Category: Marketing Automation

You probably check your email every day, whether for work or personal reasons, and so do millions of other people. As a result, newsletters are an excellent vehicle for reaching an audience, whether you have a brand or you’re trying to build one. And in a day and age where almost anything can have a subscription model, there’s more opportunity for the average person to create a valuable source of income.Revue is an online publishing platform aimed at writers and publishers that Twitter acquired in 2021. Now, Twitter users have access to an integration that allows them to set up and display their newsletter on their profile quickly. Thanks to its simple interface and Twitter integration, anyone can start creating and publishing a newsletter and immediately find an audience.How to Set Up Your Twitter NewsletterStep 1: You can only set up your newsletter from the Twitter desktop app, so open that and click on More → Newsletters.Step 2: This gives you a ‘Find Out More’ screen, which takes you to RevueStep 3: Click Sign up with Twitter or Sign up with emailStep 4: Follow the instructions to set up your account and start publishing!Why use Revue?What gives Revue an edge over other online publishing platforms like Substack or Medium? Along with features like analytics and scheduling, here are some reasons to consider:Retroactive viewing: Your past issues can easily be viewed by interested subscribers, making it easy for them to revisit your older work.The Week Ahead Horoscope2. Ease of discovery: Newsletters are easily discovered and subscribed to when pinned to a Twitter profile.3. Monetization: You can set up your newsletter to receive free and paid subscribers (and Revue only takes 5 percent of your earnings, compared to Substack’s 10 percent). Another opportunity for monetization is through newsletter sponsorships – a growing option for brands looking to create targeted ads. Ghost has a great guide to getting newsletter sponsorships.4. Cross publishing: Along with publishing your newsletter, Revue also has integrations that allow users to share content on other platforms like WordPress and social media.5. Custom domains: You can get a Revue domain name or connect your custom domain. Revue beats platforms like Substack and Medium in this instance because you can make this change for free.6. Own your means of production: Because you can cross publish so easily with Revue, it’s easier to control what happens with your content. You never have to worry about censorship or losing access to your primary platform for reaching your audience.Best practices for newsletter creatorsIf you’ve landed on newsletters as your method of creation, there are some things you need to keep in mind if you want people to read your work.Figure out what you want your newsletter to cover. Newsletters come in different forms, with people sending their opinions on news to others sharing job postings. It helps your readers know what to expect, and you know what to create every week.Balance your newsletter content. Create material that is less promotional and more helpful. For example, as long as your readers didn’t subscribe to an ecommerce website, they shouldn’t receive a newsletter packed with CTAs to purchase something or the other.Set clear expectations on your Subscribe page. Get specific with potential subscribers and tell them exactly what to expect from your newsletter and how often they’ll hear from you. Matthew Cassinelli’s What’s New in Shortcuts newsletter does a great job.What’s New in Shortcuts profile pagePick one primary call to action. It can be tempting to direct your readers to a million places (and that’s still possible by linking within your content) but resist it. Instead, share one principal thing you want your readers to do (forward the email? watch a video?) and make that the focus of your CTA.Go for minimalist copy and design. Cluttered emails get me to click off, and many newsletter readers can probably relate. Use a minimal design and keep the focus on your words/content to grip and hold readers’ attention.Make it easy for people to unsubscribe. Your readers should be able to choose if they want you in their inbox or not. If needed, make the unsubscribe button more prominent and remind users that they can unsubscribe at any time.Inspiration for your Twitter newsletterIf you’re thinking of starting a newsletter through Twitter, here are some great examples we love that might inspire you.Blaze-Maximus: Astrologer Blaze Maximus shares weekly astrological transits through their newsletter “the Week Ahead Horoscope.”Linda Ikechukwu: Everything Technical Writing was created by Linda Ikechukwu to share articles and advice for aspiring technical writers.Everything Technical Writing’s profile pageCarlos Silva: Carlos shares vetted remote marketing jobs through his newsletter, Hello Remote.Sam Dickie: The Creator Club is Sam’s brainchild where he shares the latest digital products, interesting articles, and resources from online creatives.The Creator Club’s profile pageThe Writing Cooperative: In an interesting move, the creators of This Week in Writing moved from Medium to Revue. The newsletter is now cross-posted on both platforms.Beyond the more traditional newsletter formats on this list is Pieter Levels (Levelsio), who uses the newsletter feature to back up his email list.💡Check out 14 Newsletters You’ll Want in Your Inbox in 2021 for some other newsletters that could inspire yours.Why newsletters aren’t going anywhereYou may think newsletters are an oversaturated medium — as the thousands of unread emails in your inbox can attest — but they’re not going anywhere just yet. Here’s why.Creative control: Newsletters give you control. This ties into the rise of the creator economy, which refers to the increasing freedom of creators to monetize their work (think Youtubers or writers). What sets newsletters apart from other forms of creation is that you own everything – your email list, what you choose to publish, and where you choose to publish it. As a result, the power to be heard is no longer concentrated in the hands of massive publications, and it’s easier than ever to share your work. Newsletters are part of this new paradigm, with people seeing enough success that they can quit their day jobs and turn their writing side hustle into a full-time endeavor.Big news! I quit my cushy tech job and have gone all-in on writing.I’ve been making my content at night and on the weekends. Finally, after 11 months of grinding, Napkin Math is big enough for me to bet the farm. Thank you to my readers and @every for making this possible.— Evan Armstrong (@itsurboyevan) March 23, 2022

Increased mobile access: Smartphones currently account for 70 percent of the total digital media time in the US, as more and more people read things on their phones, newsletters included.Monetization opportunities: Thanks to newsletters, it’s easier to make writing a full-time job. In addition, essayists have a platform to make money other than hoping the New York Times. Platforms like Paved make it easier for companies to discover and connect with newsletter publishers. And collectives like Every have made it easier for writers to earn income from content.Falling ad performance: Newsletters are especially vital in light of data privacy issues and the increased use of ad blockers. As a result, advertisers that need to figure out alternative ways to reach targeted audiences will increasingly flock to newsletters.Should you start a newsletter?Newsletters aren’t for everyone or every type of audience. It’s a great way to achieve organic growth and gain control of your publishing, but like any type of creative endeavor, it takes time and effort. You’ll need to be consistent and have enough material to keep you and your readers’ interest. If you’re doing it for your business, you might want to research more in-depth before just starting a Twitter newsletter before putting in the work required to make such a project successful.

You may have heard the old saying “patience is a virtue,” meaning waiting for something without getting discouraged is a great quality to have. However, for most of us, that “virtue” goes out the window when we encounter slow page load time.

The faster your website’s load time is, the happier your visitors will be. In other words — when you optimize your web page’s load time, you can expect to see improvements in user experience (UX), conversion rates, and ultimately, sales revenue.
You may be questioning whether or not simply shaving a few milliseconds off of your website’s page load time really has such a major impact on customer experience and business growth.
The truth is, yes, the longer it takes for your website’s page to load, the more likely you are to lose your audience. Read on for everything you need to know about website load time and how it can impact your customers’ experience with your company.
Short on time and need to get straight to the skimmable stats? Click here.

What is website load time?
Website load time — or web page load time — refers to how long it takes for a website, or web page, to fully load and appear on screen. This includes all content on the page such as text, images, and videos. Simply, it’s how fast all content on a web page loads.
Page speed can depend on a number of factors — some examples include: Page type, user behavior, file sizes, website server/host, inefficient code, hotlinking, and too many plugins and/or widgets.
In a 2019 survey by Unbounce, nearly 70% of consumers admitted that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer. Furthermore, of all the people surveyed, half said they’d be willing to give up animation and video for faster load times.
Additionally, it’s crucial to remember the importance of your website’s mobile loading speeds. Jillian Streit, a website strategist at Blue Frog, told HubSpot: “Page speed has been a ranking factor for many years, and with Google’s shift to mobile-first indexing, it is even more important to focus on your website’s mobile loading speeds.”
She adds, “Unfortunately, most mobile pages take much longer to load than their desktop counterparts, and mobile users expect pages to load much faster on their mobile devices. If the page takes too long to load, users will immediately bounce, causing your site to lose out on a large number of potential customers.”
Learn about what website optimization is and how to do it effectively with this free course.
What is the average page load time?
In 2018, Google Research reported the average mobile web page takes 15.3 seconds to load. The same report said the problem is due to the majority of mobile sites having too many page elements. This problem persists despite most web traffic occurring on 4G instead of 3G.
What is a good page load time?
According to a 2019 study by Portent, a 0-4 second load time is best for conversion rates, and the first five seconds of page-load time have the highest impact on conversion rates.
In fact, the highest ecommerce conversion rates occur on pages with load times between 0-2 seconds. With each additional second of load time, website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42%, the study says.
11 Page Load Time Statistics
Here are 11 statistics that will give you a better understanding of how website load time impacts your business and, more specifically, conversion rate.
1. The first five seconds of page-load time have the highest impact on conversion rates. (Portent, 2019)

2. Website conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each additional second of load time (between seconds 0-5). (Portent, 2019)

3. The average mobile web page takes 15.3 seconds to load. (Google Research, 2018)

4. Nearly 70% of consumers admit that page speed impacts their willingness to buy from an online retailer. (Unbounce, 2019)

5. Of all the people surveyed, half said they’d be willing to give up animation and video for faster load times. (Unbounce, 2019)

6. The highest ecommerce conversion rates occur on pages with load times between 0-2 seconds. (Portent, 2019)

7. Website conversion rates drop by an average of 2.11% with each additional second of load time (between seconds 0-9). (Portent, 2019)

8. The highest ecommerce conversion rates occur on pages with load times between 0-2 seconds. (Portent, 2019)

9. The optimal average request count — the number of individual pieces of content needed to display the entire web page — is fewer than 50. (Google, 2018)

10. By compressing images and text, 25% of pages could save more than 250KB and 10% can save more than 1MB (which contributes to page load times). (Google, 2018)

11. Today, even though most web traffic occurs on 4G instead of 3G, the majority of mobile sites are still slow and bloated due to too many page elements. (Google, 2018)

Page Load Time Takeaways for Marketers
Maintaining a speedy page load time is integral to boosting conversion rates and sales revenue. While a few extra seconds may not seem like a big deal, statistics show that as each second passes, the potential to lose out on prospective customers increases.
If you’re concerned your website’s page load speed could be hindering your company’s growth, there are a few solutions to decrease the time it takes for your website to load. Online tools like Pingdom Website Speed Test, GTmetrix, Google PageSpeed Insights allow you to time and test your website’s page speed. You can also cache your website or enable browser caching to speed up your page load time.
Website load times impact conversion rates and, as a result, your business as a whole. Ensuring your load time is as efficient as possible doesn’t necessarily take a long time or a significant amount of effort, but it does require some thought. So, start thinking about how you can optimize your web page speed — you’ll see an improvement in your UX, conversions, time-on-page, and revenue.
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in March 2017 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

People love watching videos. Usually a video has more impact than when someone reads a text. Video editing and hiring voice-over talents take a long time, fortunately automating these tedious tasks is possible nowadays. For example with Rollideo, a tool to automatically create videos with auto-generated voice-overs & the exact subtitles. All you need is an input text. Technical users can use the Rollideo API. One of the advantages of the API is that you can quickly make some changes with the input text, the voices or the pictures to create a new version of a video. submitted by /u/FlyNestor [link] [comments]

Hi all, I recently passed the Marketo Certified Associate (MCA) exam ahead of my full-time job offer with an employer in the cybersecurity/ tech industry. I am aware that my company, and more specifically, my current role within marketing at the company value both exams and compensate a certain amount during evaluations accordingly. However, I could not find any information online regarding the MCA cert’s typical pay increase. I was curious if anyone passing either the MCA or Marketo Certified Expert (MCE) exam could give insight as to whether they received any pay increase, and if so, how much? Thank you! submitted by /u/Bridge-Working [link] [comments]

Hi. My name is Nathan and I am a professional video editor. I’ve been selling my editing services for a couple years now and I have gotten pretty stuck with being able to get new clients and not sure how to go about marketing. Not only do I want to learn how to market my editing service, I would like to learn about marketing in general. I 100% want to move into the field of marketing. I just don’t know where to start. I’m looking for someone that has a little bit of free time to help out and show someone the basics of stuff and how to go about marketing. Obviously in life nothing is free, and I am definitely not asking for someone to waste their time helping me. I very well know that editing is a big part of marketing, and if you do marketing as a job I am willing to help you out with video projects and such. I would also be more than willing to do marketing work for you once I get to know the basics. I have a great brain for business and have quite a few ideas that I would be more than willing to share or even start with someone. View this as a possible business opportunity for yourself while helping a guy out. I am more than willing to partner up with someone in business going forward. Thanks for reading, I know this was a ramble on type of post. Discord – nathan137#7859 email – [nathansjohnson16@gmail.com](mailto:nathansjohnson16@gmail.com) submitted by /u/nathan137 [link] [comments]

Has anyone compared Marketo’s Bizible with Eloqua’s reporting suite including their closed loop reporting? What’s your experience with Bizible? Any sort of advice or feedback would be great! Thanks. submitted by /u/zoezzz777 [link] [comments]

Today, audiences expect a lot from the brands they interact with. They want personalized, relevant communications delivered in a format that’s convenient, at a time that suits them.
Email has been an essential medium for this kind of communication for a long time, and at Campaign Monitor, we’ve helped thousands of brands across the world use email to deliver personal, impactful messages to their customers.
And today, we’re excited to add a new medium to the mix as we introduce Campaign Monitor SMS.
A New Way to Connect and Convert
SMS is a powerful, yet simple marketing tool that helps you drive stronger connections with your audience and drive higher conversions for your business. It’s the perfect addition to email – increase the speed of return on your marketing investment by encouraging immediate action from your subscribers. 
Whether you want to boost sales through limited-time offers, maximize contributions to a donation drive, or level up your customer service through satisfaction surveys, combining SMS with email creates additional touchpoints with your audience, drives urgency, and gives you the best chance of increasing engagement and conversion. 
Campaign Monitor SMS is built for busy marketers. Using the same intuitive campaign creation interface as email, you’ll find it easy to get your SMS campaigns up and running fast.

 
Be on the lookout for helpful resources from our team as well. Whether you’re wondering how to capture SMS permission and grow your list, write effective SMS copy, or follow SMS best practices, our team is here to help you along the way.
Get Started With Campaign Monitor SMS
Ready to get started with SMS? Talk to our sales team to get a tour of how SMS works at Campaign Monitor, and learn how you can get started. Oh, and don’t forget to save your seat for our SMS launch event, where we’ll walk through how the feature works, and best practices for getting your SMS campaigns up and running.
 
The post Introducing Campaign Monitor SMS: a New Way to Connect and Convert appeared first on Campaign Monitor.

Big Idea or Enduring Question: How to customize columns in Add Products dialog box?  We often come across the requirement to add or remove fields from Add Product or multi-line layouts for opportunity products in lightning experience. For example, Add Products Left in Stock field on Add Product page. Add Corporate
The post Customize Product Multi-Line Layout in Salesforce appeared first on Automation Champion.

It is impressive enough that Colin, Ryan, and Austin Gill, ages 16, 13, and 11 respectively, started their own candle company in 2017. But even more admirable is the mission behind their brand Frères Branchiaux. Sure, the brothers initially came up with the business idea as a way to circumvent asking their parents for more allowance money. But from the very beginning, they wanted their company to stand for an important cause – which is why Frères Branchiaux donates 10 percent of all profits to homelessness. In just a few years, the brothers – along with their parents – have created a flourishing business centered around giving back to their community.A family’s commitment to uplift othersCelena Gill, the boys’ mother, remembers a moment from early on in their business when all three of her sons joined a luncheon with Pathways to Housing DC – an organization dedicated to eradicating homelessness –  and donated an oversized check of $500, one of many of Frères Branchiaux’s charitable contributions. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Frères Branchiaux Candle Co.®️ (@freresbranchiaux) Living in the Washington D.C. Metro area, the brothers grew up very aware of the homeless community and always wanted to support them. But Celena said it was specifically her 13-year-old Ryan who had a penchant for helping others. “Ryan is really the driving force behind our commitment to give back. He’s always had a big heart. If he saw someone on the street he always wanted to give them money,” she said. And while figuring out ways to help others is not a top priority for most preteens, Ryan said he was motivated by his mom and dad. “My parents have inspired me. Watching them give back made me realize how important it is to help others.”The family’s pledge to uplift the homeless community is a core value for their brand, but they haven’t always had the time to spread that message – a symptom of being a small business with only four full-time employees.“I admit, we need to market this component better on social media,” Celena said. Still, Frères Branchiaux has shared several Instagram posts throughout the years about their charitable contributions. In a 2021 post, the company stated that their monthly donations, “put at least one homeless family in an apartment every month.” The message goes on to say they have donated over $30,000 to help eradicate homelessness and have contributed $2,000 to fight civil rights injustices.Clearly, the word is getting out. Frères Branchiaux’s online reviews are filled with customers who love the candles, but also applaud the company for their social impact, like this comment left on their ‘Love Jones’ candle written by a user by the name Stacy. “We are happy to support a family-owned business who gives back to their community! Xoxo,” it reads. They rely on word-of-mouth advertising, too. Austin said whenever he meets a Frères Branchiaux customer in person he makes sure to tell them that they’re supporting a good cause. As the youngest Gill, he hopes his family’s contributions can one day make lasting change. “My goal is that no one in the world ever has to be homeless,” the 11-year-old said.The ins and outs of donating 10% As they were mapping out the blueprint for their business, the family always knew their candle company was going to include some type of giving back component and they quickly settled upon supporting the homeless community. But they also understood that before they’d be able to donate money, they needed to create products customers would love, which led them to hone in on their candle-making skills. The boys first learned how to craft what would eventually become their signature scents from their mother’s friend, Danita Brooks. When they finally started to see profits, the brothers – eager to help their community – were excited to donate a large portion of their proceeds.“The boys wanted to give back 50 percent of profits at first,” said Celena, who had to remind her sons that donating that much wasn’t a realistic option for their small business. They finally settled in on 10 percent after doing some research and looking at what similar businesses were contributing. In a 2021 Instagram post, they outlined the various ways they give: through online donations, in-kind product donations, providing money directly to those affected, volunteering, and distributing meals to the community. They also clarified that “when we donate money directly, we don’t dictate what the recipient does with the money.”There was a trial and error process when it came time to figure out how often to donate, though. For the first two years, Frères Branchiaux was making monthly donations to various organizations including Pathways to Housing DC, Friendship Place, and The Father Mckenna Center. But starting in 2020, they switched to quarterly donations and felt that was a better strategy for them. Celena acknowledged that sometimes making monthly donations wasn’t always possible, as it depended on the success of each month.  “Some months you just break even,” she said.The family’s vision wasn’t only to contribute donations, however. They always intended to start a jobs creation program until it got postponed due to Covid-19. Now, with the world opening up again, Celena said the company is planning to resume the initiative which would equip people from the homeless community with job-skills training. Eventually, the objective would be for Frères Branchiaux to employ these individuals, providing them with a real opportunity to make their own money. Giving back is clearly embedded in the DNA of Frères Branchiaux. Still, Celena understands that organizing a charitable donation can be overwhelming for some small business owners. Her advice? Take it one step at a time. “Setting the intention is important,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be 10 percent. You can start off by donating one percent. Anything is better than nothing.”For the Gill family, laying out clear, purposeful goals has always been an important strategy for their business’s growth. In a post celebrating their fourth anniversary, they gave customers insight into how they’ve been so successful.  “A key component of achieving our goals is writing them down and creating a strategy,” it reads. “Remember, a dream is a goal that isn’t written down. We wrote them down—now it’s time to reach them!” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Frères Branchiaux Candle Co.®️ (@freresbranchiaux) What’s next for Frères BranchiauxFères Branchiaux has already expanded their product line to include room sprays, candle accessories, diffuser oils, and bath salts among other items. They’ve also created various candle collections, including astrology candles, Christmas candles, and a Black History Month collection. And even more exciting, they’ve been in big-box retailers including Whole Foods, Macy’s, and Ace Hardware.A huge moment for them in 2022 was being included in Target’s Black History Month campaign At the time, Frères Branchiaux candles were already selling on Target’s website, but this specific collaboration marked the first time the products were sold physically in-store at almost 900 locations – a very cool experience for the boys. “I was excited that our candles were actually in a [Target] store,” Ryan said. “And I was pretty happy we got one of our main goals accomplished.” View this post on Instagram A post shared by Frères Branchiaux Candle Co.®️ (@freresbranchiaux) As Ryan stated, the Target deal aligned with the company’s upcoming goals as they hope to make more of a footprint in physical retail spaces moving forward, especially because the pandemic has changed their business model. Specifically, now that customers aren’t at home as often as they were back in 2020, the team has had to reconfigure their marketing strategy since purchasing self-care items may no longer be on top of everyone’s to-do list.“In the past two years, everyone was trying to be comfortable at home,” Celena said. “ Now that people are going out again, it’s about balancing how do we help them recreate that same relaxing experience at home after a long day of work or hanging out with friends?” Not only does Austin hope to see their candles in more retail spaces, but he also wants Frères Branchiaux to be sold in stores all around the world – a lofty objective coming from the 11-year-old. As for Ryan, the middle Gill, no matter what new goals the company achieves next, he said his small business will always revolve around its central mission. “We want to make sure everybody has a home,” he said, “And even before the business, it was always a goal for us to give back and make opportunities for the homeless community and people who are in need.”

Animated GIFs are great additions to your marketing. They’re easy to consume, provide a new way to capture your viewers’ attention, and can have a serious emotional impact.
The best part about GIFs is that they aren’t too hard to make. If you have access to Photoshop and a few minutes to spare, you can create an animated GIF in no time.
In the following tutorial on making animated GIFs, I’m using the Creative Cloud 2015 version of Photoshop, but the steps should be similar in other versions.

How to make a GIF

Upload your images to Photoshop.
Open up the Timeline window.
In the Timeline window, click “Create Frame Animation.”
Create a new layer for each new frame.
Open the same menu icon on the right, and choose “Make Frames From Layers.”
Under each frame, select how long it should appear for before switching to the next frame.
At the bottom of the toolbar, select how many times you’d like it to loop.
Preview your GIF by pressing the play icon.
Save and Export Your GIF.

How to Create an Animated GIF in Photoshop
If you already know how to create a GIF, skip to the section on how to use GIFs in your marketing materials. 
Here’s an example of an animated GIF you might make using this tutorial:
Alright, let’s get started.
Step 1: Upload your images to Photoshop.
If you already have images created …
Gather the images you want in a separate folder. To upload them into Photoshop, click File > Scripts > Load Files Into Stack.

Then, select Browse, and choose which files you’d like to use in your GIF. Then, click OK.
Photoshop will then create a separate layer for each image you’ve selected. Once you’ve done that, skip to step two.
If you don’t already have the series of images created …
Create each frame of the animated GIF as a different Photoshop layer. To add a new layer, chose Layer > New > Layer.

Be sure to name your layers so you can keep track of them easily when you make your GIF. To name a layer, go to the Layer panel on the bottom right of your screen, double-click on the default layer name, and type in the name you want to change it to. Press Enter when you’re finished.

Once you have your layers in there and you’ve named them all, you’re ready for step two.
Pro Tip: If you want to combine layers so they appear in a single frame in your GIF, turn visibility on for the layers you want to merge (by clicking on the “eye” to the left of each layer name so only the eyes for the layers you want to merge are open). Next, press Shift + Command + Option + E (Mac) or Shift + Ctrl + Alt + E (Windows). Photoshop will create a new layer containing the merged content, which you should also rename.
Step 2: Open up the Timeline window.
To open Timeline, go to the top navigation, choose Window > Timeline. The Timeline will let you turn different layers on and off for different periods of time, thereby turning your static image into a GIF.

The Timeline window will appear at the bottom of your screen. Here’s what it looks like:

Step 3: In the Timeline window, click “Create Frame Animation.”
If it’s not automatically selected, choose it from the dropdown menu — but then be sure to actually click it, otherwise the frame animation options won’t show up.

Now, your Timeline should look something like this:

Step 4: Create a new layer for each new frame.
To do this, first select all your layers by going to the top navigation menu and choosing Select > All Layers.
Then, click the menu icon on the right of the Timeline screen.

From the dropdown menu that appears, choose Create new layer for each new frame.

Step 5: Open the same menu icon on the right, and choose “Make Frames From Layers.”
This will make each layer a frame of your GIF.

Step 6: Under each frame, select how long it should appear for before switching to the next frame.
To do this, click the time below each frame and choose how long you’d like it to appear. In our case, we chose 0.5 seconds per frame.

Step 7: At the bottom of the toolbar, select how many times you’d like it to loop.
The default will say Once, but you can loop it as many times as you want, including Forever. Click Other if you’d like to specify a custom number of repetitions. 
Step 8: Preview your GIF by pressing the play icon.

Step 9: Save and Export Your GIF
Satisfied with your GIF? Save it to use online by going to the top navigation bar and clicking File > Export > Save for Web (Legacy)…

Next, choose the type of GIF file you’d like to save it as under the Preset dropdown. If you have a GIF with gradients, choose Dithered GIFs to prevent color banding. If your image employs a lot of solid colors, you may opt for no dither. 
The number next to the GIF file determines how large (and how precise) the GIF colors will be compared to the original JPEGs or PNGs. According to Adobe, a higher dithering percentage translates to the appearance of more colors and detail — but it increases the file size. 

Click Save at the bottom to save the file to your computer. Now you’re ready to upload this GIF to use in your marketing!
Upload the GIF file into any place online that you’d put an image, and it should play seamlessly. Here’s what the final product might look like:

How to Use GIFs in Your Marketing
1. On social media.
Pinterest was the first to enable animated GIFs, followed by Twitter. And by the summer of 2015, Facebook had also jumped on the GIF bandwagon. Then, Instagram changed the game with Boomerang, which lets users film and share their own GIFs. On any of these social feeds, animated GIFs can be a great way to stand out in a crowded feed.
For example, check out how Calm used a GIF of a heart drawing in this quote from Samuel Beckett to add animation to an otherwise text-heavy Instagram post: 

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Calm (@calm)

2. In your emails.
Animated GIFs display in email the same way a regular image does. So why not spruce up your email marketing by replacing still images with animated ones?
Not only could this help capture recipients’ attention with novelty alone, but it could also have a direct impact on your bottom line.
For some brands, including an animated GIF in emails correlated with as much as a 109% increase in revenue. Using HubSpot’s free email marketing software is an easy way to accomplish this type of increase on your own site.
Make use of GIFs by showcasing products, making event announcements, or otherwise enticing readers. Check out the GIF below from The Hustle, which showcases various prizes email subscribers can win by referring the Hustle to friends: 

3. On websites and blog posts.
Finally, consider the power of using GIFs on webpages to draw a viewer’s attention to a specific area, or engage a viewer in an otherwise text-heavy post.
Take a look at how Bloomberg uses stick figure animated GIFs in this article on the Beijing Winter Olympic Games:
Now that you’ve learned how to make a GIF, consider using your newfound knowledge to add animations to your website or portfolio.
If you don’t have one, take a look at The 12 Best Graphic Design Portfolios We’ve Ever Seen, & How to Start Your Own. 
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2013 and has been updated for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.