It has been proven that creativity and good humor are one of the qualities that a user values most when reading a email marketing. More and more newsletters incorporate GIFs, that is, animated images. It seemed like an obsolete format, but no, its ability to generate response and interaction has made it re-emerge and become an element that will increase your opening rate.
What does the GIF contribute to my email marketing campaigns?
- Save space: Many times we would like to incorporate more than one image in the newsletter, but we don't do it so as not to stun the reader with so many images. With animated GIFs you can show many images in a single image, which allows you to save space in your email marketing campaign. You can take advantage of the space for other content.
- Create emotion: although the GIF is nothing more than a succession of images, it creates much more emotional impact than a static image. They give a special touch to the campaigns.
Utilities of animated GIF in email marketing
The GIF captures the attention of users and arouses interest, a fact that increases the click rate, and consequently, the conversion rate. What other uses can a GIF have?
- Catalog. The GIF is the perfect tool to show several of your products without overloading the email marketing campaign with images.
- User manual. The GIF allows you to easily show the different steps you must follow to use your product, as if it were a dynamic instruction manual.
- Functionalities. With the GIF you can show the different functionalities of your product in a simple way.
Elements that I should take into account
Time: the time between image and image is something that we must time. The duration of the GIF should be short but allow users to see each image perfectly.
Images: the number of images that the GIF has is an important element to consider. Place a maximum of 4 - 5 images, it has to be a quick viewing element.
Main message: the most important image should be the main one, that is, the one that will be seen if a mailbox cannot read it. But it must be said that the animated gif is the only animation format compatible with all email mailboxes except Outlook 2007-2016.
Import an animated GIF to an email marketing campaign
- The first thing you should do is choose a GIF that is hosted on a web page, that is, the GIF have a URL. For example: https://giphy.com/gifs/crush-crushing-Y2GFtz19vL1Zu
- You already have the GIF chosen. Now go to your graphic editor and add an image module to be able to incorporate it. Remember that it is still a moving image.
- From the graphic editor of your email marketing application, choose the option Import image from a URL. It is very common that the animation is not seen in the editor, don't worry, it will be seen later in the mailboxes.
- To ensure that the GIF is seen in all possible mailboxes you must modify the place where the image is stored, save it on your own server.
The GIF manages to attract the attention of the user to open the message while showing originality and creativity. GIFs have become another element of your email marketing campaigns, don't let them escape, and use them!
Author: Lidia Canals, junior content manager at Mailify.
