B2B marketing sometimes gets a bad reputation for being too stuffy or formal. Every day, countless B2B emails are sent with nothing but text. While that may be appropriate sometimes, those kinds of emails are also very easy to ignore. Adding images can help, but those are commonplace, too. Once again, they don’t do much to bring pizzazz. That’s why many marketers are adding GIFs in B2B emails. The Graphics Interchange Format isn’t just for getting laughs on social media or in blog posts anymore. They can also be extremely effective in B2B emails, both for grabbing attention and helping to display important concepts
7 Examples that successfully leveraged great GIFS in B2B emails
If you haven’t already begun utilizing GIFs in B2B emails, now’s the perfect time to start. GIFs are a great way to garner your audience’s attention, create humor, and simplify your service. Plus, with free tools now available, it’s easy to create custom GIFs. You can do this with services like imgflips’s GIF Maker or Giphy. Plus you can always search for preexisting options that would work for your message. For inspiration, here are five examples of B2B companies that put GIFs in their emails.
1. Litmus shows recipients how their software works
has built its fanbase around a platform where you can “build, test, and monitor every email for the best results.” With clients that include Netflix, Google, and National Geographic, you might think that would be enough to curry favor with just about any prospect. Nonetheless, Litmus isn’t taking any chances, as you can see from their email below. Image source: MyEmma blog The email advertises Litmus Scope, a product that lets users create web-based versions of their emails. This product also allows for desktop and/or mobile previews, with easily shareable emails. That’s a lot to love, but it’s also a lot to communicate in a simple email. Even for companies that rely on email marketing, it might be difficult to communicate Litmus Scope’s purpose.. Fortunately, Litmus realized that a GIF was the simple solution they needed. With one smooth sliding motion, this format conveys what it is that Litmus Scope does and gives a sense of its user-friendly nature.
2. Biteable turns heads with a fun animation
is a company that helps other businesses “make videos that turn heads”, whether it’s explainers, tutorials, ads, or footage for social media. With high-profile clients like IBM, Shopify, and Microsoft, Biteable is a serious player, yet its branding is all about fun. This is something they make clear in each email. The one below is a perfect example: Image source: Woodpecker blog One of the ways Biteable helps companies create amazing videos is by providing them with an entire library of pre-made animations that can be manipulated and modified to fit the business’ unique needs. Many of those animations are characters, like the star of this email, Frank. The first purpose this GIF serves is vital: It grabs attention. Anyone who opens this email will see a little figure jumping rope. They’ll most likely read the sensibly-short copy below it that goes into a little bit more detail, as well. This is when the GIF serves its second purpose, which is actually very similar to the GIF we just covered, despite how different they look. Just like Litmus, Biteable wants to show off how well their service works. By showing a GIF of their animation in action, they’re giving recipients an excellent preview of their product in action.
3. Trello invites readers to join them in a celebration
is all about bringing people together. The company has clearly been very successful in doing so, too. As you can see in their message below, they reached an impressive milestone of 10,000,000 users. Not surprisingly, the marketing-savvy company sent an email to celebrate. Among other things, it’s a subtle way of advertising some powerful social proof. After all, if 10,000,000 people use their platform, it’s probably doing something incredible, right? Image Source: MyEmma blog It’s understandable that the company really wanted to grab attention with this message. By showing the popularity of the platform, Slack can draw more customers to their service. They took an already fun image (who doesn’t love a happy puppy?) and added a confetti GIF to make sure the eye doesn’t immediately move elsewhere. Combine that with an incredible offer, and well, we’re guessing Trello saw an impressive response for their efforts.
4. Wix grabs attention for their year-in-review
has developed a reputation as an extremely user-friendly website. They’re also well-known for their funny ads, including a popular Superbowl commercial. So, it makes sense that Wix doesn’t settle for boring, text-only emails. Instead, they’re fond of mixing things up and adding GIFs in B2B emails with messages like the one below: Image Source: Really Good Emails Is it over-the-top? Nope. But that’s okay. This image reminds us that subtle GIFs can be just as effective. You only need to keep your recipient’s attention long enough to read the email’s body copy. Notice how Wix wisely keeps its copy short and sweet.
5. AdWeek emphasizes the need for anonymity
Personalization has been a trendy topic in the world of marketing for several years now. Many see it as the future of advertising, an opportunity which offers too many benefits to ignore. Others wonder if the approach actually risks scaring some customers away. AdWeek wisely tackled the issue with a webinar entitled, “What If Consumers Don’t Want Personalized Experiences?” The topic and title alone probably would have been enough to attract interest, but AdWeek wouldn’t be AdWeek if it stopped there. As you can see, they added a GIF to their image to replicate the “blur” used to hide people’s faces on TV. Image Source: Really Good Emails The result is attention-grabbing and alluring, which probably means AdWeek had a very successful webinar.
6. Anima shows their animated timelines in action
If your company’s website needs fun animations, look no further than Anima and their app, Timelines. Given that the app makes it easy to create custom timeline animations, it only makes sense that they’d feature this new tool in their email. Image Source: Really Good Emails The animation–an example of their app in action–is impossible to miss. The changing scene, from day to night, is a nice touch as well. It’s a literal timeline and uses shifting colors to keep attention.
7. Greetabl shows all the ways you can say “thank you”
Thank you emails are nice, but if we’re being honest, isn’t it always just a little nicer to receive a gift with that gratitude? That’s where Greetabl comes in. The company has pioneered a brand-new kind of gift card, one that combines fun gifts with personal cards. One of the reasons Greetabl has been so successful is their nearly endless list of options for gifts. No matter whom you have in mind–including employees and clients–you’ll find a gift that will show your appreciation. Greetabl even found a way to communicate this by adding GIFs in B2B emails, focusing on just how many personalized options are available: Image Source: Really Good Emails On the left, you get a good idea of the gift options a client can choose from. On the right, you’re shown some of the many containers you can pick for your box-shaped “card.” This email is a fantastic example of how a simple GIF can be fun and practical.
Wrap up
Does every B2B email you send need to include a GIF? Of course not. However, it’s also never been easier to include them and, as you’ve now seen, numerous B2B companies GIFs can make for a much better message. Why not test to see if the same will hold true for your B2B business? Try putting a GIF in a few of your messages–and then monitor the results. If you see CTR (click-through rates) or CTOR (Click-to-open rates) improve, your GIFs may be having a positive effect. In that case, consider yourself fortunate. GIFs are essentially free to make, so using them to improve your outcomes could be one of the most cost-effective changes you make to your B2B email marketing campaigns all year.
