Image Blocking in Email Messages

It is becoming more and more common for email client software, such as Microsoft Outlook 2003, to block images that are embedded within email messages.  It is also common for major ISP's offering online web services such as GMail.com to do the same.

The Issue

It is estimated that well over 90% of email marketing messages sent are delivered in HTML format or in MIME format (both Text and HTML version together).  Most of these messages contain at least one image and typically contain a 1X1 pixel tracking image that tracks open rates. 

External images that are commonly included are company logos, product images, header images, etc.   Most email marketers host these images on their web site then embed them in the email message using the FULL URL to the image.  For example: <img src="http://www.marketersdomain.com/images/someimage.gif">

In order to load the image the email client calls back to the web server to load the image.  This is where the problem arises because many ISPs and email clients block this call for the image.  For example, the Gmail policy states "gmail disables images sent to you to protect you from unknown senders, like spammers, who use images and links to verify that your email address is real."

What does this mean for the Email Marketer?

• Open Rate tracking is inaccurate because of this type of blocking.  Open rates have been declining partially from this and also from spam filtering.
• Blocked Advertisements -- If you rely on banner advertisements as a source of revenue this can be detrimental.  This results in lower banner impressions and ultimately lower click through rates.
• Blocked Images such as product images and logos -- If you rely heavily on images in your newsletter you may want to think twice about using so many images.

What can the Email Marketer do to overcome this?

• Use Less Images and more text  -- The first way to circumvent the problem is to avoid images and stick with text.  Your email messages may not look as pretty but you will reach a larger audience.
• Attach the Images to the Message -- Many email marketing software solutions such as eNewsletter Pro, will allow attaching/embedding the images directly in the email message.  With this method you can have your cake and eat it to.
• Provide a link to view the full HTML version -- If you provide a link in your email that simply links back to the full HTML version on your web site, then when clicked the link will open in the users web browser and load like a standard web page.  Images will not be blocked.  Products such as eNewsletter Pro fully support this option and will even track the views and clicks.
• Get Whitelisted -- Even if you don't use images, getting whitelisted will increase your throughput.  Getting whitelisted with major ISP's such as AOL will get your messages through without filtering and with less image blocking.
• Establish a relationship with the subscriber -- Encourage your subscribers to change their email settings to allow images.  This may or may not be possible depending on their ISP and email client.
• Focus on Click Through Rates (CTRs) and not open rates -- The end goal is getting more people through to your web site independent of how many people viewed the newsletter.  If you focus on CTR and conversion of those clicks to sales you will win in the end.