Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:
Alright, let’s play a game. Spot the differences between Exhibit A and Exhibit B. It’s obvious isn’t it? Exhibit A is without any visuals and Exhibit B has an image! My next question to you,
Which of these 2 emails grabbed your attention first?
Yes, we are talking about the second one! Apart from the fact that they belong to 2 different genres, being visually rich or without, is very crucial from communications point of view. Bottom line? Your communications need to have a good amount of visuals complementing it. Why?
When people hear information, they’re likely to remember only 10% of that information three days later. However, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later.
Let’s take another example. When a child is introduced to books or even alphabets, they are filled with pictures. Why? Images help the human brain to associate information with a pictorial form, thereby facilitating remembrance and recall. Same applies to emails.
Using Visuals in Emails
Emails are highly valuable and targeted pieces of communications rolled out with an intent to incite a desired reaction from your customers. Our attention span has reduced to mere seconds and expecting your readers to spot your email, open it among a sea of emails and then remember it, is too much to ask for. You can make it easier you know?
Designers and traditional marketers want to include a heavy use of visuals and images for both aesthetic and branding purposes. At the same time, Email marketing specialists want to minimize email images for deliverability and display reasons. A balanced use of images that can covey the intended message instead of using text, is a fairly win-win situation!
How to use Visuals in Your Emails?
1. Don’t use one BIG image that forms the entire email or all image files
How many times have you come across emails that show broken image icons all across it? Although your images might be attractive many of your recipients might end up with emails, where the images haven’t got downloaded due to slow connection or incompatibility with their mail servers. Further, as there is nothing mentioned in the first 2 inches of the email that indicates something about the images, there is no reason for them to download it in the first place.
2. Avoid using images in the beginning of the email
Try to picture your email arrive in your user’s inbox. Along with all the other emails that have made their way into his/her inbox, your email shows the subject line followed by nothing else.
Check this out.
Any guesses for why this email landed in the Spam folder? As a user, what can you fathom from the blank space after the subject line? NOTHING! That’s because this email started with an image.
3. Use images of smaller size and only where necessary
Image heavy emails sound an alarm forcing the server to throw your email into the Spam folder. Uhuh, we wouldn’t want that! Use images of smaller size that doesn’t overshoot the text density in the email.
4. Use text links, to avoid trapping crucial messages in images
For instance, using an image of a button as a call to action will definitely go south if doesn’t download and user misses it. Because getting him to click on it was the WHOLE POINT!
Use preset buttons provided by your email service provider or compliment it with a simple text link.
Use of visuals is very crucial to convey important information most effectively. Although one needs to be prudent in their use of images and videos while creating an email to avoid being listed as a spammer.