Using a GIF in a message can really elevate your email marketing.

And while we’re not advocating that suddenly you fill all your emails with them, they do provide a few benefits that other forms of media-in-email can’t:

• They can be more effective than static images and videos. Making a video for email can be extremely time consuming, and sometimes an image just doesn’t help tell the story you want. A GIF can solve both those issues.
• They’re pretty much the language of the internet these days. Remember how we’re always harping about being timely and topical? Well, there’s a good chance a lot of your subscribers find GIFs entertaining, increasing the chance they’ll relate to your brand more and decreasing the chance they’ll pass checking out the rest of your message.
• GIFs are easy to consume. This relates to the first point kind of, but because GIFs are short, they help you more fully develop the meaning of your message in the short amount of space you have.

And with that in mind, let’s take a look at some brands that put out some really great content using GIFs:

Bonobos (Pt. 1)

Bonobos (Pt. 2)

Netflix

Chubbies

J. Crew

West Elm