Crafting a newsletter that converts readers into loyal customers requires more than just compelling copy. The right images can significantly boost engagement, retention, and click-through rates. But how do you select the perfect visuals for your newsletter campaigns? In this post, we will explore the benefits of using images in email newsletters, provide tips on choosing the right images, and help you understand what your audience will most likely engage with.
We also hear from 7 business professionals who share their insights as to what makes for a great newsletter, their individual processes for selecting images in email newsletters, and how they evaluate their e-campaign success.
Why Newsletters Matter for Your Business
Sending out regular newsletters is a powerful way to keep your audience informed, engaged, and connected with your brand. Newsletters can drive traffic to your website, promote new products or services, and nurture customer relationships. Email marketing yields an average ROI of $42 for every $1 spent, making it an extremely effective marketing channel.
Creating a compelling newsletter is not just about selling; it’s about building a community around your brand. By sharing valuable content, insights, and updates, you can position yourself as an industry leader and foster trust among your subscribers.
The Power of Images in Email Newsletter Campaigns
Images are more than just embellishments; they are an essential tool for capturing attention and conveying messages quickly. According to Brain Rules by John Medina, people remember 65% of the information if it is paired with relevant images, compared to only 10% with text alone.
Including images in email newsletters can make the content more appealing and easier to digest. Visual content can break up long blocks of text, making the entire newsletter more readable and engaging. Furthermore, images can evoke emotions and drive action, which is crucial for any marketing campaign.
Sales Analytics for Images in Email Newsletters
An article on HubSpot shares that newsletters with images see a 10% boost in open rates. Let’s say you have an e-commerce business and your average sale is around $100.00 per transaction. If you have 10,000 email subscribers and a average newsletter open rate is 2.6%, and you add in images to boost your open rate to 12.6%, that is approximately 1,126 users engaging with your content. If only 5% of those individuals who opened the newsletter purchase something (avg purchase $100.00), then that would result in 56.3 sales x $100.00 = $5630.00 in revenue from one single newsletter.
This example showcases the importance of building up your email newsletter subscribers, as the potential sales are worth the time investment. It is important that your subscriber list is filled with quality rather than quantity. Meaning, you want your subscribers to have an intent to purchase, otherwise the time investment for this marketing strategy is not worthwhile.
The Role of Storytelling in Visuals
Images that tell a story can create an emotional connection with your audience. Instead of just using generic images, try to incorporate visuals that convey a narrative or evoke a specific emotion, which helps humanize your brand. For example, if you’re promoting a new product, show it in use in a real-life scenario rather than just presenting a standalone image.
Storytelling through visuals can make your newsletters more memorable, impactful, and authentic. It can help convey the values and personality of your brand, making it more relatable and engaging for your target audience.
6 Tips on How to Choose the Right Images for Your Newsletter
Selecting the right images for your newsletter involves more than just picking pretty pictures. The images must align with your brand, complement your content, and resonate with your audience. Here are our top 6 tips to help guide you:
Relevance
Ensure the images you choose are relevant to the content and message of your newsletter. Irrelevant images can confuse readers and detract from your message. By using images in email newsletters that enhance the message you are trying to convey, your audience will be more engaged.
Quality
High-quality images reflect professionalism and credibility. Avoid pixelated, low resolution, or blurry images at all costs. It’s also important to ensure the images are lit and clear of clutter or anything distracting. You want the focus of the image to be on what you are trying to sell or convey.
Consistency
Maintain a consistent visual style that aligns with your brand identity. This consistency helps reinforce your brand and makes your newsletters instantly recognizable. Having a brand with a consistent font, colour scheme, verbiage, and overall style, creates familiarity and helps to build loyalty.
Originality
Whenever possible, use original images or custom graphics. Stock photos come across as generic and impersonal. A great example of this is scrolling through Uber Eats. You often find different companies using the same stock images, which negatively impacts their credibility and as a result, detracts from their sales due to lack of trust.
Data
Data analytics can play a crucial role in your image selection process. By leveraging tools like Google Analytics, you can track how your audience interacts with your newsletters and identify trends in their preferences. For instance, you might discover that images featuring people result in higher engagement rates compared to product-only photos.
Utilizing User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) can be a goldmine for engaging visuals. Encouraging your customers to share photos of themselves using your products can provide you with authentic, relatable images that resonate with your target audience. UGC not only adds a personal touch to your newsletters but also fosters a sense of community and loyalty among your subscribers. These images may be of a lower quality, so it’s important to identify that the images are directly from users.
Measuring the Impact of Images in Email Newsletters
To ensure that the images you use are effectively driving engagement, it’s crucial to measure their impact. Track metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, and conversions to see how your audience responds to different visuals. Use this data to refine your image selection strategy and continuously improve the effectiveness of your newsletters.
Understanding Your Audience’s Preferences
Knowing what type of images your audience prefers can also significantly enhance engagement. It is imperative to figure out what they want to see and how it impacts your sales.
Analyze past performance
Review the performance of previous newsletters to see which images garnered the most engagement. This data can provide insights into what types of visuals your audience finds appealing.
A/B Testing
Conduct A/B tests by sending out two versions of your newsletter with different images to see which performs better. This method allows you to gather data-driven insights into your audience’s preferences.
Surveys and feedback
Occasionally ask your subscribers for feedback on the visuals you use. You can include a quick survey in your newsletter or on your website to gather their opinions.
Best Practices for Integrating Images in Email Newsletters
Effectively integrating images into your email newsletters can significantly enhance reader engagement and reinforce your brand message. However, this requires a strategic approach to ensure that the visuals not only capture attention but also complement your written content. By adhering to best practices for image integration, you can create a cohesive and impactful newsletter experience for your audience. This section outlines essential guidelines for selecting and placing images that resonate with your subscribers while appealing to their preferences and expectations.
Balance text and visuals
Ensure that your newsletter maintains a good balance between text and images. Too many images can overwhelm the reader, while too much text can be off-putting. The best rule of thumb is to opt for a 60:40 ratio, with 60% text and 40% imagery. If the newsletter is too text heavy, the content recall is low. On the flip side, if the newsletter is too image heavy, there can be challenges with image load times, causing users to skip by.
Optimize for mobile
Make sure your images are optimized for mobile devices. 55% of emails are opened on mobile, and if email marketing campaigns have a mobile-centric design, the likelihood of click-through increases by 15%. Since many of your subscribers will view your newsletter on their smartphones, it’s imperative that the visuals you select look great on smaller screens.
Include clear calls to action
Pair your images with clear calls to action (CTAs). Whether it’s a button or a link, make it easy for your readers to take the next step. You may be playing the long game and want your subscribers to click-through to a blog article you posted that focuses on your expertise and builds your reputation and consumer trust. Or you may want subscribers to click-through to your latest product and convert a sale.
Real-life Insights from 7 Industry Professionals
To further enhance our understanding of effective image selection in email newsletters, we reached out to 7 seasoned professionals from various sectors. Their experiences and insights not only highlight the significance of integrating compelling visuals but also illuminate the strategies they employ to achieve successful e-campaigns. From innovative marketing techniques to data-driven approaches, these experts share their unique perspectives on how imagery can elevate newsletter content and engage audiences more effectively.
Let’s delve into their wisdom and discover what makes a great newsletter thrive:
Authentic Images Build Trust
Newsletters have proven to be a powerful tool in our marketing arsenal. They allow us to maintain consistent communication with our clients and prospects, keeping us top of mind. When selecting images, we prioritize authenticity—often using photos of our actual clients (with permission) or our lawyers at work. This approach has helped build trust and connection with our audience.
To gauge engagement, we use advanced analytics tools that track not just opens and clicks, but also how long readers spend on each section of our newsletter. We’ve discovered that our audience particularly engages with content that ties current events to legal implications. For example, our newsletter explaining how a recent change in state law affects asbestos claims saw a significant boost in click-throughs. Our focus is on staying relevant and providing timely, valuable information to our readers.
Johnny Cargill, Marketing Director, The Lanier Law Firm
Emotional Resonance Boosts Click-Throughs
One of the key benefits is the ability to nurture relationships by delivering valuable content directly to our audience’s inbox. We use images strategically, selecting visuals that resonate with the emotions we want to evoke. For example, when promoting a client’s eco-friendly product line, we chose vibrant images of nature, which complemented the message and increased click-through rates by 30%.
We determine what our audience will engage with by closely analyzing past campaign data and leveraging A/B testing. A few months ago, we tested an image-heavy newsletter versus a text-dominant one for a retail client. The version with curated lifestyle images performed 40% better, demonstrating the power of the right visuals in driving engagement. Images aren’t just filler—they’re critical to telling the story.
Vaibhav Kakkar, CEO, Digital Web Solutions
Visuals Evoke Action in Donor Updates
We send monthly newsletters to our subscribers, and one reason to do that is to keep them informed about our latest movements, like what fundraising campaigns we’ve created, how successful they were, and how their funds are being used.
Visuals are a cornerstone of our newsletter because that’s one way to evoke the emotions of readers and make them take action. For instance, the newsletter might contain images of our top contributors or our team working together on a fundraiser. We also try to embed videos of people who have benefited from our fundraising campaigns or include snippets from behind the scenes of our events.
Every time we add images to our newsletter, we see a moderate to high increase in open rate, again depending on the image. Secondly, the conversion rate is high compared to plain and boring newsletters. One reason for this can be that images help break down the complex information for readers and encourage them to read the content.
Raviraj Hegde, SVP of Growth & Sales, Donorbox
Infographics Increase Newsletter Engagement
Newsletters are beneficial for maintaining regular engagement, providing value, and building a relationship with your audience. I always incorporate images because they increase engagement, break up text, and make the content more visually appealing.
Choosing the right images involves matching them with the newsletter topic to enhance the message and ensuring they are high-quality and on-brand. To determine what the audience engages with most, I analyze past newsletter performance metrics, focusing on open and click-through rates associated with specific images and topics.
In our recent newsletter promoting a webinar series, a sharp, relevant infographic depicting key data points resulted in a 19% higher engagement compared to text-only counterparts. This measurable increase in interaction illustrates the impact of well-selected imagery on audience response.
Kartik Ahuja, Digital Marketer, kartikahuja.com
Newsletters Anchor Communication Strategy
I think the biggest plus of using newsletters is that they don’t just stand alone—they’re part of a bigger communication strategy. For me, they’re a great tool to guide where my audience goes, like driving more folks to my website or boosting my social media presence. Also, say you’ve got someone who follows you on social platforms and reads your blogs and newsletters; they’re not just casual observers. They become active community members who are more likely to spread the word about what you’re doing.
Also, a newsletter is your turf. Nobody can snatch your contact list or control your messaging. That gives you a level of security you don’t get with platforms like Facebook, which could vanish tomorrow, taking your followers with it.
When I put together a newsletter, I keep it lean and focused. Instead of packing it with ads, I include vital business updates or answers to common questions my audience has—stuff they actually want to read about. And yes, I always include images, but I keep it balanced. Too many visuals can make a newsletter too heavy to enjoy. What kind of images do I use? Well, if I’ve been to a trade show or a big industry event, I’ll throw in a photo or link to a photo gallery. If there’s a big announcement or a new product launch, maybe I’ll include a video or a striking image that grabs attention.
Patrick Beltran, Marketing Director, Ardoz Digital
Build Trust With Consistent Newsletter Content
From my experience, sending out newsletters is all about building trust and loyalty with your audience. When you consistently deliver valuable content packed with useful information, people start to look forward to your emails as they would a magazine subscription. They get into the habit of opening and reading your newsletters, which helps establish a strong connection.
In terms of imagery, I definitely use images in my newsletters. The key is to choose visuals that complement and enhance the content, rather than just filling space. I select images that are relevant to the topics discussed and that can help illustrate the points I’m making or add a touch of visual interest. For example, I might use infographics to summarize data or create original graphics that support the information in the newsletter.
To figure out what resonates most with my audience, I pay attention to engagement metrics like open rates and click-through rates. If certain types of content or images consistently perform better, I take note and adjust future newsletters accordingly. I also ask for feedback directly from my audience to get a sense of what they find most valuable.
For instance, in my newsletters, I might include links to blog articles that address common questions or provide useful tips. I also use newsletters to offer exclusive content or insights that aren’t available elsewhere. By capturing email addresses through high-quality landing pages or offering free trials in exchange for sign-ups, I ensure I’m reaching people who are genuinely interested in what I have to say. And for those who’ve already bought from me, a sign-up request for the newsletter helps keep them engaged and informed.
Craig Focht, Cofounder & CEO, All Pro Door Repair
A/B Testing Enhances Newsletters
Sending out newsletters offers numerous benefits, particularly in terms of maintaining engagement and driving conversions. From my experience, one of the most powerful aspects of newsletters is their ability to provide consistent value and insights directly to the audience, fostering a deeper connection with your brand. For instance, in my work with e-commerce clients, we’ve seen a significant uplift in conversion rates by strategically incorporating A/B-tested content in our newsletters.
Using images in newsletters is crucial. They can break up text, highlight key points, and make the overall experience more visually appealing. When selecting images, I prioritize relevance and alignment with the message. For example, if we’re discussing a new feature or product, an image showing the product in use or its benefits in action can make a substantial impact. We’ve often split-tested different images to see which ones resonate best with our audience. This approach helps ensure that we are not just guessing but making data-driven decisions.
One real-life story that stands out involves a campaign where we sent out a newsletter featuring an upcoming webinar on conversion optimization techniques. We used an engaging header image of a busy e-commerce dashboard to capture attention. The image was carefully chosen for its relevance to the content and its ability to convey a sense of action and insight. Through A/B testing, we found that this particular image led to a 20% higher click-through rate compared to a more generic stock photo. This small change significantly boosted our webinar registrations.
To determine what will engage the audience most, I rely on a combination of data analytics and direct feedback. Analyzing past performance metrics, such as open rates and click-through rates, provides insights into what content types and visuals perform best. Additionally, we often include a quick survey or a call-to-action inviting feedback within the newsletter. This not only engages readers but also gives us direct input on their preferences.
Overall, newsletters are a potent tool for staying top-of-mind with your audience and driving conversions. By consistently testing and optimizing both content and imagery, you can maximize their impact and ensure they remain a valuable component of your marketing strategy.
Jörg Dennis Krüger, Author, Expert and Mentor, The Conversion Hacker®
How we at Robert Lowdon Photography Produce Images our Clients Can Use for Their Email Marketing
At Robert Lowdon Photography, our approach to creating impactful images for email marketing revolves around understanding the specific needs and goals of each client. We begin by engaging in thorough discussions to identify the type of content they aim to convey and the emotions they wish to evoke in their audience. This allows us to tailor our photography sessions to produce high-quality, relevant imagery that aligns with their brand identity.
During the photography process, we prioritize not only aesthetic quality but also strategic composition that enhances the messaging of the email campaigns. This involves shooting in various formats—such as lifestyle, product-focused, or editorial styles—to ensure a versatile selection of images that can be used effectively across different marketing materials. Post-shoot, we apply meticulous editing techniques to refine the images, ensuring they maintain a professional standard while resonating with the target market.
Additionally, we work closely with our clients to provide them with a selection of images optimized for digital use. We understand the importance of quick loading times and mobile adaptability, so all images are delivered in web-compatible formats and resolutions. By focusing on both creative and practical aspects, we empower our clients to enhance their email marketing campaigns effectively and drive engagement with their audience.
Conclusion
Choosing the right images in email newsletters can significantly enhance engagement, retention, and conversion rates. By understanding your audience’s preferences, leveraging data-driven insights, and incorporating storytelling and user-generated content, you can create visually appealing newsletters that resonate with your subscribers.
Remember to balance text and visuals, optimize for mobile, and continuously measure the impact of your visuals to refine your strategy. With these tips, you can elevate your newsletter campaigns and drive meaningful results for your business.
Ready to take your newsletter to the next level? Start experimenting with different visuals and see the difference it makes in your engagement rates. If you would like to chat more about how we can conduct a photoshoot and deliver a photo library of images that can be used in email newsletters and campaigns, feel free to reach out! We’d love to discuss your project, ideas, and goals, as well as how we can help achieve them.
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