Adding More Images to Increase Open Rates?

One of the members of the Email Marketer's Club posted an interesting question on our forum yesterday:

Hello everyone,

One of my managers asked me recently about adding more images in hopes of getting our open rate increased. The thought behind adding some more images is that you may force the person receiving the email to download images and thus be able to track it.

I orginally designed the HTML email with very few images so if the person does not download images or have us added to thier safe list, they can still easily view the email and click on links.

Has anyone else thought of adding more images to increase open rates and does it work?

Thanks

The best way to find out is of course to test it, especially is the manager is very persistent. Common sense and best practices tell us though that adding more images will do you more bad than good. What's your opinion on this? Let us know!

The Email Marketer's Club is members only. To become a member, the only thing you need to do is request an invitation to join. Looking forward to seeing your responses!

Comments

[DJ Waldow]

Tamara -

I just posted this on the Email Marketer's Club, but thought it made sense to add my thoughts here as well.

--------------------

I'm not sold on "adding more images to increase open rates." Opens are typically driven by 2 factors:

1. From Name: Does the reader recognize who you are? Do they trust your brand? Are you using the name of your company/brand and not a person's name?
2. Subject Line: Does the subject line engage the reader? Does it create a sense of urgency? A clear call-to-action? Does it pique interest? Is it short and to the point?

The thing to be conscience of is how one defines an open. From a practical standpoint, marketers should care about opens for the purpose of eyeballs and conversions. In other words, marketers send email so that people will read about their product/service, view adverts, engage with the brand/product (eyeballs) and/or buy something (conversions).

ESPs typically record an open when an image is enabled and/or a link is clicked on, however these do not happen unless the subscriber actually opens the email or views in preview pane.

These two views on "opens" do not always line up.

I've always said, opens are only the first step. The key is ENGAGEMENT. I speak with clients all day long who are concerned with open rates. I encourage them to shift their focus away from the open percentage and more on conversions and click/open rate. Eyeballs are definitely important for brand and advertisements, but they are less measurable. Conversions and clicks/open are a better indication of how your subscriber is engaging/interacting with your product/service.

Which would you rather have?

1. A 20% open rate with $5,000 in conversions
2. A 40% open rate with $2,000 in conversions

This is a much larger discussion, but I hope this continues to make marketers THINK. That's the important part, right?

dj at bronto