Image banks for your email marketing campaigns
According to the study "Science of Email Marketing" from HubSpot, more than 65% of users prefer emails that contain images.. This is by no means a new fact. In fact, it is no secret that emails need images.
We have spoken on numerous occasions about the importance of design emails very visual and attractive. And for this we need the use of images. But not just any images, but images that make an impact, but that we also have permission to use. This limits the use of quality images in this digital channel much more than we think.
It is no secret that in the age of the internet, plagiarism is part of our daily lives. We are often surprised to find our content attributed to another author. The same thing happens with images, with the difference that it looks like not be so controlled. I say seemingly, because apparently it seems to be so, but in reality it is not. Copyright laws exist to protect the authorship of images. And if we want to make a quality email marketing, we must be clear about these rules.
Can I use an image I found on the search engine in my email?
Most probably not. In order to use that image you should check whether it is copyrighted or free to use. Most of the photographs we find on google have copyrights that we cannot violate just like that. Your obligation is to ask the owner for permission or to explicitly attribute the rights in your email to the author of the photograph. But in any case you must ask the owner for permission to use it.
Therefore, do not even think of carrying out email marketing campaigns with images extracted from google without rhyme or reason. Find out what use you can give to these images before making this big mistake. And if you have doubts, don't use them.
Ideally, of course, we should all use our own images. Either because we have taken them ourselves or because we have edited or designed them. But it is also true that not everyone has the means or the right staff to take on this task. So often the solution is to go on the internet and use the image that suits us best.
It is for this reason that there are free image banks, where we can find images free of copyright or with conditions of attribution to the author. There are also payment banks where we can find an infinite number of high quality images. Although in most cases the rights must be attributed to the author in the use of the image, the use you can make of these images is "free" (obviously, always within certain limits) and the use of these images is fully permitted by law.
Where can I find quality images to include in my emails?
From Digital Response we have prepared a list of the best image banks that will be of great help to you to carry out legal and quality email marketing.
1. www.unsplash.com
"Do whatever you want" is the motto of this website. It is undoubtedly the best free image bank, not only because of the excellent quality of the images at no cost, but also because, as the slogan says, it allows you to do whatever you want with them.
*It lacks an image search engine
2. www.imcreator.com/free
In this bank we find content curation content to find images approved for use. It is not a space that has original content but uses content curation techniques and groups the images by themes, in order to make it easier for users to find images that they can use for personal or commercial projects.
3. www.morguefile.com
This image bank collects the photographs of many artists that can be used for creative projects, although it is requested that authorship be attributed when they are used. In addition to being an image bank, Morguefile is a community where you can find forums, competitions and photography courses.
4. www.pixabay.com
On Pixabay you will find vectors, photographs, drawings... free to download and use freely, both in digital and printed format. It includes a search engine with more than 229,000 free graphic resources of different themes and categories.
Although attribution to the author is not implicit in some cases, to download the image in full resolution you have to register on the site.
*For the search to be effective, we recommend that you do it in English as you will find many more results.
5. www.flickr.com
It is one of the most popular image search engines, where you can find royalty-free images and images under Creative Commons licences.
Searches can be performed in any language and it is very important that you perform advanced searches with the option that suits you best to ensure that the image you select can be used under the conditions set by the licence.
6. www.freepik.es
Freepik is a free graphic content search engine. Illustrations, vectors, images... of great quality, that you can use in both personal and commercial projects, in most cases, for free. On this occasion, however, the design or image must be attributed to the author.
*There is also a Premium version that allows you to enjoy the graphic content with no strings attached.
7. www.gratisography.com
This image bank is relatively new, but offers high quality images for free. In addition, attribution is not mandatory (although it is appreciated). Commercial and personal use is permitted, as long as basic (and obvious) limits are met.
*It lacks an image search engine, but the quality of the photographs will make the search more enjoyable and worthwhile.
8. www.search.creativecommons.org
This is the official Creative Commons search engine to find images with Creative Commons licenses that allow you to use and market the images. Images taken from the databases of Google, Flickr, Pixabay... It can be a quick way to find photographs under these licences. However, you should be careful and take the results with a pinch of salt. We should always make sure that the image we use is used as it should be.
Creative Commons licences
Do you want to know how email marketing is regulated in Spain? Consult this link.
