GIF Assist and GIF Fallbacks in Outlook Emails

Your e-mail designer or e-mail advertising colleague has approached you with a request: they need to embody an animated GIF of their subsequent e-mail. Good! Graphics Interchange Codecs (GIFs) are an simple manner of including one thing enjoyable to your digital advertising.

So what’s the roadblock? Effectively, not all e-mail purchasers, like Microsoft Outlook, absolutely assist GIFs after they render your emails. Let’s check out why it’s best to use GIFs in your emails, which e-mail purchasers assist GIFs, and the way to make sure an excellent inbox expertise – even in Outlook.

Why ought to I exploit animated GIFs in my emails?

Massive manufacturers are utilizing GIFs to create efficient e-mail campaigns. We’ve mentioned supercharging your e-mail campaigns with photos and a few finest practices. However GIFs go above and past your common static picture. 

GIFs are an animated lossless format with an 8-bit coloration palette. They’re nice for showcasing a number of merchandise utilizing much less room or for calling consideration to necessary data utilizing animation. That mentioned, GIF recordsdata are additionally fairly giant, and their 8-bit palette means you may anticipate some coloration discount.

Listed here are some advantages of utilizing GIFs in your emails:

Give your e-mail added character

If plain textual content emails are the usual for boring, animated GIFs and movies lie on the opposite finish of the spectrum. Don’t be afraid to make use of a GIF to loosen up your e-mail template or add a bit additional pizzazz. We’d advocate sticking to at least one per e-mail, although – you need to use GIFs tastefully and never overwhelm your subscribers.

Substitute movies that particular e-mail purchasers don’t assist

Not all purchasers assist e-mail GIFs, and never all purchasers assist movies in emails. Take a look at the necessities for every shopper and see if a GIF would possibly resolve your video points.

Get your reader’s consideration – quick 

We’re used to the social media onslaught, and our consideration spans are normally one Tik-Tok video or Twitter GIF lengthy. Utilizing a GIF in your e-mail advertising is a strong strategy to seize your reader’s consideration, even when their eyes glaze over at your intelligent copy.

Stand out from the gang

Any e-mail marketer will let you know the key sauce to click-throughs and conversion charges is getting your consumer’s consideration and conserving it. Use GIFs creatively in your e-mail template to develop your visible model id and differentiate your e-mail out of your rivals.

Swap it up

All the time sticking to the identical e-mail designs? Design new e-mail templates with GIFs to offer entrepreneurs with totally different choices for his or her campaigns.

However earlier than we run away with this, bear in mind: not all e-mail purchasers assist GIFs.

Which e-mail purchasers assist GIFs?

Most e-mail purchasers assist using GIFs. As the newest from Can I Electronic mail reveals us, solely sure variations of Outlook are problematic and have partial assist.

That’s proper. Desktop variations of Outlook are the would-be drawback baby for GIF-support in emails since Microsoft Outlook desktop functions from 2007 and after use Microsoft Phrase to render HTML emails. In truth, the desktop variations of Outlook 2007+ solely show the primary body of a GIF. With none animation, that just about defeats the aim of a GIF. Outlook 2019 will play an animated GIF as soon as. Then, it shows a play button over the picture, which subscribers can click on to play it once more.

As well as, animated GIF photos are already supported in Outlook’s cellular apps and their webmail shopper, Outlook.com. Microsoft notes the next for Outlook variations with GIF assist:

• GIFs play robotically. Looping GIFs play thrice after which pause. Customers can manually click on them to replay.
• There are not any file measurement limitations for animated GIF recordsdata.
• Animations are enabled by default however may be turned off within the consumer’s Outlook settings.

GIF fallbacks in your Outlook subscribers

GIFS are nice for e-mail advertising, and your entrepreneurs are clamoring for them. Only one snag: your e-mail recipients use a model of Outlook which doesn’t absolutely assist GIFs. 

Word: None of those options really will let you work round Outlook’s lack of GIF assist, however they provide you a strategy to create efficient emails that are the same-same-but-different variations of their GIF-supported counterparts.

1. Use the primary body of your GIF

Be sure your call-to-action (CTA), or a very powerful data, is on the primary body of the GIF. That’s probably the most generally provided recommendation for coping with e-mail purchasers which don’t assist GIFs.

It’s not dangerous recommendation, and it doesn’t require a lot additional work in your half, but it surely’s extremely limiting and provides your subscribers a sub-par consumer expertise. Use this in a pinch, however your customers deserve higher!

When you select this selection, what you need to keep away from is an ugly first body. When your animated GIF begins with clean white house, that’s what subscribers will see. If somebody is making an ungainly face within the first body, your e-mail can be awkward too.

2. Use conditional code to fulfill your subscribers’ e-mail shopper specs

One other resolution is that you may goal subscribers who use GIF-supporting e-mail purchasers in addition to those that don’t. 

Use conditional code to point out GIF-supporting e-mail purchasers your animated GIF whereas offering non-GIF-supporting purchasers with a static picture that gives the identical data, look, and really feel as your animation. The conditional reveals Outlook desktop purchasers the static fallback picture whereas all different subscribers see your GIF. 

To take action, create a brand new message and embody the next code:

<!--[if !mso]><!-->

<img class="outlookcomIMG" src="https://www.emailonacid.com/weblog/article/email-development/gifs-and-outlook-what-can-we-do/ANIMATED.gif">

<!--<![endif]-->

<!--[if gte mso 9]>

<img src="STATIC.jpg">

<![endif]-->

Now, nearly all of your Corgi-loving subscribers will see an animated GIF like this:

However subscribers viewing the e-mail on desktop variations of Outlook see the static fallback picture you outlined:

Conditional code permits for a extra focused expertise with out compromising the design or selection of a GIF in your e-mail advertising marketing campaign. Discover out extra about focusing on Outlook with conditional formatting on Stack Overflow

Testing GIFs in Electronic mail on Acid

While you view e-mail previews throughout e-mail testing in Electronic mail on Acid, remember that our previews are static screenshots of your marketing campaign. Meaning you gained’t see any animations in motion. However it is possible for you to to see if the GIF is displaying. 

Odds are, the screen-capture course of will seize GIFs in mid-animation, however relaxation assured that is completely regular. It means they’re animating simply high-quality! When you use the conditional code above, you’ll see the Outlook previews exhibiting the static picture you selected for subscribers who don’t have GIF assist.

When you don’t set a fallback picture, you should utilize Electronic mail on Acid’s Picture Validation options to set the primary body of your GIF. That manner, you keep away from having one thing blurry or awkward seem in some Outlook inboxes.

Don’t hesitate to attain out in case you want extra assist. 

This text was up to date on Might 3, 2022. It was first printed in September of 2018.

Writer: The Electronic mail on Acid Staff

The Electronic mail on Acid content material workforce is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up e-mail geeks.

Join with us on LinkedIn, comply with us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on e-mail advertising.

Writer: The Electronic mail on Acid Staff

The Electronic mail on Acid content material workforce is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up e-mail geeks.

Join with us on LinkedIn, comply with us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on e-mail advertising.