Introduction

Have you ever seen images that seem to change on its own in emails?

These images are called dynamic images. Dynamic images are images that change programmatically based on "variables" sent in by users.

For example, in the image above, the name that we see is "Taylor". The image of the URL might look something like this:

https://www.etrigue.com/images/birthday.jpg

With dynamic images, the URL may contain "variables" and these variables represent some type of attribute of the image that will change, such as a name that might appear in the image.

Here is how a dynamic image's URL might look like -- notice the variable called "recipient name" at the end of the URL:

https://www.etrigue.com/images/?birthday={{recipient_name}}

In the example above, when the email is actually sent to the recipient, the variable -- recipient_name -- is replaced with an actual value. The example references the recipient name, but it could be something else like the ID of a customer, the email of the recipient, the name of the person, the name of a company.

Example Usage of Dynamic Images

Dynamic image allows you to do neat stuff, such as adding dynamic image ads, banners, countdown timers, personalized cards, etc.

Below we will show you a few examples of 's take a look at a few examples.

Personalized birthday cards

How can you send a birthday card to thousands of customers, via email, each personalized with the customer's first name? With dynamic images, it's easy to do. There are services that can generate images "on the fly", personalized the customer's name, like Niftyimages.

Now eTrigue provides easy support for dynamic images, this becomes a piece of cake for users of the Drag and Drop Email Builder.

A hardcoded name ("Allan") is used in the URL (i.e. the "placeholder" URL), whereas a variable ("{{firstname}}") is used in the dynamic URL, to be replaced at send time (or rendering time if it's a landing page) by the name of the recipient of the image (or viewer of the page).

Dynamic countdown timers

Another great application for dynamic images is countdown timers. Here you will be passing in the Dynamic URL the date of an event, the time of a new store's grand opening, the date and time a promotion expires... you name it. The system on the other side will automatically generate a GIF animation that will look like a countdown timer, signaling the time remaining to the event.

A placeholder image can be used in the URL while you design the message (or page), so you know exactly how the end result will look like.

There are many services that you can use for this purpose. Niftyimages again, but also Fresh Relevance, CountdownMail, and many others.

 Dynamic ads

You can also use dynamic images to turn your emails into a revenue producer, if you have a large audience and are open to the idea of hosting third-party ads. Companies like LiveIntent provide a quality solution for publishers that want to monetize newsletters, blog digests, etc.

Typically you will need to pass a few variables to LiveIntent, including the recipient's email. They will help you configure the Dynamic URL, which you will then simply need to enter into the corresponding field in the Drag and Drop Email Builder.