have made or want to use
• Click the file and drop it in to your email (or press Insert > Picture if you need to browse it on your computer).
• If you are using a pre-existing gif, paste the gif into your email/message.
• Click send

Engaging Ways to Use GIFs in Your Emails

GIFs can be as creative and effective as you want them to be, so make sure you use them in the right way and according to your content.

1. GIF must have a purpose

Once GIFs are deployed, they immediately become the center of attention, and nothing in your HTML email can challenge their supremacy. Use GIFs for several purposes:

• Announce your sale
• promote a new product or feature
• Help in enhancing atmosphere or set the stage for an email that you're writing
• Highlight the latest content you created
• Display a new video material
• Represent as an incredibly simple guide
• Tell a story

Whatever your purpose be, make sure there is one because adding GIFs without a purpose seems quite unprofessional. In such a case, it will not be able to fulfil its purpose.

2. Link the GIF to your CTA

A perfectly designed GIF in an email will lead readers to immediately take an action. Good GIFs give viewers a simple, persuasive reason to act with a message that's short, concise and concentrated, which strengthens your CTA. So the easiest way to use the GIF is to add it in the communication stream. Just like photos, your GIFs should all be connected to the landing page where you want readers to end up.

Email creators provide a few very creative ways to combine CTAs and GIFs, some of which are

• An illustrated arrow guiding individual users to CTA button.
• A GIF that displays a still object from a clip with a play button symbol that connects directly to the homepage.
• A moving button that when pressed, brings the viewer to your webpage.
• A GIF which contains count down and inspires your viewers to respond fast.

3. Focus on brand:

When it comes to GIFs, there’s a tendency to be sarcastic.Humor can be an extremely powerful rhetorical weapon, whichhelp to boost click-through-rates and to create brand image at the same time.So you need to focus on-brand in other words.

• Include your unique twist on a meme that is time-tested
• Figure out a way for your watermark or brand logo to be integrated
• Utilize animated GIF into an already proven email template
• Email runtastic GIF
• Ignore memes, which are problematic
• Create a unique GIF, to which you are in complete charge of how it can be according to your brand
• If you’re using an existing GIF make sure it’s not too far from your identity as a brand

4. Consider the size of a file:

The sizes of GIF files have the ability to get very big very fast, affecting the customer experience. The bigger an image file, the longer time it may take to open which can trigger major email problems. For subscribers checking emails on their smart phones, if it takes too long to load, they will simply ignore or delete your email.

• Include the animation as simple and concentrated as it can be
• Only part of the image can be animated
• Focus on the animated part as required, trim the rest unnecessary space
• The size of the file can be limited by a big reduction in color use
• Make sure to compress the image at last

To check the GIF size and find the best one for your emails, you can try using CBT Mass Email Sender. It allows you to test your emails, thoroughly checking out every inch of them to ensure enhanced deliverability and engagement.

5. Accessibility:

All of your subscribers might not have the same kind of technology. That's why it is important to note accessibility suggestions while you are placing GIFs into your email. Make sure that you've used alt text along with your GIF in this situation.

• To explain what happens in the picture, add couple of phrases.
• Being descriptive and straightforward is also important.
• Be clear and concise.

6. Have a look on email clients which support GIFs:

The appearance of GIFs is not supported by all modern email clients. That means for example, anyone who sees your email on an old gadget may not access the GIF that you've added. They'll see a broken picture instead.Do not forget to use Alt text which will tell the users what the image is about. Also,if your GIF doesn't show correctly, always specify a fallback image if you want your users to see them.

Key take-aways:

• Email graphic design is becoming increasingly advanced and effective, and GIFs are indeed a major part of that.
• GIFs are able to modify complex ideas into a few fluid communications frames, so make sure you are using them to optimize their impact wisely and purposefully.
• GIFs add an air of joy to your emails when properly operated.
• They help you visually speak your mind-catching the interest of your viewer.
• Make sure that your GIF serves a reason and you don't overdo it.
• Attractive graphics will increase the willingness of people to read by a massive 80%.