Bigger bandwidth, bigger pictures, bigger sales?

As the bandwidth over which consumer can receive marketing messages increases, some e-mail marketers are finding that bigger graphics result in bigger sales. About.com’s Bargaindog and StyleSpeak email newsletters have started to use larger pictures. “We’ve moved ourselves to e-mails with larger pictures and by doing so we can even double the response rates if we put together a creative message with larger pictures that really feature the product in a prominent way,” says David Biesel, vice president of marketing. “Intuitively speaking, the more images you can use to show what a customer can buy the better you are merchandising your products.”

RedEnevelope also uses HTML to enhance its creative presentation of marketing e-mails. “We’re a product-driven company. When someone sees a hot item on an e-mail message they can go right to the site and buy it,” says Martin McLanan, CEO. And you can mix up the creative to put specials offers on top or a special product on top, do drop down menus or use various image sizes to promote items. HTML allows customers to get closer to the product.”