Animated videos guide

Animated videos allow you to embed video content in your email. Engage your subscribers with an animated snippet of your longer video in a few steps!

What you need

Your video can be an uploaded mp4 or a URL to an mp4 from a publicly available space in your Google Drive, Dropbox, or an internally hosted server.

If the Animated videos builder can't detect a video, you may need to upload a thumbnail image.

NOTE: Direct URLs to videos on YouTube or other services do not link to an mp4 file so those URLs are not sufficient for Animated videos use.

Start building your animated video

From the Personalized Content top menu tab, choose Animated videos from the left menu and select the green New animated video button.

Personalize animated videos main window

Customize your animated video

Use the Customize panel on the right to link to or upload your video. Your video's name is Default video but you can edit it to whatever you prefer by selecting the name on the top left.

  1. Enter video URL or Upload .mp4 file - select the radio button you need
  2. Start time (in seconds) - enter the time stamp where you'd like your animated video to start playing
  3. Duration - select how long you'd like your animated video loop (options are 5, 10, or 15 seconds)
  4. Convert button - start the conversion process
  5. Click-through link - Enter a destination URL for your animated video
  6. Alt text - Improve accessibility with alt text for your video

animated videos customize panel Enlarge the customize panel image

NOTE: Initial processing may take several seconds. If an mp4 cannot be found, you will see an alert appear in the center panel and a button to upload a thumbnail image will be present in the right side pane.

Styling

Add more options like an overlay, with adjustments for color and opacity, and options for play buttons in a variety of styles that can be coordinated with brand or email colors. Select Apply changes to reprocess your animated video.

NOTE: To create the best inbox experiences, balance GIF resolution and file size by selecting videos with limited color palettes, which helps optimize performance. GIF images are limited to 256 colors, so anything beyond that you may start to see some pixelation as we work to keep the file size low.

Select the green Next: Preview your animated video button in the upper right corner when you're ready!

Preview and test your animated video

Select the video preview image to test your destination URL. To see your video URL directly, use the Visit video URL link in the right side panel.

preview image of animated video gif

To make any changes, select the gray Back to editing button in the upper right. Otherwise, select the green Next: Save and get HTML button to continue.

Finish and get your code

You can copy the HTML for your animated video in this final step using the green Copy HTML button at the bottom of the code pane. If you don't need the code right away, select Done in the upper right corner. Your animated video widget will be in the Animated videos section of your Personalized Content library.

You can rename your video by hovering over the thumbnail image and using the edit pencil at the top. To get your HTML, hover over the thumbnail to find the Copy HTML button at the bottom. A delete trash can icon is available in the lower right corner.

Impression usage

Animated videos use 1 impression for each open.

NOTE: Impressions usage limits vary based on your subscription. Learn more about usage limits and how impressions are counted to make sure you understand how your tag will impact your usage!

Animated videos and supported platforms

Litmus Animated videos adapt to the email client request in real-time so a recipient will either see your animated video creation or a static thumbnail with a play button that links to your video.

MPP-impacted opens count toward impression usage.

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