Business Benefits
Use best practices that ensure proper rendering and display.
Create short gif sequences by aiming for no more than 15 frames.
A gif is a series of images saved as one image file. Every frame takes up the same number of KB as a normal image. Beyond 15 frames, the gif may be too large for some inboxes.
Create the final frame or step in your gif to display the most relevant information, and set it to remain longer than the other frames.
For example, if you create a gif that eventually displays a 20% discount offer, set your final frame to stick for at least 10 seconds on that offer. Users will rarely wait for a gif to reload and start again, so if your discount offer only appears for 2 seconds, it will probably be missed.
Create a timer delay of at least 2 seconds on your gif before the first action or frame starts.
This allows time for a user to scroll down to the gif once they open the email.
Animate only one part of the image at a time to avoid making your gif too busy.
For example, do not show a flashing discount offer pop-up and have a CTA button change color at the same time. This will overwhelm the user and reduce clicks.
Set your gif width to no more than 700px wide - or the width of your email.
If your image size is larger than this, your email will not render correctly.
Repeat any important information as text in the body of the email.
For example, if your gif is promoting a 2 for 1 offer, mention this in the text as well. Some inboxes will not render gifs and a user could miss out on an offer.
Insert your gif into your email the same way you would add an image.
Your email marketing platform will usually treat animated gifs the same as still images.
Add a description of the gif in the alt text box in the image options.
Concisely outline what was contained in the gif, particularly important information like 20% off offer with code 20SALE. You do not need to describe the image visually if an offer is the key takeaway.
Last edited by @hesh_fekry 2023-11-14T15:35:17Z