Adding a Dynamic Image to a Marketing Email

Dynamic images are responsive image files that change depending on input for merge tags (content placeholders).

For example, you might send your users personalized birthday emails wishing them “happy birthday” by name. When you include a merge field for first name in the dynamic image URL, your recipients’ first name is read from your contact list data and the image changes to display each user’s name. Use a dynamic image in combination with a variable field to create a unique email for each user.

A list of permitted merge fields can be found in the Glossary under Variable Fields..

Along with your dynamic image, provide a static backup image in case variable inputs can't be processed (for example, if a first name is not available in your contact data).

To add dynamic images:

1. Drag-and-drop an Image content block into the required location.
2. Insert a static image using the image browser. For more information, see the How to Add an Image section of this article.
3. Click into the image content block again.
4. In the Content Properties menu, toggle on Dynamic image.
5. Input a URL in the Dynamic URL box. Make sure to include a merge field in the URL.
6. Publish your changes. You will see the static URL in the Preview. You will see the merge field on the Personalize view. Your Test email will show the merge field.

Here’s an example:

We want to send this image to our users on their birthday.

For our static image, we provide an arbitrary static variable in the URL. Here, we use “Partner.” Our static URL looks like this:

https://img1.niftyimages.com/ovd/sp8/nxq?txt=Partner

We want the image to wish our users happy birthday by first name. A list of permitted merge fields can be found in the Glossary under Variable Fields. From the list, we find the variable [FirstName]. Our dynamic URL looks like this:

https://img1.niftyimages.com/ovd/sp8/nxq?txt=[FirstName]

When our users receive the email, they see a personalized birthday message addressed to them by name. If there is a mistake in our data that prevents users’ names from being displayed, the image will automatically fall back to the static image.

To test the email, create a short internal email list to send the email to. Verify that the name is appearing on the email and not a variable. Once you are sure the email is correct, it is ready to send out.

These services provide dynamic image services: Niftyimages, Fresh Relevance, CountdownMall, and others.