Typography in Email Marketing: Image VS Text & Web Fonts
The text in our messages is important from two points of view: the content and the visual style. However, as far as the second aspect is concerned, we are very limited, as the only way to have the brand's special fonts displayed in all email services is to layout the text as an image, which is not at all advisable.
One of the main pieces of advice we give our clients is that they should consider the structure and design of emails so that the majority of the content can be laid out as text. Some time ago, one of the reasons that led us to this recommendation was that a predominance of image over text could raise suspicions in anti-spam filters and harm 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 download enabled or if a slow connection prevents them from viewing the images, the text content will still be visible.
– Accessibility. Screen readers for blind users will be able to access this content.
– Versatility in Responsive Design. Text adapts easily to mobile viewing, while image content can be small on mobile and force us to hide/show elements, complicating the code and increasing the weight and loading time.
– Use of templates. Many customers opt for templates that allow them to reduce development time. If the texts are included as an image, a new image must be created in each case, whereas if the texts are editable in the template, the time and effort required to modify the template is reduced.
– Personalisation. We are increasingly looking for segmentation and individualisation of messages, but images are difficult to personalise, while the introduction of variables in the text is a common method for personalising content.
However, there is a basic problem when it comes to HTML text layout, and that is that the only secure and consistent fonts in the various email services are the ones that can be used in HTML. main system sources (Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana for dry type 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 also on the branding needs. Sometimes it is impossible to use text and we must include certain copy in images due to design guidelines. Whenever we use text as an image, we must remember to include the textual 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 we can use if we have some flexibility is Web Fonts, either external (e.g. Google Fonts) or by hosting the font ourselves on our server (it can be the brand's own font). Support is far from universal (these fonts will mainly be visible in native iOS apps only), but if we are not too picky and allow unsupported cases to display a fallback, we can consider using it. The fallback font chosen should be as close as possible in box size and look&feel to prevent the versions with and without the brand font from being too visually different. Often, branding guidelines will prevent us from using the resource of web fonts, but it is interesting to consider it to enhance the impact of our texts in the services that do allow us to do so.
