I thought that Google PageRank Update last week was the only gift from Google for the year. Guess I was wrong.
When I saw this Google announcement, I was smiling. I knew that my Internet marketing campaigns are going to skyrocket immediately after this Gmail update.
For those who are wondering what I am talking about, Gmail has announced that all images attached in all Gmail emails will be automatically displayed by default.
Google first announced the usage of Display All Images setting to ensure that Gmail users are not getting unwanted images from unknown sender which could compromise the security of their computer or mobile devices. As much as it was considered a good move for users, it wasn’t the same case for marketers.
An image represent a thousand words and one of the best ways that Internet marketers use to encourage readers to continue reading (and in some cases, purchasing an item).
Gmail display all images feature is enabled automatically
With the new feature, instead of serving images directly from their original external host servers, Gmail will now serve all images through Google’s own secure proxy servers.
This means that your messages are (assumed) to be safer and more secure as Google will have a layer of protection to check on viruses and malware. The Display All Images or Display Images options on your Gmail will not be visible anymore.
Gmail team had also said that this will roll out soon (expected by this week) for PC’s and it is expected by next year for smartphones.
Question: How can Internet Marketers and bloggers profit from this update?
Gmail Display All Images feature can be very annoying. Yes, let’s be frank.
How many of you actually click on the pesky ‘Display Images’ button every time you receive an email from a trusted site? One thing for sure, I know I don’t unless the email is really interesting.
This means that with the Display All Images features enabled by default, you can probably kiss good-bye your email marketing campaigns if your emails are based highly on images.
So, what are the advantages you can gain with the images displayed automatically?
1. The possibility of increasing click through rates (CTR)
For those who are sending out newsletters and uses many images as a form of description, chances are your response rate is going to skyrocket.
Previously, readers will not be able to see the images if the Display All Images option is not turned on or the sender isn’t whitelisted. Now, images are all shown automatically and thus, you can leverage traffic with images from your blogs and even using 3rd party applications such as Pinterest and Flickr to host your images.
2. Using more image-rich newsletter templates
Before this, my newsletters contain mostly words and it is pretty clear cut. While it may sounds lame and boring, this is probably the best method to reach out to many recipients. Before this, I was using AWeber and it was great especially when it comes to sending text emails.
I totally understand that while having tons of images could easily increase the click rates (and boost anxiety), it is tough to do so if readers do not enable the Display All Images or whitelist me as a safe sender on their Gmail account. So, it makes all the sense to use more words than images in all my newsletters.
When it comes to image-rich newsletter templates, email marketing providers such as AWeber and GetResponse are top of their class. With the Gmail enabling Display All Images automatically, it makes absolutely all the sense to start using quality images in your newsletter to boost CTR and of course, building prettier newsletter templates.
Here’s a video I found about GetResponse about image-rich and responsive designs:
3. More personalized emails and lesser automated ones
While email providers such as GetResponse and AWeber offers RSS-to-email feature, this could probably be a turning point (at least, for me) of it with the Gmail Display All Images feature enabled automatically.
I got to admit that RSS-to-email features got me pretty lazy. Trust me on that!
Imagine you have a tight schedule and right after publishing a new blog post, your email marketing provider automatically create a newsletter and send it out to all your subscribers at the scheduled time. I bet it certainly sounds good right?
I have tested that and I got to say that it is one insanely crazy and great way to boost traffic and building a stronger brand power.
However, the side effect is that you are basically putting it on automation which could (most of the time) totally kill your human touch. This means that every email sent out would look like ‘˜that’ and for eager subscribers, that could be a huge turn down.
What’s next? A huge drop of subscribers!
So, what does Display All Images by Gmail could possibly affect my marketing strategies?
The answer is simple; I tend to build (again) my own customized emails instead of using RSS-to-email feature completely.
Even though this might not be the best advantage with the new and updated Gmail Display All Images feature, it is certainly a good way for me to kick start (back) semi-automatic newsletter.
Over to you
Now tell me guys. How did this update on Gmail image display feature affects you? Tell me what you think using the comment form below and let’s discuss.
