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Dear læser
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It is time for our third theme. As you might recall, we had a vote in our last one, about OnClick actions. It lead to the next theme, which is about something that nearly everyone uses in one way or another. We're talking about images in your newsletters.
We have thought about pros and cons, how we use them ourselves, what you need to consider about technicalities and what's worth noting about intelleectual property rights.
Naturally, we've included a cool "Ubivox Recommends" for when you are looking for that one, particular image.
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Should you use images?
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Thoughts from the Ubivox office
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The answer seems almost obvious: in most cases it will be a roaring "yes!". Even when your newsletters are primarily text and storytelling, using even just a few images will often improve the experience for your reader. This is simply because it breaks up a newsletter and makes it visually appealing.
A potential con: insecurity for your readers
In order to view images, readers often have to actively load them in their mail client. While this seems natural for most, it still makes some users insecure. This can often be due to fear of getting a virus and the likes. Therefore, you need to be aware that some of your subscribers may not trust images.
And some large prosThere are, however, a lot of reasons for using images. All together, we feel that they outweigh the insecurities.
- Using images may create trust
Does that make sense when we've just said the opposite? Yes. Earlier, we referred to the active enabling of images in e-mails. Here, we're talking about their general presence and what they show. If you use images of yourself and your business, your products or your clients, you can provide your readers with a visual insight in your working day and make them feel included. Even when using generic stock photos, using the right ones can also add trust.
- You can illustrate your products and special offers
It sounds obvious - and maybe it is. Readers often find offers more tangible when they have the opportunity to see what they are. Therefore, if your newsletters usually include lots of offers, you could consider having several pictures of the same product - showing it from more angles.
- You create statistics that you otherwise miss out on
When your reader chooses to enable images, it enables us to store that as a 'view' in the system, which then pops up in your statistics. This way, you can see how many people have really opened your newsletter. There is another statistic that is possible: when you include links in your newsletter. Enabling the statistic to show indivudal clicks on these. However, newsletters generally have less clicks than views, though. In other words: using even a single image makes it easier to estimate how many readers show interest in each newsletter.
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We walk the talk (or try to, at least)
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Images in Ubivox newsletters
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Our newsletters are usually very heavy on text. Accordingly, we aim to only use images when it really supports our message.
At the same time, we do aim to include at least two images in each newsletter, combined with out brilliant header, in order to increase the readability of the entire newsletter.
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Let's talk format
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The size and type of file are both important
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When we talk about images in newsletters, two types of format are in play. First, the format of the actual image file (JPG, GIF, PNG) and second, the format of the image (its pixel size).
Image file format
There is a series of things to be aware of when it comes to image files in newsletters. The classic definition is that JPG is better for images with a lot of colours (i.e. product photos) while GIF is better for images with 256 colours or less (i.e. icons).
It is important to make sure that you choose the right format. The image file should take up as few kilobytes of space as possible. This is because newsletters are often opened from mobile devices, where the internet connection is quite often less than impressive - and having to wait on loading images can make the subscriber skip your newsletter in favour of the next e-mail.
If you are using animated GIF files in your newsletter, it is important to know that Outlook from the 2007 version and up only shows the first 'frame' in the GIF. In other words, there is no animation. Therefore, your message has to be shown in the first frame so that it is not lost.
JPG-files can also provide a challenge in certain situations. If they are saved through PhotoShop in CMYK-colours, they won't be shown correctly in older versions of Internet Explorer - which is used to show newsletters in older versions of Outlook. So it's better to always save as an RGB-file.
We often recommend PNG-files as a good format as it works well with both icons and product photos. However, older versions of Lotus Notes can have issues displaying certain PNG-files. This should not have major consequences for you. Unless you specifically know that a large part of your subscribers use Lotus Notes, of course.
Image sizes
We usually recommend limiting the width of a newsletter to 600 pixels. This is in order to ensure that your newsletters remain readerfriendly by not having text lines that are too long. At the same time, we also make sure that it is shown clearly even on mobile units, tablets and smaller computer screens.
This also means that there is only a limited space for product photos. With two-three of these next to each other, the image can become so small that it gets hard to see details. You should, therefore, try to avoid having too many images on the same line - and rather use fewer, but larger images and gain the larger benefits.
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Images in widescreen, like the one above, work well in newsletters since they provide a nice, graphical break. They do, however, work best with an illustrative image, since product images can be hard to make fit the format.
If you want to illustrate a text with an image, you can create a harmonic design by dedicating about 1/3 of the newsletter's width for the image and leaving the other 2/3rds for the text. Furthermore, if you let the text float around the image, it becomes more clear that it is an illustration for the text.
When all of the above have been said, you should keep in mind that your eye is your best friend when it comes to using images in a harmonic manner. Look at your setup critically - do you like what you see? If so, you're well on your way.
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Editing images in Ubivox
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We have integrated the image editing tool Aviary into Ubivox. That means that you can do your editing directly in Ubivox - so you won't have to use an external program. We have chosen Aviary because it can handle nearly any editing job we throw at it.
In "Media" -> "Media browser" you can choose "Edit" at each image that you have in your folder. When you are done editing, the system saves a new copy of the image in the same folder. See, that's nifty! This means that you don't have to have loads of images on your harddrive or in your cloud. Instead, you can just have the basic files in your folder in Ubivox.
At the same time, it is also possible to delete old images from your library after your newsletter is sent; without them disappearing from the newsletter. This way, you can make sure to only have the images in your folder that are relevant for your editorial work. We find that very handy.
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Remember intellectual property rights
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Who owns the images?
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As you probably already know, images belong to the category "intellectual property". This means that you have to consider who actually owns the images that you're using.
If the images are your own, i.e. if you have had them produced for your own company and own them, you can use them as you want - including in your newsletters. If you, on the other hand, want to use more generic images (so-called 'stock photos'), it would be best to avoid issues of property rights. This is because someone else actually owns these images. Issues are best avoided by buying stock photos through a portal where the license for them have been sold onwards to said portal. Here, the criteria for using the images is also often clarified beforehand - so if you follow these, you are usually in the clear.
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