benefits of animated email signatures in marketing
Email signatures…they don’t really matter, right? Well, not exactly.
Just ask yourself:
How many emails do I send every day?
When I receive an email, does an email signature influence how professional I perceive the sender to be?
Does strong branding make professionals/businesses seem more trustworthy?
In 2020, the number of emails sent worldwide per day was 306.4 billion, so it’s mind-boggling to think that people often overlook that tiny (and totally free) billboard that is their email signature.
In today’s digital world, email is still the main method of communication for most businesses (internally and externally), and it’s where your clients and contacts get a feel for:
Your level of professionalism and legitimacy
The way your business will communicate with them going forward
Your efficiency in both communicating
Reliability in responding to requests in a timely manner
Your trustworthiness
Your brand
Email is often where you make a first and lasting ‘micro’-impression that will contribute to the success of the intent of the email, whether it is gaining new business or requesting information.
Long story short, emails can be compelling and convincing if used correctly which is why it is so important for you to put your best foot forward and make your emails look as professional as possible and having a slick animated email signature is one of the best ways to do this.
what are the main benefits of investing in an email signature?
They can DOUBLE your conversion rate
Using an email signature that’s unique to your brand or brand personality, you can increase the conversion rate by 103%, as per Marketing Sherpa’s case study on Dell. Compared to quarterly campaign benchmarks, Dell's first GIF-centered email effort produced the following lifts:
6% increase in open rate
42% increase in click rate
103% increase in conversion rate
109% increase in revenue
Sounds like a no brainer, right?
2. Branding, branding, branding
We all know how important brand awareness is (very important!)
Not having branding on your email is like giving someone a business card with just your name on it. Every email you send is an opportunity to show off your brand and instil your messaging or core values into the mind of your reader.
Having strong branding in your email lets your reader know what to expect from your company. It makes you memorable and is an easy way to portray your company as professional, well-established, and trustworthy.
And, wouldn’t you know it, you can tailor your designs to any season or holiday you want!
3. Provides a strong CTA (call to action)
Whether you’re just sending a friendly introduction email or launching a large-scale email campaign, having a strong CTA is paramount when it comes to driving growth and boosting engagement.
Now, we’re not going to teach you to suck eggs—it goes without saying that any email needs a strong CTA, but by including one in the banner under your name, you’ll have an automatic call to action every single time you send an email, thus increasing your levels of engagement and allowing your contacts to easily get to know your company. It also helps that animation just so happens to be the perfect, most subtle, way to catch someone’s eye.
Animation can also bring together another layer of communicative and visual value. Used correctly, functional animation can make buttons and CTAs more intuitive and direct, and therefore greatly enhance the effectiveness.
For button CTAs, animation is mostly used for a hove effect, and shouldn’t be too distracting. However, subtly animated buttons enrich the design and inject slick branding into the button whilst still making sure the message is simple and clear.
Alternatively, your reader may be rushing through their emails (we’ve all been there!) so having a short loop in your signature that gets your message across or even just showcases your services can save your reader that extra click.
4. Subtle campaign promotion
No one likes a hard sell…so having a lovely graphic that nudges your reader towards a certain campaign, competition or offer is a perfect way to get this across without being spammy.
It also means that the clients you are currently communicating with can see the promotion, and are therefore more likely to gain repeat business…and we all know how valuable that can be!
5. It communicates more than a static image
We’ve said it before and we will say it again...90% of information that is transmitted to the brain and that stays in our long term memory is visual and we process visuals 60,000x faster than text. Visuals in motion, however, are even better. Studies have shown that viewers retain 95% of a video’s message compared to just 10% when reading text.
Animating your signature is sure-firere way to get your message across to all of your contacts without being pushy or ‘too salesy’.
are animated gifs just for playful or creative brands?
No! Email signatures actually have different benefits in different industries. For example, you may think that having an animated email signature would seem odd in a more formal industry, such as finance or tech, but using a slick animation can be a very effective way of showing your customers some of your services, or even just to instil confidence in the brand itself. It allows a stuffy, serious industry to show that it has personality making it more relatable to the reader whilst remaining professional.
For more creative brands, animated email signatures can be a great way to show off their playful side and exemplify their out-of-the-box thinking.
Or, perhaps you want to be seen as an innovator in your industry. This is where you can really flex your inbox muscles using something more unique such as a signature containing a QR code.
Having a QR code in the signature allows the reader to scan with their phone and take part in an interactive experience which will definitely make a lasting impression on contacts, clients and prospects. This unique method is even perfect for any company selling a physical product as it can allow their contacts see a detailed 360 degree 3D model of a product or even view the intricacies inside with a product explosion.
So, if you’re thinking of jazzing up your emails, check out our email signature page for more info.
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References
https://www.wisestamp.com/blog/why-your-email-signature-needs-an-animated-gif/
https://www.mail-signatures.com/articles/animated-gifs-in-email-signatures/
https://www.brandingmag.com/2015/10/14/what-is-branding-and-why-is-it-important-for-your-business/#:~:text=Branding%20is%20important%20because%20not,makes%20you%20the%20better%20choice.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/456500/daily-number-of-e-mails-worldwide/Number of sent and received emails per day worldwide 2020 - 306.4 billion
https://newoldstamp.com/blog/the-huge-benefit-of-email-signatures-from-the-marketing-and-sales-perspective/