More and more email clients are turning images off by default, as a privacy protection measure. Recipients have to click to allow images to be viewed. 

When designing an email, we should start with the lowest common denominator, by assuming that the user is unable to view any image content, or might not bother to turn them on at all.

There are two schools of thought on how to address this, and the approach that we take depends on the client brief and target audience:

Imagery is law.

Put all of the important content into the image, enticing the user to view the visual content.

The problem with this method is that the message may never reach the target audience. They may not choose to view the images or, more importantly, spam filters may catch the email due to image size.

However, imagery could be important to a client for the portrayal of consumer brand messaging and advertising campaigns. For this to be effective there needs to be a strong call to action in the subject line to capture the user’s interest.

The written message is law.

The creative message is conveyed through written word, appealing to the recipient through the tone of voice and a strong offer or message.

This approach is more direct allowing the users to review and react to the content instantly.

So like anything in life it’s really about balance, this can be achieved like a creative jigsaw, using small images to compliment a powerful written message. Smaller images are less likely to be caught by spam filters, but can help bring the content to life.

Alternatively, if you want to create a more impactful user experience then you can do this by directing them to a landing page, where the possibilities are endless.