Whether or not its pronounced with a soft ‘g’ (like Jif, the popular peanut butter brand) or a hard ‘g’ (like Gift, those things you receive on special occasions) still remains debatable in social circles.
What is not debatable about the GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) is that it has rapidly become the language of choice in digital messaging for millennials. Similar to the idea of a Bitmoji, meme, or video, GIFs align with the cultural behavior or using content and culture to communicate instead of words.
For those of you unfamiliar with a GIF, it is more or less a series of slightly altered frames that create the illusion of movement, similar to that of a video.
GIFs are a great happy-medium between a short video clip—which may have excessive load times and compatibility issues, and flat one-dimensional image—which may not have the attention-grabbing factor of something with movement.
If kept under an ideal 200KB per image, GIFs become a perfect way to use imagery in an email and social media to truly bring your brand to life. They catch the eye through simple movement, can demonstrate a product’s use, or even tell a brief story.
In the food and beverage business in particular, GIFs are a great way to entice the viewer to in fact crave your products.
Below are some tips and tricks for bringing your emails and digital ads to life by incorporating GIFs:
- Keep it simple. We’ve all sat through painstaking PowerPoint presentations with dissolving, swooshing, and bells ringing for every bullet. Along the same lines, less is more in a GIF. Skillfully animate key images and small elements or animate the text only.
- Make sure to not lose site of the product or service you are selling. You do not want the animation, movement, or setting of the image to distract from where your profit will be driven.
- Remember a call to action. This is still an ad, and you still want viewers to click on your ad or product. A simple “Start Here” or “Get it Now” will do the job. Don’t forget the basics of email marketing.
- Because not every email platform will support a GIF, make sure the first frame is a solid, stand-alone, choice. Make sure that even without the movement, it’s a showstopper because there are still a few users out there who will only see the still frame.
- If you’re still hesitant on whether a GIF is a good avenue for your email advertisements, try some A/B Split Tests. This will give you accurate and measurable results on how your target audience responds to the GIF emails and whether the ROI is worth it.
Looking for ways to make your brand’s emails more fun? Increase open rates? We can help! Give Catalyst a shout!