Including a little bit of motion into an electronic mail can carry the message to life and elevate your electronic mail advertising and marketing. As these 5 manufacturers have proven us, GIF hero picture designs wow the recipient into trying out what an electronic mail has to supply.
However there are another methods a GIF can improve an electronic mail. On this put up, we’ll cowl some totally different makes use of for animated GIFs in electronic mail and how one can implement them in your subsequent electronic mail marketing campaign.
Measurement for GIFs in E-mail
It’s vital to contemplate the sorts of photos you employ in an electronic mail, in addition to the general weight of an electronic mail’s HTML and its loading pace. A slower load time may imply decrease engagement out of your subscribers.
There isn’t a hard-and-fast rule on the utmost measurement of a GIF in electronic mail, however the larger the file measurement, the longer it’ll take to load. Aiming for below 200kb is an efficient rule of thumb.
With most readers receiving electronic mail on their smartphones, you must think about loading time on cellular networks (though many readers are capable of join cellular units to WiFi). In case your readership is principally desktop, why not check out some greater GIFs to see how they do?
Nike despatched a marketing campaign with a 2.7mb GIF:
E-mail on Acid’s Marketing campaign Precheck consists of an picture optimization function that lets you see in case your photos are too heavy. It additionally allows you to optimize the picture with one click on, then host it or obtain it to incorporate it in your electronic mail.
What About Outlook?
Now that it’s solely older Outlook purchasers that don’t help GIFs, it’s value exploring some extra choices for animating photos all through an electronic mail. You probably have a variety of subscribers utilizing older Outlook purchasers, try this useful hack to indicate a particular static picture to those purchasers.
Methods to Use an Animated GIF in E-mail
Animated GIFs aren’t only for hero photos anymore. Take a look at these totally different strategies for utilizing GIFs in your campaigns.
Encouraging a Recipient to Scroll
Including an arrow or character beckoning a person to hold on scrolling is nice for longer emails, or to attract consideration to a particular module.
Deliver Life to Static Pictures
Followers of the Harry Potter movies and books have most likely imagined including real-life motion to pictures.
These animated photos may have many purposes, from e-commerce to leisure. For instance, you could possibly experiment with including a delicate spinning motion to a mannequin carrying the clothes you might be promoting. This may give the e-mail recipient a little bit extra data and a full 360º view of the product, rising the prospect of a click on.
Enjoyable Typography
Including shifting textual content to photographs is a cool method so as to add a signature or fascinating aspect to a message. Should you use this system, be sure you embrace a separate static picture or embrace all of the textual content within the first body to accommodate older Outlook purchasers. Additionally, don’t overlook to incorporate descriptive alt textual content.
Take a look at the code for this “Thank You!” message, together with a fallback static picture.
Transferring Backgrounds
Utilizing background picture fixes to cowl as many electronic mail purchasers as doable, you possibly can embrace an animated GIF rather than a static picture so as to add some motion behind your content material. The fallback for these photos is similar as a traditional GIF, so solely the primary body will present if the e-mail consumer doesn’t help animated GIFs.
View the complete electronic mail on-line.
Calls-to-Motion
By including a small little bit of motion or encouragement to a CTA (a vital a part of your electronic mail), you possibly can draw consideration to an motion you want to the recipient to make.
Discover the code for this button on codepen.
Cinemagraphs
Including motion to an in any other case static picture could make a photograph extra partaking and efficient. Utilizing this sort of picture provides a little bit of intrigue into an electronic mail (“Did that simply transfer?”) by including delicate motion. This method can improve the studying time and encourage readers to scroll on to see extra.
Emphasize Your Model Model or Voice
Don’t overlook it’s also possible to use GIFs so as to add some character to an in any other case formal electronic mail or use it to boost your model type and voice.
Inventive Growth, a world graphic design weblog, has a set of eyes that comply with you round their web site. They create this enjoyable method into their electronic mail, as effectively, by inserting it subtly throughout the footer.
Pizza Categorical makes use of dough ball characters that seem all through their children’ menu, firm web site and social media channels. So, bringing these characters into their electronic mail is a good way to boost the model.
How Do You Use GIFs in E-mail?
As we’ve seen in these examples, together with extra motion in your electronic mail can encourage longer studying time, spotlight vital areas of your electronic mail, or improve your branding.
How do you employ GIFs in your emails? Share with us within the feedback part under!
Writer: Jay Oram
Jay Oram is a part of the design and code options staff on the electronic mail specialist company, ActionRocket. In his function at ActionRocket, Jay is normally experimenting with new code for emails or discovering that elusive rendering repair. See extra articles from Jay at emaildesignreview.com or discover him on Twitter at @emailjay_.
Writer: Jay Oram
Jay Oram is a part of the design and code options staff on the electronic mail specialist company, ActionRocket. In his function at ActionRocket, Jay is normally experimenting with new code for emails or discovering that elusive rendering repair. See extra articles from Jay at emaildesignreview.com or discover him on Twitter at @emailjay_.