Should You Use Gifs in Your Emails?

On websites, social media, and even messaging apps, animations are everywhere. Why not have them in your mailings as well? Marketing is all about capturing interest and gifs can be another tool in your arsenal.

If a picture says a thousand words, what does a gif say? Let’s explore how to use animated gifs in your email marketing strategy.

Media in Your Newsletters Improves Engagement

Adding in any kind of media, from images to videos, helps improve the user experience with your email marketing. Newsletters are a way to keep in contact with your customers and subscribers, and showing (not just telling) your news is an excellent way to improve reading times and engagement.

Gifs offer a unique ability to provide a quick animation that tells even more than images but less time-consuming than video. And they can provide entertainment value, to drive home or emphasize a point in your email.

Why Add Gifs to Your Mailings?

Gifs are having a moment, making them a great source for both younger and older readers. Here are some of the ways they can bring extra life to your newsletters.

Movement Catches Attention

We’re wired to pay attention to movement. While static images are easy to skim over and video requires interaction to play, gifs grab attention immediately, allowing you to highlight key content instantly.

Show Off Multiple Products and Services

If you want to cover multiple subjects but don’t want to cram a gallery of images into one email, gifs are a great way of showcasing multiple products, services, or photographs without taking up a lot of space.

Video Previews

Use gifs are an intriguing way to encourage readers to engage with your videos. Instead of a static image, show a clip of the video in a gif.

Stand Out in the Inbox

Your subscribers are getting hundreds of emails every day. Adding gifs to your newsletters is a way to easily grab attention and provide entertainment or information in a way that makes your emails stand out above the crowd – especially because not everyone is using them!

How to Put Gifs into Your Emails

Generally speaking, gifs are a cinch to put into your mailings. Most email service providers will allow you to select gifs when inserting an image, making them as easy to insert as regular graphics.

Here at FeedBlitz, simply upload the gif like you would any image.

Uploading images and gifs to your mailings is a breeze with our new UI in our VME.

Note that to avoiding size limits and allowing your subscribers to quickly download emails, image sizes are limited to 2 MB in the Visual Mailing Editor (VME).

Common Questions About Gifs in Email Marketing

Do you have questions on how to get started with gifs? We’ve got answers.

• Are gifs supported on most email clients? Most major email clients support gifs. It’s important to note that on the Outlook app that gifs do not play but instead show the first frame of your gif, so make sure it’s a good static image.
• How do I make gifs? Start with a video or selection of images. Many image editors, such as Photoshop or Snagit, allow you to create gifs (tutorial here), or you could try online options like Tenor or Imgur.
• How long or large should they be? For mailings, we recommend making them 2 MBs or smaller to fit image upload sizes. You can always make multiple versions and have a larger version link from the gif – a great way of bringing people to your website.

Your email marketing, from monthly mailings to automated funnels, can take advantage of gifs to enhance user engagement – it’s all about making email marketing that your customers are delighted to open. Try using the above tips to place a gif into your next newsletter showing off the fun video your staff made or including an animated slideshow of your products in your email follow-up to purchases.

Interested in learning more about how to use gifs and other marketing techniques for better mailings? It’s time to reach out to our team. Drop us a line at our chat, shoot us an email, or give us a call at 1.877.692.5489. Also, check out our extensive Knowledge Base for help with everything FeedBlitz.

Our Support and Sales Desk is available Monday – Friday from 9 am to 5 pm Eastern. We hope to hear from you soon.