Thanks to the launch of our Email Data Report last week, we’ve covered some new tactics to spice up the subject lines and schedule of email marketing campaigns. But now it’s time to get to the heart of the matter and dive inside the body of the email itself.
Let’s assume you wrote a catchy subject line and sent your email at an optimal time so it hit your customers’ inboxes and piqued their interest. Now what do you have to offer that was worth all of that work? To help you answer that question, we took a closer look at our data (96,000 emails from over 2,000 subscription lists!) for trends in email marketing word and image count.
TrackMaven Email Data Report
Our Email Data Report revealed that — surprise! — marketers aren’t at a loss for words. In fact, almost all emails we analyzed had an email word count of at least 400 words. We even saw a few outliers at the extreme end of our study with word counts in the 15,000 range.
But marketers aren’t just using words to do the talking — they’re using pictures and graphics to get their points across too. In fact, only 2.6% of the nearly 100,000 emails we analyzed were image-less. With the use of so many images as the norm, the aesthetic of an email can be a great way to not only convey your message quickly, but to express your brand’s vibe as well. One of my favorite examples of stellar image use in email campaigns comes from experiential theater company The McKittrick Hotel. New events on the company’s schedule are announced via email as if sent from the concierge of an elegant, avante-garde hotel. Take a look at how the sleek, sexy, and often-animated emails evoke the intimate, improvisational nature of their events and overall brand:
Image via The McKittrick Hotel
Image via The McKittrick Hotel
Feeling inspired? Well particularly if your company centers around a visually-driven product or service like food or fashion, then by all means, get visual! But before you head off to fill your emails with words and images a plenty, let’s remember the true purpose of your company’s emails in the first place. Since statistics like clicks-through and open rates have become the baseline metrics for measuring email campaign performance, it can feel like just getting the attention of your audience is the real battle. But keep in mind that the real goal is beyond clicks — it’s about engaging your readers and offering a valuable product or message. The greatest asset to an email marketer is a consistent audience, so this is your moment to deliver content that’s worthy of your reader’s sustained attention.
So while longer, image-filled emails are common practice, keep in mind there is no secret formula for creating the perfect word-to-image ratio that will hit home with your audience. Words are a marketer’s currency, and pictures are worth a thousand, but the unique branding that makes your company stand out is invaluable.