If you want to be successful in designing emails, you need to pay attention not just to having relevant information, but also creating visually appealing designs.
How to Use Eye-Catching Visuals in Your Emails
Focusing on fascinating writing, a catchy subject line, and relevant material isn’t enough to make a successful email design; you also need to pay attention to the graphics. In this piece, we’ll discuss how to make your emails more noticeable to subscribers by including various aesthetic elements. Well, let’s get started with some static pictures.
1. Photographs
Emails were mostly used for internal communications between departments until the end of 1989 and were always transmitted as plain text. As time went on, HTML began to be used in email. Also, Thanks to this development, email recipients are now able to format the text, use tables, and include photos. The development of HTML email templates facilitated the widespread use of email marketing. Also, It allowed for more intimate, topic-specific conversations with the public. In emails, static graphics are the most fundamental visual aid. However, As an alternative to a wall of text, a cute picture of a couple holding hands would be a great addition to any Valentine’s Day greeting. Using appropriate visuals helps eliminate needless, drawn-out explanations of concepts.
2. Illustrations
You may also include illustrations in your email, which are another form of a picture. An illustration is essentially any picture that may serve as an example of a technique or idea.
3. 3D Images
These days, 3D images are the third most popular type of picture used in email marketing campaigns. Also, This kind of visual content gives the email additional substance, making it more engaging for the recipient. When discussing the beginning of 3D pictures, the 1970s would be a good place to start since it was when they were first employed in computers. After first finding traction in online design, these pictures made their way into an email.
What You Should Know About Attaching Pictures to Emails
1. One should never send an email consisting entirely of images since it will be flagged as spam and harm deliverability. 2. Keep the email text-to-image ratio at 80:20 at all times. 3. Photos are often disabled in email clients. Hence, you should always provide enough alternative text for images. In this way, the recipient of the email won’t need to see any accompanying graphics to get an idea of what it’s about. From an accessibility standpoint, this is equally crucial. However, For subscribers who are blind or visually handicapped, this will aid with the delivery of the message using screen readers. 4. Don’t include crucial text and calls to action (CTAs) in the photos. 5. Make sure your emails look great and load quickly in the various email clients. None of the emails you send out may have any typos. 6. Rather than providing stock pictures, you may have images made or contribute actual shots. When contrasted with vectors and icons, real images will always seem better.
GIFs
A GIF is a collection of moving images. Animation is achieved by rapidly cycling over these still images at regular intervals. The evolution of GIFs inside electronic correspondence proceeds as follows. Close to 15 years ago, in 2007, Lake Champlain Chocolates tried out GIFs in some of their email marketing. Also, That resulted in a 49% increase in conversions. In 2014, Dell used a GIF email to bring in an additional 109% in revenue. You may show off the functionality of your SaaS offerings with a few well-placed GIFs. Also, E-commerce sites may use GIFs to advertise their wares and educate customers on how to make use of them in a creative visual email design example. GIFs are a fresh approach to sending out successful holiday email campaigns.
Animated Illustrations
Animated drawings are a great way to spice up your email design and try something different. These animations add visual appeal to your emails and make it easier to convey information to your readers. After all, “Show, don’t tell” is the motto of successful advertising.
Animated 3D graphics
You may add some extra pizzazz to your email marketing by using 3D pictures. Although 3D graphics may still be used, moving ones have a more profound effect and provide your subscribers with a more enjoyable experience.
Cinematography
A cinematograph may be thought of as an animation. Although similar to GIFs, they are made uniquely. As was previously mentioned, GIFs are looping clips from videos or animations. Cinemagraphs, on the other hand, offer a flawless infinite loop that transports the viewer to a past age. That makes the whole email seem more fantastical. Inject some life into your email newsletter by including some creative images. Never use a GIF with a flash rate between 2 and 55 hertz, since this range of frequencies might trigger seizures in people with photosensitive epilepsy. For recipients whose email clients do not display GIFs or who have pictures disabled by default, it is a good idea to provide alternative text for GIFs just as you would for photos. Keep the email’s total size under control by avoiding large GIFs.
Videos
I would unhesitatingly name videos as the pinnacle of email visuals if asked. There are currently two methods for including videos in email. One possibility is to include a video thumbnail and play button on the landing page. Video may also be embedded in the email and played without leaving the inbox. If you want to test out video email marketing, the former is the most convenient alternative. The latter is rather technique-dependent and requires you to consider the compatibility of email clients. When included in emails, videos enhance open and click rates. Users may watch the movie without leaving the email since it loads and plays directly in the message. When utilizing embedded movies, you should always have a backup plan ready. It will help you make sure that your email displays correctly for everyone who receives it, even if their email software does not allow embedded videos. Add appropriate Alt-text if you’re utilizing the video’s thumbnail as a picture. Verify that clicking the thumbnail takes you to the expected video or landing page.
Conclusion
Using images in email communications is quickly becoming the industry standard. The majority of marketers (49%) agree that visual marketing is crucial to their efforts (Venngage). According to “Brain Rules,” it’s a fascinating fact that three days after hearing new knowledge, individuals are only likely to recall 10% of it. However, when a relevant picture is coupled with the same content, consumers recall 65% of the material after three days. These statistics highlight how important it is to pay close attention to the visual aspects of all of your marketing materials, including emails. But it doesn’t mean plain text email is dead and buried. Be careful with the images, and always strive to improve your email campaigns by monitoring the metrics that matter most. The fact that competing brands’ emails all have images is no reason to start doing the same. Consider your options and choose the one that suits you best. Put your imagination to work and come up with unique email layouts that attract your target audience and prompt them to do the action you want them to take.