Klaviyo email video: Video block or a GIF under 5 MB?

In Klaviyo, a product video in an email is a thumbnail image that links to a hosted video, not a playing video. Klaviyo's help page says it does not support embedded surveys, forms, videos or widgets in its emails, because major clients such as Gmail often strip them. Its Video block takes a video URL and shows an image that looks like a player; a short clip with no sound can be an animated GIF instead, as long as it is under 5 MB. Sume can make both inputs, the short clip and the poster still, though not the GIF itself.

What are the three ways to show a product clip in Klaviyo?

Klaviyo's page puts the choice in terms of what the inbox will actually render. The table lists each option with the line from the page.

Where does the thumbnail come from?

For YouTube-hosted standard videos, Klaviyo detects the thumbnail automatically; it says this does not work for YouTube Shorts. For any other host you click Select image and upload one. A vertical product clip on a short-form host therefore needs its own poster.

Video frames pulls a still at a time you name. Send at: [1.0] and format: "jpeg", set max_edge to the width you want in the email, and wait for resource_status to read ready. max_edge is a long-edge clamp from 16 to 2160, and omitting it keeps the source size. Pick a frame where the product is in view, not the first frame, which is often a fade or a blank.

How do you prepare a short silent clip?

If you take the GIF route, start from a short, silent MP4. Video trim cuts a range with start and duration, drops the audio with audio: "drop", and can shrink the frame through output (width and height from 256 to 2160, fps of 24, 25, 30 or 60). A lower frame size and fps are the levers you have inside Sume for a small file. The rate is $0.02 per job.

The Sume docs I read list MP4 for trim and JPEG or PNG for frames, and document no GIF output. Convert the trimmed MP4 with a tool you trust, then check the result against Klaviyo's 5 MB line before you upload it. If it is over, shorten the clip or reduce the size and convert again.

curl -X POST https://api.sume.com/v1/video-trim \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SUME_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -H "Idempotency-Key: klaviyo-gif-source-001" \
  -d '{
    "video_url": "https://media.sume.com/artifacts/artf_demo/talk.mp4",
    "start": 1,
    "duration": 3,
    "audio": "drop",
    "output": { "width": 640, "height": 640, "fps": 24 }
  }'

Which one should a product email use?

Use the Video block when the clip has sound or runs longer than a few seconds, since Klaviyo's own guidance is that a static image linking to a hosted video is the most common and recommended way. Use a GIF when the motion is the point and the clip is short and silent, such as a fabric moving or a lid opening.

Either way, the email shows an image first. Make that image a good product shot, and keep the landing page where the click goes ready to play the full video. The earlier post on embedding video in email covers the client-support side.