How to Use Images in Emails to Drive Sales

[Shutterstock]

Constant Contact and Shutterstock have partnered together to share content that benefits Constant Contact users with their online marketing. This article originally appeared on the Shutterstock Blog and has been edited for length. To read the full article, click here. 

Why use images in emails?

People are more open to engaging with content that includes a mixture of text and images. Research shows 65% percent of Americans are visual learners, and generally better able to absorb information accompanied by an image. 

Moreover, people are 80% more likely to read a piece of content if it’s accompanied by visuals.

Integrate copy and image

Text is a series of legible symbols repeated in close succession. While this is a useful method of communication, it is not the quickest way. 

Images have the advantage of getting large amounts of information across to your audience. In fact, science shows that humans process images 60,000 times faster than text. 

Understanding how to combine text and image can help draw attention to the subject of your marketing and drive the audience to action.

Match the emotional tone of images to your brand and copy

Images trigger emotions. These emotions should work together with your email copy to compel the audience to take the desired action.

You can quickly identify the emotional tone of images by listing three adjectives you would use to describe the image. When choosing images, make sure these adjectives are feelings you’d like to be associated with your brand and copy.

Product images should show features highlighted in the copy

Product images that reflect the key features mentioned in your email create consistency and credibility. If a feature or benefit is important enough to have text devoted to it in an email, the product image should provide reinforcement by presenting it to the audience.

This can apply for product features that are not visible. For example, if your company makes a lotion that contains oat, you can highlight that ingredient by placing oats in close proximity to the lotion in the product image.

Be mindful of copy space

Copy space is the empty space next to the text. At a minimum, elements in an image such as strong colors, subjects, and other components should not overlap with the text and make it difficult to read. 

You can also take it to the next level by using images to direct the eye towards what you want your audience to focus on in your email. For example, you can use an image with a person looking to the left and place your headline to the left. People will naturally follow the image and land on the headline. Or you can use an image with a design that tapers off to the right that traces the eye to the headline.

Use color to your advantage

Color can convey everything from happiness and sadness to more abstract feelings like trustworthiness.

Color choice is very important in tone setting and can have a powerful effect on your audience. A great deal of psychology goes into brands’ color choices, and certain shades unconsciously arouse certain feelings.

Make images clickable

This is an easy strategy that can maximize your click-through rates. When using images in your email campaigns, make all images clickable.

Use images to reflect your audience

The most effective images are contextual and relatable. This means that audiences should be able to see themselves integrating your product or services into their lives in a meaningful and positive way.

Sometimes, it’s easy to conceptualize an audience as a sum of contacts in your database. But effective email marketing starts with recognizing that each email lands in the inbox of a person with a specific set of demographics, lifestyle, hobbies, and preferences.

Accessing Shutterstock images using Constant Contact

To take the hassle out of finding the perfect image for your email campaigns, Constant Contact integrated the Shutterstock image library.

This integration allows users to directly search and use over 300 million Shutterstock images within the Constant Contact media Library. These images can then be used in emails, Events, Surveys, and Social Campaigns.