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We often talk with members of MyNewsletterBuilder about creating more eye-catching and effective email marketing content. In addition to providing custom email newsletter templates and one-click pop-up Flash multimedia content, we often recommend animated banners as one of the best email marketing software solutions for increasing open rates, read-through and click-through on email marketing campaigns. One of our favorite email marketing enhancements is adding custom rotating or alternating images as the graphic banner image at the top of the email marketing message and up to one animated image per “page” for longer email newsletters.
Because universal email graphics support varies widely among subscribers, and new content can be blocked by some email systems, we recommend using GIF image format for animated, rotating images that move or change in email messages. For most professional email marketing messages, use just one animated GIF image at the top of the email, with the GIF changing every to 5 to 15 seconds, and never have more that one animated GIF image visible, to keep your email from looking too wild and flashy. (Of course, if you are promoting something wild and flashy, like a discotheque, you can throw this recommendation out the window.)
With any of these software programs, including the free software options below, you can create animated GIFs and banner images for your email newsletters and email marketing. By including an appealing animated GIF at the top of your email newsletters, you can improve open rates and email marketing results.
These programs allow you to combine multiple images into an animated sequence which you can add to your email newsletters to create attention-getting banners, slideshows, and graphics for your emails. These programs also add the ability to crop and resize your images to your preferred size, a feature that is rare and difficult to find in web-based animated GIF builders.
Photoshop Elements for Windows or MacOS – $99, Trial Version Available
What is it? A full-featured consumer image editing program with animated GIF and customer support.
Tutorial: http://www.creativetechs.com/iq/build_animated_gifs_in_photoshop.html
Download: http://www.adobe.com/downloads/
Manual: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/PhotoshopElements/7.0_Win/index.html
Gimp for Windows, Linux and MacOS – Free
What is it? A free, full-featured, open-source image editing program with animated GIF features.
Tutorial: http://www.gimp.org/tutorials/Simple_Animations/
Download: http://www.gimp.org/downloads/
Advanced Gif Animator for Windows – $35 to $50, Trial Version Available
What is it? A smaller, inexpensive commercial program for building animated GIFs.
Download: http://www.gif-animator.com/download.html
GifBuilder for MacOS X and Classic – Free
What is it? A free tool for building animated GIFs.
Download: http://www.tucows.com/preview/206447
We are not currently recommending any web-based GIF animation tools.
Custom Design
If you would like for us to design a custom logo or image for your email marketing, please contact us at info@mynewsletterbuilder.com.
Contact Support if you need assistance with MyNewsletterBuilder. We’re here to help!
MyNewsletterBuilder is here to support you. If you are not finding the help you need through on-page help and this help directory, please contact us:
We provide Live Support 15 hours a day weekdays excluding major holidays. We also check support emails at night and over the weekend. Inquires received after 10 PM EST/EDT (after 9 PM EST/EDT on Fridays) are responded to via email as soon as we have answers to your questions.
Please include your name, username and contact information when you contact Live Support.
If the issue is related to a specific newsletter, please provide the name of the newsletter, the web browser version and the operating system (Windows Vista, for example), and a description of the steps to take to reproduce the issue. This small amount of information allows us to see what you are seeing and address your concerns as promptly as possible.
Yes, we provide Live Support for Free Trial customers. If you do not have an account with MyNewsletterBuilder, the best way to find out how easy it is to create your email marketing is to start your Free Trial today.
