Sorry to start on a rather depressing note, but I’ve recently read an obituary of a book illustrator who revolutionised her art. The way she used, one could say targeted, the pictures was intriguing. Email marketers should learn from her.

We have never been so spoiled by choice of image, with a plethora of companies offering thousands of images, together with fairly (but by no means perfect I’ve found) efficient search engines. There can be no excuse for not having the precise image that the marketing email needs. And most need them.

We have a choice of free email marketing templates, all with blanks waiting for us to drop images into. We know the product, we’ve probably got the copy available, yet, from what I’ve seen in my research, people don’t make sensible choices as to which pictures to include. What we see all too often is an image which shows almost exactly what the copy describes. It’s almost as if it is a caption. This is not what illustration should be about.

If you look with care, you will find that the illustrators of children’s books tend to go a stage further, illuminating the narrative but often including something in the story that is still to come. The text might say Tommy falls in the river, but the image will show a boat bobbing towards him. They abate concerns.

An image has many functions, its primary one is to catch the attention of the reader who, all research tells us, will scan it and only take a greater interest in it if their attention is sparked. Copy is read after. We don’t only want the person to glance at our image, but for it to direct them. As with the copy enlarging on the headline, and probably pointing in a particular direction, the image should do the same.

We also want our readers to read on, to discover more things about the product, be overwhelmed, and then click through to the landing page. By subtly suggesting there is still more to come, we can encourage our subscribers to spend a little longer on our marketing emails.