Email Marketing Images: Your Guide to Higher Engagement

Ever open an email and instantly want to click through? Chances are, an eye-catching image had something to do with it.

Whether you’re announcing a big sale or promoting a new product, the right visuals can stop the scroll, spark emotion, and drive action. Emails with compelling images don’t just look better — they perform better. According to one analysis, emails with images boast a click-through rate nearly three times higher than that of text-only emails.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through exactly how to use images in your email marketing. From sizing and placement to editing tools and inspiration, read on for tips to make your emails work harder (and look a whole lot better doing it).

Technical best practices for email images

Email marketing images have the most impact when they load quickly and integrate seamlessly into your text. Here’s what you need to know about image sizes and formats.

Optimal sizing and formats

You want images to show up quickly, so keep the file size below 100KB. Anything bigger and it could take too long to load, leading to your audience simply closing the email without reading it. 

Check your pixels: Your maximum image width should be 600px. This is big enough to ensure quality while also preventing the too-big-to-load-quickly problem. 

There are a few formats to choose from:

• JPEG for photos 
• PNG for infographics or charts
• GIF for buttons or animation

Pro tip: PNG file sizes are a bit larger than JPEGs. So if your PNG is a bit too big, see if you can swap it out for a JPEG for faster loading times. You can easily convert a PNG to a JPEG using image editing software such as Photoshop.

Optimizing email images for mobile

With an estimated 50 to 60% of emails now read on a mobile device, it’s important to consider how your email will look on a smartphone.

Using images with words overlaid on them, such as a sale banner? Use live text instead of image-only text to ensure the words in your email remain legible when they’re scaled down for a smaller screen. This means you’ll add the text within your email marketing client instead of directly typing it onto the image when you create it in an app such as Canva.

You’ll also want to preview your emails on a mobile device before sending to make sure they look good and are easy to read.

Image optimization for better performance

Beyond those best practices, you can also optimize your email marketing images to ensure they load quickly and actually make it to your audience’s inboxes.

Loading speed optimization

You can compress larger images while retaining quality with an image editor. Microsoft Picture Manager, Outlook, and Constant Contact’s built-in image editor are all great options. Once you’ve got your images down to size, they’ll load more quickly and easily.

Do a quick check to make sure your emails have a 60:40 text-to-image ratio. That means you’re using more text than images and won’t trigger spam filters. 

Deliverability considerations

Let’s talk about those spam filters. They’re designed to keep emails your readers don’t want to see out of their inbox, but they can also capture messages from legitimate marketers. 

To avoid those filters, follow a few rules of thumb for your email marketing images. Mind the text-to-image ratio (remember 60:40), use your brand’s real name and email address, and give an opt-out option. 

Pro tip: Follow these other ways to avoid the spam filter for the best chances of success.

Let’s circle back to your email address. You’ll want to choose a specific email address to send your marketing messages. Then you can authenticate that email marketing address with specific services. 

This authentication stops spammers from taking over your email, and also helps you avoid the spam filter.  

Integrating design tools for seamless email images 

Your email marketing images should have consistency across your campaigns, so you can maintain your brand identity. That’s easier with some design tools that you can integrate right into your campaign workflow. 

Popular design platform connections

Using your favorite image editing tools is easy with ready-made integrations. You can import Canva images into your Constant Contact library with a few clicks in your Canva account. 

Once the Canva images are in your Constant Contact library, you can reuse them across campaigns. You can also edit right in the Constant Contact platform, so there’s no need to go back and forth to Canva.

Canva not your thing? You can also use other popular tools like Adobe Creative Suite or directly import images into your email client.   

Template libraries and brand consistency

Most email marketing platforms have a template library where you can find pre-made designs to use or create and save your own to reuse later. Once you’ve designed the perfect email, you can reuse it across multiple campaigns, updating text and images as necessary. This helps maintain brand consistency across teams and workflows. 

Let’s not forget another great benefit of integrated tools: collaborative design workflows. Your creative genius can make the images in another program and ship them to Constant Contact, where your marketing team can hone the final email. With the right tech stack, it’s easy to work together. 

Real-world email image examples that work

So, who out there is doing it right? Email marketing images can benefit companies and groups across sectors, so we’ve pulled out some of the best to showcase. 

E-commerce product showcases

Fashion, food, technology — these are all categories of ecommerce that have slightly different selling points. From savings to product appearance, images can get the message across.

Is fashion your game? Show your readers what’s in stock like this luxury resale store.

When promoting specialty products like single-origin coffee beans and brewing equipment, you’ll want to show off how to use it. Take this image that demonstrates a pour-over technique for serious coffee lovers. 

Service-based business imagery

Images tell a different story when your business is selling a service. For example, people are the most important focus if you’re looking for the best lawyer or investment advisor. 

Take this immigration law firm. The image is of lawyers who can be trusted and relied upon — exactly what someone shopping for an immigration lawyer wants.

Are you a food retailer? Perhaps you want to go beyond just promoting your products — you want to promote services you provide for busy shopers. Take this large chain that’s promoting its pickup and delivery options.

Nonprofit marketing

Nonprofits are about making a difference. They want to feature those they help, those who participate, and the community impact. Whether it’s attaching a picture of a real person who’s benefiting or a fun fundraising gathering, email marketing images can have an impactful role for nonprofits.

Take this image from Water.org, where readers see the real person who’s impacted by the charity’s work.

Organizations looking to raise money might also use imagery of what’s at stake or what people are supporting by donating. This email from bike components company Specialized promotes recovery efforts for the Los Angeles wildfires with a photo of scorched land in front of the city skyline.

Start optimizing your email images today

So, let’s recap. Check the specs on your images — they should be quick to load and resize on mobile. Integrate your favorite design tool into your email marketing software. Avoid those spam triggers. And when you want inspiration, browse a few emails from brands that are doing it right. 

Ready to get started? Constant Contact is your one-stop source for proven email marketing tools, from email templates to full-suite email marketing software. Get in touch today to find out how our platform can help your business scale and grow.