If you’re in the world of cold emailing, you might have heard conflicting advice about whether including images and links in your emails can hurt your deliverability

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Some say that having too many images or a low text-to-image ratio can send your emails straight to spam. But is this the case?

The Impact of Images on Email Deliverability

To understand the impact of images on email deliverability, we analyzed millions of cold emails sent over a month. The results were surprising – there was no significant difference in deliverability between emails with and without images. This means that including images in your cold email campaigns is generally safe and won’t increase the chances of your emails being flagged as spam.

However, it’s important to note that the presence of Pixel trackers in your emails can slightly increase the likelihood of them being sent to spam. So, while images themselves are not a cause for concern, it’s essential to ensure that your overall technical setup is in line with deliverability best practices.

The Impact of Links on Email Deliverability

While links themselves are not inherently spam triggers, their presence in cold emails can influence spam filters and recipient behavior. To ensure your outreach efforts are not in vain, it’s crucial to understand the factors that might cause links to be flagged as suspicious.

To avoid your emails being relegated to the spam folder, focus on link quality, relevance, and overall email authenticity. By adhering to best practices, you not only enhance deliverability but also increase the chances of building meaningful connections with your audience.

The 60/40 Ratio for Images in Cold Emails

You may have heard of the 60/40 ratio, which suggests that emails should be 60% text and 40% image to avoid being flagged as spam. This rule originated from spammers using images instead of text to bypass spam filters. However, recent studies have shown that this ratio is largely outdated.

According to our analysis, emails with 500 characters or less are the ones most at risk of being classified as spam based on the text-to-image ratio. For emails with 500 characters or more, the number of images included has no significant impact on deliverability.

In fact, adding one image to short emails (below 500 characters) can actually help them stay out of spam. However, including more than one image in these short emails doesn’t make a substantial difference. As a general rule, it’s best to aim for emails that are at or above 500 characters. Our data suggests that the sweet spot is around 120 words or approximately 700+ characters.

The Role of GIFs in Email Deliverability

While images themselves are generally safe to include in cold emails, the same cannot be said for GIFs. GIFs have larger file sizes than static images, which can trigger spam filters if the overall email size becomes too large. As a result, including GIFs in your cold email campaigns has a slightly higher chance of hurting your email deliverability compared to static images.

Factors Affecting Email Deliverability

While the content of your emails, including images and links, plays a role in deliverability, it’s essential to consider other factors that have a more significant impact. These factors include your technical setup and sender reputation.

Verify Your Email Technical Setup

Your email technical setup is crucial for email providers to verify and validate your sender identity. It helps determine whether you are a legitimate sender or a potential spammer. To ensure your emails have the best chance of reaching the inbox, it’s important to have a complete technical setup that includes:

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework): This verifies that your emails have been sent from your domain.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail): This guarantees that your emails have not been altered after being sent.
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance): This helps protect your domain from attacks and phishing emails.
• MX Records (Mail Exchange Records): These records inform email providers about the servers that accept emails for your domain.
• Custom Tracking Domain: This allows you to track open and click rates in your emails securely.

Ensuring that your technical setup is in order will significantly improve your email deliverability. Be sure to follow comprehensive guides on setting up SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX Records, and Custom Tracking Domain for your specific email provider.

Protect Your Sender Reputation

Your sender reputation is a score assigned by email providers to your domain. A good sender reputation increases the likelihood of your emails landing in the inbox, while a poor reputation can lead to emails being flagged as spam. Several factors contribute to your sender’s reputation, including:

Spam Reporting: If individuals frequently report your emails as spam, it can negatively impact your sender’s reputation.

Bounce Rate: A high bounce rate, where emails are undeliverable, can also harm your reputation.

Domain Warm-up: Warming up your domain gradually by increasing your sending volume over time helps establish a positive sender reputation.

To protect your sender’s reputation, it’s crucial to warm up your domain properly. Gradually increase your email sending volume to avoid triggering spam filters. Additionally, consider using a warm-up and deliverability booster tool to automate this process and safeguard your reputation.

The Importance of Email Personalization

Now that we’ve established that images and links themselves do not significantly affect deliverability, let’s explore how they can enhance the effectiveness of your cold email campaigns. Personalization is key to engaging your prospects and increasing reply rates According to our data, adding personalized images to your cold emails can actually boost reply rates compared to emails without any images. This aligns with consumer preferences, as 75% of people are more likely to buy from someone who recognizes their name, recommends products based on their profile, and understands their history. In fact, 81% of consumers want brands to get to know them better.

When incorporating images into your campaigns, it’s essential to make them specific to each prospect. This can be achieved by adding text and image variables to the visuals themselves. By tailoring your images to each recipient, you demonstrate that you understand their needs and increase the chances of eliciting a positive response.

Key Takeaways

To summarize, here are the key points to remember regarding the impact of images and links on the deliverability of cold emails:

• Including 1-3 images in your cold emails will not impact deliverability, so feel free to incorporate visuals without fear of being marked as spam.
• The text-to-image ratio is only a concern for emails with fewer than 500 characters. In such cases, adding one image can help improve deliverability.
• Avoid using GIFs in your cold emails, as they can lower open rates and potentially trigger spam filters.
•  Focus on your sender reputation and technical setup, including SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX Records, and Custom Tracking Domain, to maximize deliverability.
• When using images, personalize them to demonstrate that you know your prospects and understand their needs.

Remember, maintaining a healthy sender reputation and adhering to technical best practices are crucial for successful cold email campaigns.

Though Images and links can Improve your CTR Videos can improve your Email Campaign even more and for that, you can try personaliz.ai to create personalized videos for your Audience.