Email Images - 3 Tips for Using Images Effectively
debbiI used to use Outlook Express as my email client, but had so many issues with it that I recently switched to Thunderbird.
A big difference between the two is that remote images in emails are not automatically loaded. You must actually click the link to bring them up.
If you are using images in your email messages, you may unknowingly have this challenge, too.
An email with no images is about as appetizing as shopping the bargain basement of the dollar store. It’s a bunch of of blank boxes with little “x”s in the corner - How exciting! Really entices people to read your content–NOT!
The great part is that with most email clients, readers are given the option to “always load remote images from this sender”. So, encouraging your readers to do this once may cause your images to automatically load for them in the future.
So, here are a few tips to encourage your readers to load those images you’ve painstakingly included.
Ask Them
Put a note at the top of your email that says, “For the best experience, click to always load images”. Believe it or not, sometimes your subscribers don’t have a clue why the pictures aren’t loading - take a second to point it out to them.
Tell Them What They’re Missing
I have an email opened right now which has no alt tags. Not one for six different images.
In addition to keyword-rich alt tags, you might consider creating curiousity with your alt tag. For instance, if I had an alt tag to illustrate this post entitled “I Hate Being Na-ked”, it might cause you to load that image. (Fortunately, for you, there is no such link or image to share!!)
Use It or Lose It
Make your image an integral part of your message. Maybe it contains a map to your location or a discount coupon to be printed. People don’t want to lose out and they will feel compelled to load your images so that they don’t miss anything.
Heck, I did this yesterday from a restaurant who had a discount code in an image. I couldn’t get to the code unless I loaded the image.
Hope these tips get you thinking! Please feel free to share some of your own tips by emailing me or commenting below.
Debbi Bressler
Email Marketing Specialist
GetResponse
