It is considered a design best practice to use images in email marketing messages. They can assist to increase the percentage of messages that are opened, the percentage of messages that are clicked through, and overall engagement.

However, photographs are not without their flaws. Are you familiar with the expression “too much of a good thing?” So, the same is true in this case. In an email, placing an excessive amount of reliance on pictures might result in major issues.

Is it a good idea to send emails that include solely images? What about emails containing a single image? (And even if there were, would anybody really notice?)

You’ll find the solutions farther down.

Which is better: emails including solely images or emails containing a single image?

The answer is easy: none of the two

It’s possible that two totally distinct email configurations come to mind when you think of emails including solely images vs emails containing a single picture. In point of fact, emails containing just images and emails containing a single picture are the same thing.

Many people have the wrong idea about single-image emails. The majority of people conceive of it as a message that includes a single picture somewhere inside the layout of the email. Even if it isn’t completely incorrect, the situation is quite a deal more convoluted.

In the field of email marketing, emails that consist of a single huge picture are sometimes referred to as “single-image emails.” Imagine it as being similar to a PDF document, which is essentially a document that is rendered in the form of an image and cannot have its content edited or selected.

Even though emails consisting exclusively of images may have an appealing appearance, research shows that they really do more damage than good for email marketing teams. For instance, in the settings for their email accounts, customers often choose to disable the display of photos. In point of fact, over 43 percent of people who use Gmail read their emails in this manner, which indicates that single-image emails seem to be lacking content.

Emails with a single picture are not only more difficult to develop, but they also run the risk of giving your readers difficulties. Keep in mind these five reasons why you should avoid using an image-only email design for your subsequent email campaign if you are contemplating using such a design.

1. You may activate spam filters

Sadly, one common tactic used by spammers is the transmission of emails containing solely images. Emails consisting exclusively of images and communications containing an excessive number of links are examples of the kind of things that spam filters are designed to identify. As a result, many email clients will automatically block them in order to safeguard their users.

Considering that over 180 billion spam messages are sent out each day, it is upsetting to have your material labelled as spam for obvious reasons. Because of this, you need to make sure that you adhere to the best practices for email marketing and that you construct your campaigns in a manner that allows you to get beyond this filter.

2. There is no text in the preheader

Email marketing pros are well aware of how important the subject line and preheader content of an email are when it comes to gaining the attention and interest of subscribers. If you do not add interesting preheader language in your messages, it will be difficult to expect to attract the attention of the reader, particularly in an inbox that is already full with other messages.

When you send emails that include solely images, you risk missing out on the chance to personalize the preheader text. This might be the deciding factor in the success of your email campaign.

3. Your customers won’t be able to locate it by searching for relevant keywords.

Subscribers like the fact that they can just put a term into the search bar in their email and quickly locate the content they are looking for. Let’s face it: if your subscriber is unable to locate your email within a few seconds, they will go on to the email of another person or company.

Make careful to add written descriptions of the photographs you utilize wherever possible. Your readers will have access to this text in the event that a graphic does not appear successfully for any reason; this ensures that they will not lose out on any of your material.

4. You might become a mobile annoyance

You want to prioritize your mobile subscribers in light of the fact that it is anticipated that the number of people using smartphones around the globe will increase from 3.2 billion in 2019 to 3.5 billion in 2020. Email layouts that are compatible with mobile devices are thus an urgent need.

Because smartphones often only have room for one column of content, you would first believe that sending an email containing solely images would be the easiest option; nevertheless, your recipients might not be able to see everything.

Your email may be formatted to fit the screen of your subscriber by using mobile-friendly email that includes an appropriate amount of both photos and text. This makes it so that all of the components are shown and may be seen without difficulty on whatever device that your subscriber may be using.

When an email contains simply an image, the text cannot be altered in any way to accommodate the person who is seeing it. This may cause the text to be illegible on smaller devices, calls to action (CTAs) to not operate properly, and pictures to seem pixelated (or otherwise distorted).

5. Your email might be unopenable

Not only does an email that consists exclusively of images face the danger of not displaying correctly, but it also runs the risk of not rendering at all. The default setting of many mobile email applications continues to prevent photos from opening. Your email could appear something like this if the user hasn’t specifically activated the option to “always show external photos.” In such case, the message from Nissan might be displayed in your inbox.

Wrap up

Your email marketing campaigns are an important component of your digital marketing strategy, and the pictures you include into those messages are an even more important component of that plan.

Be aware that there is such a thing as “too much of a good thing” when it comes to images, despite the fact that they often improve metrics. If you are thinking of running an email campaign consisting entirely of images, make sure you keep in mind the following five reasons why you probably shouldn’t:

• It is conceivable that spam filters will obstruct your communication.
• It will not be possible for subscribers to search for your message.
• They do not have the necessary preview text.
• These emails do not display very well on the smaller displays of mobile devices.
• It’s possible that data-heavy messages won’t open at all.