With so many emails being delivered each day, how do you stand out and make your email count for your subscribers?<\/p>\n
The answer is RICH MEDIA.<\/p>\n
\n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n Download our Premium Resource \u2013 Email marketing audit<\/strong><\/p>\n The use of rich media is just one area of your email marketing you should assess. Download our email marketing audit to start benchmarking your skills and creating a plan to take your email campaigns to the next level.<\/p>\n Access the Email marketing audit<\/a><\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n Rich media is a broad range of interactive digital media that show dynamic motion and make use of improved sensory features, such as audio, video and animation.<\/p>\n It is used to create visual appeal with the help of elements like static images, cinemagraphs, GIFs, videos and even audio.<\/p>\n Rich media has gained immense popularity recently due to the enhanced support by email clients and ISPs.<\/p>\n However, there are certain principles you need to remember when using rich media.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s start with how to use static images in emails.<\/p>\n Images in emails engage recipients much better than plain text does. Use attractive and relevant images that match the purpose of the email. The right kind of images can help you get a higher click-through rate and build a\u00a0better brand identity.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s an example of how UncommonGoods<\/em><\/strong> uses suitable Alt-text.<\/p>\n You can embed an image in your email in two ways.<\/p>\n To ensure a fast-loading email, linked images are the safest bet. Get the images loaded from an external server with the help of <img src> tag. Do not forget to add the Alt title tag for all images used.<\/p>\n The main advantage of linking images directly in emails is that you can make changes to the images even after you've sent the email.<\/p>\n However, it is worth noting that as the image is downloaded from an external server this can mean they get them blocked by some email services.<\/p>\n If you want to inline images into the HTML, a web coding tool such as ImagetoBase64 Converter can be used to have a base64 string from the image to be embedded. Once the image is encoded, you can embed it in the standard HTML image tag. Remember that SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) images are not supported in many email clients and ESPs.<\/p>\n Note: Outlook 2019 will support SVG in emails<\/a>, so we can hope to overcome this limitation pretty soon with all the major email clients.<\/p>\n If you are part of the travel industry, you can add images and arouse wanderlust in your subscribers. This will help you enhance your conversions.<\/p>\n Retail or e-commerce industry can use product images to enhance customer engagement and entice them to purchase.<\/p>\n See how J. Crew<\/em><\/strong> incorporates images in their email and tempts the recipient to click-through to their site and complete a purchase.<\/p>\n With the help of GIFs, you can display substantial information in limited space. They allow you to create visual appeal in your email campaigns<\/a> and drive greater click-through rates.<\/p>\n The GIF should be uploaded to the server containing all the images. Subsequently, copy the URL.<\/p>\n Use the \u201cimg src\u201d HTML code and then insert the source code of HTML as follows:<\/p>\n <img src=\u201c\/wp-content\/uploads\/emaildesign.gif\u201d><\/p>\n Test the email to get a final preview and to ensure the gif works.<\/p>\n GIFs are being used extensively by retail, e-commerce and fashion industry email marketers to display different products. They can also be used in the form of \u2018explainer videos\u2019 to show how a particular product or service can be used.<\/p>\n See how Maurices <\/em><\/strong>has used GIFs to promote their products and encourage holiday shopping.<\/p>\n It is worth noting that GIFs might be replaced with Animated PNG in the days to come. Animated PNGs are better than GIFs in that they support 24-bit images and 8-bit transparency. We can look forward to better animations in emails once email clients start supporting this file format.<\/p>\n Cinemagraphs are similar to GIFs but they present the illusion of a video through the incorporation of seamless looping. They have a smaller file format than GIF, thereby making the information easily consumable by the recipient.<\/p>\n You can create a cinemagraph with the help of tools like Flixel. Cinemagraph can also be created from a boomerang you've made for Instagram, where just a part of the image is in motion and rest is static \u2013 that is an easy workaround.<\/p>\n Cinemagraphs can be added to emails in the same way as GIFs, making them a fairly simple option.<\/p>\n Many companies, such as those in the telecommunications industry, restaurants, breweries, luxury brands and fashion industry can effectively use cinemagraphs to represent themselves to the world and showcase their products.<\/p>\n Have a look at how Saks Fifth Avenue <\/em><\/strong>has used a\u00a0cinemagraph in the email and promoted their beautiful product.<\/p>\n Suppose you have an event coming up in the near future and you want to promote it through your email. An embedded video can work wonders when it comes to inviting people to attend your event.<\/p>\n Not all email clients support videos in emails. Therefore, if the\u00a0majority of your subscribers are using Apple Mail, Thunderbird and Web browsers, we would recommend you use videos.<\/p>\n Always remember to add a fallback image with relevant alt text. OGG, MP4, and WebM are the file formats compliant with HTML5. However, Apple only supports MP4 format in the browsers and email clients.<\/p>\n You can use the following code to embed videos in emails:<\/p>\n <video width=\"320\" height=\"176\" controls poster=\"http:\/\/www.def.com\/images\/blog_images\/IA\/2018\/html5_video\/christmas.jpg\"><br\/><source src=\"http:\/\/www.def.com\/html\/mov_bbb.mp4\" type=\"video\/mp4\"><br\/><!-- fallback 1 --><br\/><a href=\"http:\/\/www.def.com\" ><br\/><img height=\"176\" src=\" http:\/\/www.def.com\/images\/blog_images\/Emailmonks\/2017\/html5_video\/christmas_backup.jpg \" width=\"320\" \/><br\/><\/a><br\/><\/video><br\/><br\/><br\/><\/p>\n Videos can go a long way in sending out event invitations and meeting reminders, as well as working well in emails by non-profit organizations and for product launches. You can also use it in occasion-based email marketing to woo more customers, like Rentalcars <\/em><\/strong>has done.<\/p>\n View the live email here.<\/a><\/p>\n Using Rich Media is the easiest way to make your emails stand out in your subscriber\u2019s inbox. Just keep the rendering challenges and workarounds in mind so you can deliver the best email experience to your subscribers with an awesome design<\/a>.<\/p>\nWhat is rich media?<\/h3>\n
Static images<\/h3>\n
Effective usage of images<\/h4>\n
\n
![\"Alt](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/2-alt-text.png\")
<\/h4>\nHow to add images in emails?<\/h4>\n
1. Link images directly<\/h4>\n
2. Inline embedding through Base64 encoding<\/h4>\n
How brands can use images in emails?<\/h4>\n
![\"J.](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/1-jcrew-email.png\")
<\/p>\nGIFs<\/h3>\n
Effective usage of GIFs<\/h4>\n
\n
How to add GIFs in emails?<\/h4>\n
How brands can use gifs in emails?<\/h4>\n
![\"Maurices](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/maurices-email.gif\")
<\/p>\nFuture of GIFs in emails<\/h4>\n
Cinemagraphs<\/h3>\n
Effective usage of cinemagraphs<\/h4>\n
How to add cinemagraphs in emails?<\/h4>\n
How brands can use cinemagraphs in emails?<\/h4>\n
![\"Saks](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/cinemagraph-saks-fifth-avenue.gif\")
<\/p>\nEmbedded video<\/h3>\n
Effective usage of videos<\/h4>\n
How to add video in emails?<\/h4>\n
How brands can use video in emails?<\/h4>\n
![\"Rentalcars](\"https:\/\/www.smartinsights.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/3-email-video.png\")
<\/p>\nFinal thoughts<\/h3>\n