While there is no shortage of fun, useful GIFs, sometimes brands prefer to use a GIF that reflects their products or voice. In this case, many brands choose to create their own GIF.
Why You Should Create a Custom GIF
- Feature your own products or branded materials.
- Create a GIF with fantastic resolution and clarity.
- Create a visual that you know will resonate or speak to your audience.
Create a Custom GIF
If you haven't already created a custom GIF, you can do so using any GIF program. A popular one that we'll feature in this article is EZGIF.com's GIF Maker.
- Navigate to EZGIF.com and select GIF Maker in the top-left corner of the page.
- Select Choose Files and select multiple images from your device.
- Once you have selected your desired images, select Upload and make a GIF!
- You can drag and drop your individual images to change the order in which they'll appear in the GIF.
- Set Delay times. We encourage you to test out different delay times, which affect how quickly the GIF transitions images.
- GIFMaker can adjust image sizes in the event you uploaded images of varying sizes. This can save you time from needing to crop and resize images prior to uploading.
GIFMaker offers other customizations and effects. You can play around with these effects to see which ones work for you. Once done, select Make a GIF! You can view your new animation below the Make a GIF! button, along with additional editing and effects options.
Resize Images and GIFs
The size of your image or GIF affects how it displays in messages sent to your subscribers. You can learn more about these specifications here.
- For images, we recommend your file be less than 500kb.
- For GIFS, we recommend your file be around 500kb.
Resize Images
You can select different image sizes from the Fit into drop-down (or enter a custom size). Preview calculates the resulting file size toward the bottom of the window. Once the file is less than 500kb, you can save the image.
Choose the option for profile pictures and thumbnails, then save the image.
You can double-check that the image is close to 500kb by opening the folder where it lives, right-clicking the image, and selecting Properties. You'll see the image size, and if it's below 500kb, you can add it to your automation or campaign message.
Resize GIFs
We recommend you use a program such as EZGIF.com to resize a GIF. Programs such as this one optimize GIFs for use in text messages.
- Navigate to EZGIF.com and select Resize in the top-left corner of the page.
- Select Choose File and select the GIF you wish to resize
- Once you have selected your desired GIF, select Upload!
- Once your GIF uploads, select Optimize from the editing options above the GIF.
- Use the compression slider to adjust the compression level of the GIF. The higher the level, the more compressed the GIF.
- Select Optimize GIF.
Your optimized GIF will appear below the original GIF. Look at the file size beneath the image. If the file is less than 500kb, then you can save the GIF and use it in your automation or campaign messages. If the file is still larger than 500kb, repeat the optimization steps.
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