What you Need to Know about Images
Image rendering can make or break your email campaigns. The Email Experience Council recently reported that images and links in emails are often stripped out of the message due to email reader restrictions, reputation scores, or coding errors. In fact, 21 percent of the 1,000 B2B and B2C emails that were reviewed appeared completely blank and an additional 28 percent showed text but had no working links. Image rendering is a big challenge for email marketers as nearly 70 percent of the companies surveyed admitted to struggling in this area. And it is something that will continue to challenge email marketers as mobile devices become more prevalent.
To combat this problem, it is important to understand the basics:
Size images correctly: The rule for image size is not as strict as it used to be when download time could take several minutes for a single image. However, it is still a good rule of thumb to keep images under 40 KB and entire messages under 100 KB. Also, images should be in .gif or .jpg format.
Store images properly: One of the most common mistakes involves improperly embedding images into messages. Images cannot simply be copied and pasted into email messages, the images must reside online so the message can pull the image off the Internet. Many ESPs, like Listrak, include a media library so users can easily upload, store, and reuse images as needed. If your marketing firm does not include a media library, be sure that your images are stored in an online directory and that the full image URL, such as http://www.mysite.com/images/picture.gif, is included in your email or the image will show up as a broken link.
Use image alt tags to combat image suppression: Image alt tags are alternative text messages embedded in the HTML code that provide a short description of what an image is prior to the image being downloaded. This is extremely important as the latest research shows that 65 percent of email users in the U.S. have their inboxes set to automatically suppress images. In fact, major ISP trade groups, such as the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) and the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), recently confirmed default image suppression as an industry best practice for ISPs.
While many email clients let users choose to always download images from specified senders, this does not necessarily resolve the issue as many email service providers use unique identifiers in each message. This means that your company’s messages will appear to come from different senders and will, therefore, be set back to the default of suppressed images when delivered. (Image 1)
Right now, there is no way to prevent image suppression in every email client. However, there are several steps your marketing firm can take to encourage your subscribers to open your images so your corporate brand remains visible to your recipients. (Image 2)
Set the schedule during the opt-in process: Tell your subscribers up front how often you will email them, and let them know what your delivery schedule is. Doing so lets your subscribers know when to expect messages from you and, by sticking to your schedule, it helps build trust. Subscribers are more likely to open and view emails from companies they know and trust, and this simple step can really strengthen your relationships.
Only send timely, relevant messages: Be sure your marketing firm is only sending timely and relevant messages on your behalf. Not only will recipients be likely to open and view your messages, but recent studies have shown that targeted messages that are relevant to customers may increase net profits 18 times more than general broadcast communications. To read more about creating relevant email messages, read Listrak’s white paper “How to Make your Email Campaigns More Relevant.”
Balance images with text: Be sure your marketing firm avoids using the postcard-style design where the entire message, including the text, is one big graphic. The text should be laid out neatly using tables to set the parameters for the headline, body, and footer of the message. This will ensure that the text is viewed the way you intended it to be, even if the recipient chooses not to open the images.
Test emails for rendering issues: Have your marketing firm, or a third party like Return Path or Pivotal Veracity, test your emails in different email clients, and have them send you a screen shot of what the email looks like in the different clients. This will show you exactly how the message will look to subscribers, and it will allow your marketing firm to fix any rendering issues prior to deploying the campaign. If an email has missing graphics and broken links, customers will know that very little time went into creating the message, and, therefore, they could feel that the message itself is unimportant. However, a well designed, branded, clear, concise email will appear more relevant as it will be obvious that a lot of time and care went into developing your message.
