Images schimages

If your office works anything like so many of the places I have worked in and with, an inordinate amount of time is spent planning, choosing and taking just the right picture for each email message.  We have been told forever that this is important, for "a picture says 1,000 words."  Internally these images matter a great deal: Do you have the diversity that you need?  Does the building in the background have the right lighting?  Is that athlete still in school?

Because of all of the internal focus, we assume that the outside world is spending as much time on them as we are.  They in fact are not.  40% of your messages are being opened on a mobile device - how much of that image can be seen on a 2.5" x 3.5" screen?  Out of the messages being viewed, a huge portion are viewed in a reader that suppresses images by default (and design.)  The result? The only folks who are seeing your image are those who already have a connection with you and either have opted into allowing images from your server or who click to view images each time.

So what should we do?  Obviously follow the best practices in message creation and distribution including white listed servers, alt tags and text only messages.   As important, make sure that your case stands alone without the image.  If you want folks to give, tell them why, don't just rely on them seeing why.  Ensure that your message would work in a text only format.  Try a text only format for simple call to action messages.  I don't know about you but when I see images pop up on a message in my inbox, I delete or skip it more often than I read it.  Web messaging is working more like the newspaper than magazine business, make sure that you are printing the daily edition along with the monthly issue to ensure you remain relevant.