Typography in Email Marketing: Image VS Text & Web Fonts
Posted: Wed Dec 04, 2024 5:44 am
The text of our messages is important from two points of view: content and visual style. However, when it comes to the second aspect, we are very limited, since the only way for the brand's special fonts to be displayed in all email services is by formatting the texts as images, which is not recommended at all.
Email Fonts
One of the main pieces of advice we give our clients is that they should consider the structure and design of their emails so that most of the content can be formatted as text. A while ago, one of the reasons that led us to this recommendation was that a predominance of images over text could raise suspicions in antispam filters and harm denmark mobile phone number list deliverability. However, today deliverability has much more to do with other factors related to user consent and interest. Today the recommendation to use HTML text has more to do with these aspects:
– Usability in the image-free version of the email. Even if the user does not have image downloading enabled or if a slow connection prevents them from viewing them, the text content will remain visible.
– Accessibility . Screen readers for blind users may be able to access this content.
– Versatility in Responsive Design . Texts adapt easily to mobile viewing, while image content may be too small on mobile and force us to hide/show elements, making the code quite complicated and increasing the weight and loading time.
– Use of templates . Many clients opt for templates that allow them to reduce development times. If the texts are included as images, a new image must be created in each case, while if the texts are editable in the template, the time and effort of modifying it is reduced.
– Personalization . We are increasingly looking for segmentation and individualization of messages, but images are difficult to personalize, while the introduction of variables in the text is a common method for personalizing content.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAVc6ng4b3GTNVCrekzgOgJgq7IjqvS8s1wt22u578KLioz3ob9f3Zp_lJkuc8as4ysqMDDZx8cmYsPGGqI6w56RWWOKDTGAAkjMVOtZbWtFFicTvLTgjZ2XADcH5Ap4AjBq0I2uOcEiGcB0SGzdoeebSoQ1GvMgz_EM5aV6cH [url=https://dbtodata.com/denmark-number-data]denmark mobile phone number list
However, there is a basic problem when it comes to HTML text layout, and that is that the only safe and consistent fonts across different email services are the main system fonts (Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana for sans-serif and Times/Georgia for serif). Therefore, a prior conversation with the designers is necessary to understand the limitations and make the most appropriate decision based on branding needs. Sometimes it is impossible to use text and we must include certain copies in images due to design guidelines. Whenever we use text as images, we must remember to include the text content in the “alts” of the image tag so that the user can see the content in the version without images in the services that allow it and screen readers can access it.
Another option that we can use if we have some flexibility is Web Fonts, either external (for example Google Fonts) or by hosting the font ourselves on our server (it can be the brand's own font). Support is by no means universal (these fonts will be visible mainly in native iOS applications only), but if we are not too demanding and allow a fallback to be shown in cases without support, we can consider using it. The chosen fallback font should be as close as possible in box size and look&feel to avoid the versions with and without the brand font being too different visually. Many times, branding guidelines will prevent us from using the web font resource, but it is interesting to consider it to enhance the impact of our texts in the services that do allow it.
Email Fonts
One of the main pieces of advice we give our clients is that they should consider the structure and design of their emails so that most of the content can be formatted as text. A while ago, one of the reasons that led us to this recommendation was that a predominance of images over text could raise suspicions in antispam filters and harm denmark mobile phone number list deliverability. However, today deliverability has much more to do with other factors related to user consent and interest. Today the recommendation to use HTML text has more to do with these aspects:
– Usability in the image-free version of the email. Even if the user does not have image downloading enabled or if a slow connection prevents them from viewing them, the text content will remain visible.
– Accessibility . Screen readers for blind users may be able to access this content.
– Versatility in Responsive Design . Texts adapt easily to mobile viewing, while image content may be too small on mobile and force us to hide/show elements, making the code quite complicated and increasing the weight and loading time.
– Use of templates . Many clients opt for templates that allow them to reduce development times. If the texts are included as images, a new image must be created in each case, while if the texts are editable in the template, the time and effort of modifying it is reduced.
– Personalization . We are increasingly looking for segmentation and individualization of messages, but images are difficult to personalize, while the introduction of variables in the text is a common method for personalizing content.
[img]https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgAVc6ng4b3GTNVCrekzgOgJgq7IjqvS8s1wt22u578KLioz3ob9f3Zp_lJkuc8as4ysqMDDZx8cmYsPGGqI6w56RWWOKDTGAAkjMVOtZbWtFFicTvLTgjZ2XADcH5Ap4AjBq0I2uOcEiGcB0SGzdoeebSoQ1GvMgz_EM5aV6cH [url=https://dbtodata.com/denmark-number-data]denmark mobile phone number list
However, there is a basic problem when it comes to HTML text layout, and that is that the only safe and consistent fonts across different email services are the main system fonts (Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana for sans-serif and Times/Georgia for serif). Therefore, a prior conversation with the designers is necessary to understand the limitations and make the most appropriate decision based on branding needs. Sometimes it is impossible to use text and we must include certain copies in images due to design guidelines. Whenever we use text as images, we must remember to include the text content in the “alts” of the image tag so that the user can see the content in the version without images in the services that allow it and screen readers can access it.
Another option that we can use if we have some flexibility is Web Fonts, either external (for example Google Fonts) or by hosting the font ourselves on our server (it can be the brand's own font). Support is by no means universal (these fonts will be visible mainly in native iOS applications only), but if we are not too demanding and allow a fallback to be shown in cases without support, we can consider using it. The chosen fallback font should be as close as possible in box size and look&feel to avoid the versions with and without the brand font being too different visually. Many times, branding guidelines will prevent us from using the web font resource, but it is interesting to consider it to enhance the impact of our texts in the services that do allow it.