21+ Tips For Using Images In Your Email Marketing

The question of adding images to an email can be a huge question. It always polarizes email marketers, and it ends up dividing them into opponents and supporters.

However, to understand why images are crucial for your email marketing, you should know about the right way of using them first so it can make your whole process easier. And for that, here is a quick guide for helping you.

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Why do Images play an important role in Email?

Before you jump to an understanding of using images, it’s important that you have an understanding of why images in email are a wise idea.

A statistic of using images in 2020 email markets by Snov.io says that :

Emails that have images of some kind have more than a .5 % higher CTR instead of the text-based emails.

Two-thirds of people claim that they prefer emails that have images.

The ratio of best email-performing emails in the text to image at 60: 40.

However, using the images in your email also has its benefits, and it includes

Easier To Digest For Recipient

According to research, the human brain is wired for the content, which is visual content. The images transmit information much faster than 60,000 times instead of the conventional text.

Also, the visa is the natural stimulus for the brain, and it starts processing information.

And it goes the same for email marketing, photo, or something related to visuals help in processing the information much faster and determining the value much easier.

Helps Improve The Brand Recognition In Email

Emails are a crucial part of the brand association, and adding images can help in doing that much easier.

Even when Google acquired Youtube, they had to re-branded the email marketing campaigns on youtube to fit Google.

Also, they added a similar design and images in the latest email marketing with Youtube And Google.

This helps in making your brand stay more consistent, and this helps in increasing the revenue by more than 33% and improving brand recognition.

Visuals Help In Improving The Engagement Rates

The primary goal of the marketing email is to improve the click-through rates and increase conversion.

However, as compared to plain text and visual emails, it’s easier to confirm that images are much easier to hold attention to.

Adding images to your emails can help in improving engagement rates.

What Are The Different Types Of Images For Email?

There are a lot of options that you can get when it comes to choosing the images in your marketing emails.

But there are a few options that you should know about especially when you are considering choosing the right one to fit your email marketing.

Here are some of the types of images that you need to know about.

Black And White

The type of imagery might not be the first choice for email marketing, so you might be tempted to use colorful images.

However, black and white can be helpful in designing a certain purpose and also have different benefits; it includes :

Removing The Distractions

While elements in a color photo can attract their attention of himself, they can result in distorting perception. However, the black-and-white design is helpful if you are perceiving the images completely as a result, it can help in communicating clearly.

Add Emotions

Monochromatic images also help in adding a certain emotion, depending on the mood you are trying to set for the email.

The black and white design can add to boost the intensity too.

It’s Minimalistic

You can use subtle tones promoting the minimalist, and if you are focusing on keeping the message as the center of attention, then you should consider black and white.

It’s minimal and subtle.

GiFs

The next type you can consider is a popular addition to email. There are a lot of brands who are using email marketing campaigns with Gifs and quite it’s really good for it.

Indeed, if the email contains the GIF, it can help in getting the engagement and put them right in the mood. Take a look at the different marketing emails and how they are using them before you choose one.

Also, GIF is a combination that you can choose to pick the right message. This can help in making your marketing tool powerful.

According to Sage Journals, people choose GIFs because it’s created with a networked effect.

This means it initiates a quick interaction between the customers and the brands.

However, GIF is not for every email marketing and is not universal. Make sure you know the right purpose of choosing the message.

Banners

Banners are chosen often in email images for notifying the customer about something sales or upcoming promotions.

Banners are also an ideal choice when you are looking for something to get your attention directly that you are marketing.

However, banners work really well for promotions but it’s great for the company newsletter and notification type of emails.

A banner may also need to add the company logo along with relevant images and highlight the message.

3D images

A great way that can help you in diversifying the imagery to email marketing is by adding 3D images.

Even though you get the 2 D images, it has the 3D effect which is achieved by combining certain combinations which have a single color of the background and have dynamics using other elements in the images

Well, here you can use 3D images for demonstrating the product and highlighting the main features in the email.

But it’s important that you keep the background white, so other photos are not caching with it.

Infographics

Well, infographic types of images are used in email marketing which suits email marketing, especially if you are looking to brief the customer about something, including numbers.

Also, it can be related to polls, performance roundups, surveys, etc.

Infographics also promise to do the performance. According to Venngage, there are more than 30 times to read infographics compared to plain text.

Such types of infographics are something that holds the interest and help in education, and deliver immediate value. And because of this, it can be the ideal option to add to your marketing emails.

Background images

Background images have no special message in mail delivery, however they complete the whole design idea, such as the images can be pastel or bright, but it needs some kind of background image which is often repeated or cycled in emails.

So It tells you when you should stop and start; also it makes the background seamless by avoiding the images which have a distinct ornament.

What Are The Requirements To Know About Images In Email Marketing?

Well once you covered the basics, now is the next thing you should focus on the requirements that marketing images need.

To understand in detail, here are some of the important ones that you should know about :

Format Of Images

Here you get the three formats that are basically important to know about in marketing images.

It’s divided into JPEG, PNG, and GIF. All of them are different and have their own usage in image marketing.

JPEG

Well, this one you can use this format when you are looking for images to retain the color but the format will shrink the image which reduces the overall quality.

GIF

If you want to send something related to video but the email provider doesn’t allow the video, then GIF format will work really well for you.

Also, it adds some kind of action to the email which makes it engaging.

The major drawback you get of using GIF is that it doesn’t show vivid color as you get in JPEG format.

PNG

The next you get is effectively placing the image with edges that are sharper, including the logo or the transparent background with visuals.

PNG should be your first choice of yours, it also retains the quality even though the color saturation and size. However, if the PNG images are heavy, it will increase email size too which affects the loading time too.

Color Profile

The color profile of your email images can be different depending on the print you are going for.

When you are working on the images for email marketing, it’s important that you save them with RGB color mode.

As opposed to CMYK, profile if you are using the printed images.

RGB color model whereas uses blue, green, and red for creating the diversity of colors to show the digital mode correctly, However, this won’t work the same for the print option.

Image Size

The next is to understand the image size of your email marketing, to make sure that all images are showing correctly to the template, and to keep the width of the images to 600 pixels if the email has the standard width.

However, the size of the images depends on different factors including the design, format, number of images in the background, and the number of columns.

For examples :

If you are using the full-width sections, then you should keep the images that are in 564 pixels.
For the 2 column design, it’s recommended to choose the 264 pixels.
For the 3 column email templates, choosing the 164-pixel images will work well.

Here you also need to keep in mind what content you are including for the block and the indents, between the blocks of the template. It also affects the image size too.

File Size

Adding images that are heavy can impact the emails’ negativity, mostly it increases the loading time. But also the images might appear distorted on the screen which makes them hard to read.

On average, you should add the images in your email which is around the maximum size of 1 MB and 72 DPI.

This file is enough for keeping the email appear in the right format, and it won’t distort the overall email design quality of your emails too.

Alt Text

Alt Text is the next important requirement so even when recipients have issues in getting the images loaded properly, or getting the full version of the email, it still doesn’t impact it badly.

And you need to comply with the email accessibility rules, and for that, you need to add the Alt Text as it will appear if the users have blocked the images or in the plain text version.

When you are writing the alt text, it’s important that you follow these points to keep it effective.

The alt text should be conceived, and it doesn’t have to be wordy but should preside what the image is about.

It should add the keywords including main and additional keywords. But don’t overdo it.

Also avoid using the word image, just focus on describing what it is.

How To Find Images For Your Email?

To make your email marketing effective, you need to pick the images which are suitable for the campaign.

And for that, you need to find the right places where you can get suitable and effective images.

There are different ways by which you can get the images, however, some of them have restrictions, and you might have some problems while you are using them. And it limits the uses too.

So it’s important that you know the right way of picking the images and places which can help you.

Take Photos On Your Own

The best way is to take the images on your own, not just it helps in staying on subject and getting what you are looking for.

You also have much more control over the quality and other factors as well. You can do it easily while in the house and choose a professional camera for it.

Also, the recipient needs a personal connection, and that’s why you need to use pictures of people in the organization to introduce the readers.

Taking photos on your own can help you in getting a wide range of opportunities. There are not many options that you get in other options.

Stock Images

Stock images are one of the ways that can help you in getting other way of images for your email marketing.

It’s the simplest way of adding images, they are available in different ranges on sites. There are more than millions of images that you can easily get, here you can find the images for your purposes.

This also allows you to edit the stock images by doing the crop, adding text, and adjusting colors.

People often believe that stock images are quite generic, but they can be authentic as a picture if it’s taken from yours.

The stock images are also available for everyone, so it doesn’t limit you and that’s why it fails to connect the personal connection like taking images on your own.

Illustrations

Images are an ideal way that can help you in adding personality to the content of your email marketing.

And for this, you can consider the illustrations which give you control over this. Here you get more options for choosing the tone of each message.

They are an effective option if you are looking to maintain a consistent voice as you can keep the style and color scheme the same across the different multiple emails.

Illustration offers you more flexibility as compared to any other option. Also, it’s not limited to the possibilities of the actual photo.

You can draw the different ways of the product without showing the people in real life.

The illustration also tends to be less distracting as compared to photos, especially when you are using several images in the same message.

User-Generated Content

Most of the content should come from the team, but it doesn’t mean that you have to limit it to yourself.

This can implement user-generated content. Here it allows the reader to actively engage as well as contribute to the conversation.

Instead of taking the photos to yourself or paying for creating the illustrator, user-generated content is also free without any cost.

This can also help you in differentiating the brand. However, the user-generated content comes from the additional authority.

With this, you get more relatable to the audience and countless ways for leveraging user-generated images for email marketing.

What Are The Tips Of Using Images In Email?

Email marketing is indeed a great way that can help in increasing the connection with the audience.

Choosing the images which help you in improving the effectiveness and improving the visuals too.

Here are some of the tips that can help in using images for your email marketing.

Consider Using The Stock Images

Stock images can be invaluable marketing resources, especially when you get the combination of the mixture of the types and images you need.

If you are using stock photographs, then it’s important that you need to pick images that are royalty-free.

You also need to follow the copyright rules. When you are using the copyright images without proper permission can end up getting used and hurt the brand identity.

You might think it’s safe and choose the legal images on free photo sites. But be careful while you are ensuring the images from the copyright holder.

Use Real People In Images

It’s important that you need to create a human connection in email marketing, and while you do it, here you should follow the tips.

If possible, make sure that you are using the actual human for the email marketing campaign.

This helps in creating a stronger connection and entices viewers for reading the content.

There are a lot of different ways that can help you in doing it organically. You can also go behind the scenes as well as capture the real moment photos of real moments for staff.

Be Careful With Image File Size

Since it’s already described the right image for the email marketing. It’s important that you take it seriously as it makes your visual more impactful.

This helps in getting the attention of the audience too. And for that, you need to pick the right image with font and size.

Having the images with a large size can affect the download time and it makes it slow too.

Its impact is bad on the user experience. In fact, if it’s taking too long to load, this can lead the readers to delete the message and it can be marked as spam, especially if it has broken images.

This is why you need to choose the height of the pictures which should be kept less than 200 pixels and the width to 600 pixels.

Also, make sure that you need to test the emails through different devices to check if it works or not.

Choose The Right Format For Your Image

Now that you have all things covered, this is why you should check about the format too.

Choosing the right format can help in improving the email, and picking the right format.

There are different concepts of image formats, some of the basic options you get are PNG, JPEG, and GIF when you download or upload images.

But even though you are not aware of the formats especially when you are new to digital marketing.

Don’t Forget The Alt Text

When you are creating the image-heavy email design for the recipient, it’s all of them to see it easily and that’s why you need the alt text.

Alt Text or Alternative text is the text which is inserted as attributed in HTML and is translated for website visitors to inform what the image is about. This is especially important

Ensure That Is Relevant

Well, this should be something you should not forget, your all images should have something relevant to the content in the mail and the brand.

Use the bold images but keep them relevant, and avoid using clickbait that has no meaning to the message or the brand.

Add The Combination Of Text And Imagery

You are going to need the full-width images for serving the purpose, however, it should not be limited to images and there are chances it ends up getting blocked.

So the best idea is to add both images and text and keep it focused on the message. Do the proper editing for the images and proofread the text.

For this you can keep the ratio of 60: 40 to make sure it has both balances.