How does using multiple GIFs in emails affect deliverability and user experience?

Key findings

• File size impact: Multiple GIFs increase the overall email file size, which can exceed the limits set by many mailbox providers, leading to email clipping or slow loading times.
• Deliverability concerns: While GIFs themselves don't inherently harm deliverability, a large email size can make your message appear suspicious or result in slower delivery, potentially affecting sender reputation. It's related to how images in emails affect deliverability.
• User experience degradation: Slow loading times due to large GIF files can frustrate recipients, leading to higher unsubscribe rates or emails being marked as spam. Visual distractions from too many animations can also detract from the main message.
• Optimisation is key: Compressing GIFs and ensuring your total email size remains manageable (ideally under 3MB) can mitigate most negative impacts on deliverability and user experience.

Key considerations

• File size limits: Aim for an email size under 100KB to 2MB. Exceeding these limits, especially 3MB, increases the risk of clipping.
• Mobile experience: Large GIFs consume more data and take longer to load on mobile devices, impacting accessibility and user patience.
• Audience preference: Some users find animated content distracting or overwhelming. Consider your audience's preferences and test different approaches.
• Purposeful use: Each GIF should serve a clear purpose, such as illustrating a product feature or breaking down complex information. Avoid using GIFs purely for decoration.
• Accessibility: Ensure your GIFs have appropriate alt text for users with visual impairments or those who have images turned off. Consider accessibility implications.

Key opinions

• UX over deliverability: Many marketers are more concerned with how multiple GIFs affect the user experience rather than direct deliverability hits, as file size impact is often manageable with compression.
• Subtle animations are fine: Subtle text animations or small, non-action-packed GIFs are generally considered less problematic than large, complex ones.
• Engagement boost: GIFs can break monotony and capture attention effectively, leading to increased engagement if used thoughtfully.
• Distraction risk: An excessive number of GIFs can distract from the main content and make an email appear cluttered, hindering message comprehension.
• Purposeful use: Marketers emphasize using GIFs purposefully, ensuring each one adds value to the message rather than just being decorative. This contributes to better email engagement rates.

Key considerations

• Audience testing: The best approach is to test how your specific audience responds to emails with multiple GIFs. This directly impacts email deliverability.
• File size management: Always compress GIFs to reduce file size. Tools like TinyPNG can help keep emails lightweight.
• Context matters: The suitability of multiple GIFs depends on the email's purpose and the overall brand aesthetic. A promotional email might tolerate more than a transactional one.
• Loading times: Recognize that larger emails with multiple GIFs will take longer to load, which can be a significant barrier to engagement, especially on slower connections. This is related to the impact of email size.

Key opinions

• Size is critical: Experts consistently emphasize that large GIF file sizes are the main culprit for deliverability issues and poor user experience, leading to slow loading or email clipping.
• Indirect deliverability impact: GIFs themselves don't directly block emails, but a bloated email (due to multiple large GIFs) can indirectly affect deliverability by increasing the likelihood of hitting spam filters or exceeding mailbox provider size limits.
• User preference varies: Some research indicates that users may have a more positive reaction to emails without animated GIFs, suggesting that less can sometimes be more.
• Sender score implications: Emails with heavy GIFs might negatively affect a sender's score if they lead to poor engagement or complaints due to slow loading or annoyance.
• Load time impact: Multiple large GIFs mean significantly longer load times, which can lead to subscribers abandoning the email before it fully renders. This also ties into the impact of large GIF file sizes.

Key considerations

• Compression tools: Always compress your GIFs. Tools like TinyPNG can significantly reduce file size without losing much quality.
• Optimization for all clients: Consider how GIFs render across different email clients, some of which may not fully support animations or may have fallback mechanisms that impact presentation. This aligns with how MIME types affect deliverability.
• Subtle use preferred: If using multiple GIFs, ensure they are subtle and enhance the message without creating a distracting, overwhelming experience.
• Content hierarchy: Ensure that important information isn't conveyed solely within a GIF, as some clients might not display it, or it could be missed if the email loads slowly.

Key findings

• Minor deliverability impact: When used appropriately, GIFs do not significantly impact email deliverability. The primary concern arises from large file sizes.
• Engagement versus size: GIFs can greatly boost open rates and engagement, but this benefit can be offset if large file sizes lead to poor user experience, such as slow loading or clipping.
• Client support: Most modern email clients support GIFs. However, fallback images are crucial for clients that do not, like older versions of Outlook.
• Clipping threshold: Emails exceeding certain size thresholds (e.g., 102KB in Gmail) can be clipped, hiding content and links, which is a direct consequence of large GIF usage. This directly affects Gmail's clipping behavior.
• Optimisation strategies: Employing strategies like image compression and careful selection of GIF duration and frame rate can significantly reduce file size without compromising visual quality, relating to image hosting considerations.

Key considerations

• File size management: Ensure that the total email size, including all GIFs and other images, remains within acceptable limits to prevent clipping and improve loading times.
• Fallback content: Always implement a static fallback image for GIFs to ensure content is visible in email clients that do not support animations or when images are blocked by default.
• Mobile optimization: Consider the impact of large GIFs on mobile data usage and loading speeds. Optimize GIFs specifically for mobile viewing.
• Purpose and placement: Documentation suggests that GIFs should be used strategically to enhance the message, not merely for visual flair. Their placement can influence their effectiveness and overall email performance. This is particularly relevant when considering best practices for using GIFs.