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In a now an over-saturated digital world, how can your message get appropriate cut-through when consumers are constantly drawn in a multitude of different directions? GIFs are particularly helpful in grabbing the attention of viewers who are normally easily distracted otherwise.

While there is no doubt that video is King from an engagement viewpoint, GIFs are making an impact as marketing devices that add fun to, and enrich your content digital content.

What is a GIF I hear you ask.

A GIF (graphics interchange format) is simply a digital image format similar to JPEGs and PNG files. GIFs can be used for still pictures, but what sets GIFs apart is their ability to support simple animations.

Think of them as a mini-video, which can be created fairly simply without the complex process of filming and editing. Dropping in a GIF is as simple as uploading a regular image, however they can be tricky to post in some scheduling software and social media channels.

Also, if you plan using a GIF in an email, check your data to confirm the percentage of your database who regularly use email clients that don’t support GIFs (e.g. some versions of Outlook). If the majority of your audience does use these email clients, you’ll lose the intended effectiveness of your GIF.

If you do have users using unsupported email clients and still plan to use a GIF in your emails, ensure that the most important visual of the GIF is in the first image, as that is all they will see.

GIFs will help keep your customers engaged from the first word of your communication to the last, however, like any other design element, avoid overusing them.