Big Image Emails

PushSend · Apr 28, 2011

To use images or not. To split them up or not. How big? What's too big? How will all of this affect your getting into the inbox? Or even WILL they? CAN they? Well, we have several points of view to this topic. I myself have sent huge (weight) emails that have done very well. I also find (for me) that image emails convert better. So here's an article I found that talks about this and why sometimes the big ones get through. What do you send?

Why do big image emails get through?

Savvy email marketers will know that it is not recommended to send big image emails as they are far more likely to be junked, so why is that sometimes they managed to get through?

Many people who use an ESP will have a spam checker built in. The most commonly used one (of many) is Spam Assassin. On more than one occasion we have blogged that text to image ratio should be 60:40, in favour of text. The main reason behind this is because of the spam assassin warning.

This was not a decision that was just made up by the guys at Spam Assassin, it was a rule that evolved from the fight against spam and filters' ever changing rules to adapt to spammers' techniques, who in turn adapt to beat themâ€¦check out Spammers vs The spam filter for more details.

Additionally, the big ISPs don't rely on Spam Assassin. While they may well share many of the same decision making and may even refer to it they each tend to have their own rules and algorithms that have evolved over time and competition with each other to have the better junk filter.

This does not mean that all heavy image emails will go to junk or be junked by recipients or that the big ISPs will let them all through. However they will have a harder time getting delivered than emails with a good ratio, but it is also about rapport. If someone who does not have a good 'digital rapport' with your brand cannot see what the email is about with the images off, they are less likely to prioritise it and more likely to hit the spam button.

Variables that can make a difference to an email being classed as spam

There are so many variables, including the ISP reputation, the domain reputation, how the structure of the email matches the ISP's filters, how the structure of the email matches that individualâ€™s Bayesian filters and also how much each recipient has interacted with the sender in the past.

Inboxes have safe lists, address lists and priority inboxes and other algorithms that auto-safe list senders that have been replied to twice. You also have certification, if you get Return Path certified, you have far more freedom, especially in Hotmail and Yahoo because your delivery is far more assured and the images will load automatically.

If you do behavioural targeting, you can use that knowledge to target the people who always open your emails with more creative image heavy emails safe in the knowledge that they will open them and have a better experience because of itâ€¦check out Get in the Inbox for more details.

So in short, it's ambiguous but wise to keep to 60:40 until you start to target and get certified.
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source: Pure360marketing

roundabout · Apr 28, 2011

Awhile ago, I had proven that very large base 64 templates would bypass many versions of SpamAssassin. About 2 years ago, mails were coming in all around me from other mailers in the 300-400K size per email. It was complete insanity. You'd now have bandwidth issues to worry about, and could get out maybe 50,000 emails in 4-5 hours. It definitely wasnt for me or something I wanted to do. The thought of a person sitting at their PC and waiting 30 seconds for an email to come in would only enrage them, IMO, when it finally came in and it wasnt an attachment or picture they were expecting...

I think now the larger, more corporate mailers are doing more professional eZine type newsletters, with lots of tables and columns, and I bet you there's an algorithm out that adds up the numbers of tables and columns and assumes it's something corporate/official.. after all, most of the crap you see out there now by spammers is one giant image with an image unsub and that's it...

PushSend · Apr 28, 2011

roundabout said: ↑

...I think now the larger, more corporate mailers are doing more professional eZine type newsletters, with lots of tables and columns, and I bet you there's an algorithm out that adds up the numbers of tables and columns and assumes it's something corporate/official.....
Click to expand...

That's a helluva thought...seems like it would be worth a test to me.

:dontknow:

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