Visual elements of your email will draw the attention of your subscribers much quicker than dull blocks of text. They can also engage the customers better. Some email marketers use clickable images in their promotional emails to redirect customers to their web pages.
To add the image, you can use Photoshop to create the template outline. Then, convert the file from PSD to email templates. However, you have to know how to use the images correctly to maximize the impact on your customers. Here are some tips to extract the best results by including images in your email templates.
How to use the images in your emails to get the best result?
- Choosing the right file size and type.
Images with a large file size can affect the user experience by increasing the download time. If your emails take too long to show the full content, the readers will delete the email without a second thought. They can even mark it as spam if their email browser displays partially downloaded visuals or broken images.
The ideal image included in the email should be within 200 pixels in length, and, for breadth, it should be less than 600 pixels. However, you can use images of different sizes as long as it does not affect the user experience. You can also use professional resizing tools to decrease the size of your emails. But, make sure that you are not unnecessarily compressing and distorting the image.
The file type of the images used in the emails can also affect the download speeds and the quality of your emails. JPEG images have an incredibly fast load time as the images are compressed to take as little space in your HTML code.
This means while the emails will open faster, the quality of the images will be compromised. By using the PNG file type, you can increase the quality of the images by sacrificing faster load times. Therefore, to select the best file type for your images, you have to run multiple A/B test campaigns to review how open rates are being affected by email load speed then you can easily choose between the faster download speed or high-quality images.
- Balance the usage of stock and real images.
Sourcing and using stock images in your emails is a skill that every email marketer should learn. Stock images can help you create compelling email templates, more so, when you are working under a tight budget.
You just have to make sure that the images are royalty-free and do not infringe any copyright laws. If you are sourcing images for your templates using free photo websites, you need to be extra careful since most of these websites have lax regulations regarding copyright holders. Violating any of these laws can land you in an expensive lawsuit.
Therefore, always be selective while choosing and using stock images. The only downside is that these images can often look cliched and ruin the aesthetics of your brand.
You can greatly enhance the appeal of your emails by using images from your product photoshoots. These photoshoots let you capture exactly what you want to include in your images. Photo editors can even add objects or remove the background from your images to align them with your brand aesthetics. However, these photoshoots can be quite expensive. But, remember, sometimes, doing your own photoshoots can be much cheaper than fighting a lawsuit.
Apolis has used images from their personal photoshoots. In this way, they can display their products however they want. The email template wonderfully complements the jute bags used in the images. Such a thing would not have been possible with stock images. Stock images are much more suited for email templates that want to display abstract emotions.
- Use images of real people
Email marketing is all about building personal and lasting relationships with your customers. By using images of real people, you are giving a human touch to your emails. It enables the reader to connect with the images, and they are more likely to read the content included in the email.
For example, you can include candid images of your employees during work hours to humanize your brands. You can also use professional images of people using your products as it builds the expectations of the subscriber.
If you want to be more innovative, you can ask happy customers to send photos of themselves using the product. Your subscribers will prefer these images over the content of the email.
Yellowbird does a lot of things right with its promotional email template. First, they have used images of their product from their own photoshoots. Next, they have included an Instagram story of one of their customers using the product to make it easier for the readers to connect with the brand.
Apart from the images, Yellowbird uses a combination of soft and gradient colors to create a unique email template. They have also used custom fonts to make their email content stand out from the rest of the competitors. Finally, they have included highly rated reviews of their products. Overall, Yellowbird has managed to create one of the most appealing templates on this list.
Conclusion
Images, if used correctly, can increase the engagement metrics of your email campaigns. But, to further boost their effectiveness, you need to optimize the images for mobile viewing as well. You can use the PSD to email template converters to easily add images to your templates.