Better Design at Your Fingertips With Free Image Gallery

No need to spend time trawling through stock image sites or uploading images manually. Instead, you’ll now have quick access to free images directly in the drag-and-drop email builder.

You can search by topic for a free image that suits your message and design, then drop it straight into the email. You’ll be able to create and send with confidence, knowing the right image for every message is at your fingertips.

Razzle dazzle that converts

Draw from a large selection of hand-picked, high-resolution photos guaranteed to impress subscribers and get results.

Drag-and-drop convenience

Search by topic for the right image in moments and insert it directly into your email. No fuss, no time wasted sifting through low-quality images.

Premium quality, on the house

Save budget from shooting or sourcing your own photography. All images in the Free Image Gallery are exactly that – free!

Sign-up for free and start amazing your subscribers with imagery that motivates, excites, and amazes.

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The best thing about the Free Image Gallery is that it’s just as quick and easy to use as any other Campaign Monitor feature. Simply type the topic you’re looking for into the search bar and select an image to drop into your design.

We’ve saved our customers over 300 hours of image search and upload time since we launched this feature.

See Free Image Gallery in action:

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While some other ESPs have free stock images, very few have such a seamless integration within an intuitive drag-and-drop email builder. Our Free Image Gallery allows you to search through over two million free images for the perfect option, and then drag it straight into your design, all without leaving the email builder. 

That’s something you’ll find almost nowhere else.

There are a few key tips to remember when designing with images in your email.

1. Don’t ignore your brand guidelines.

It’s easy to just throw in whatever image strikes you, but that’s not necessarily the best design choice. Yes, you want visually striking images, but there are a lot of good-looking images you’ll find in the Free Image Gallery in a variety of styles.

Consistency is key. If one email looks drastically different from the next, your message won’t have any continuity and your subscribers won’t feel familiar with your brand. You don’t want the content of your emails to be a surprise. 

That doesn’t mean that if you send an image with a certain person, that person should always be in your photos; sending the exact same images every time will be boring to your readers. Instead, you’ll want to find images that have a similar tone and feel to them, that share visual similarities, like the images we’ve used in this post and a few we’ve gathered here.

Just like your brand copy sounds a bit different based on platform—a whitepaper won’t have the same tone as a tweet—so too can you use a variety of images, as long as that tone remains consistent and familiar throughout.

The most important thing is to make sure you’re choosing images that resonate with your brand elements and strengthening the connection people have with you as a business. 

2. Do choose thoughtful images.

Remember that inclusive marketing means more than just making sure you have a variety of people in your photos. You’ll also want to consider how those people are being presented and how the connection with your email’s message could affect those people. For instance, you don’t want to fall into the trap of reiterating stereotypes or sending negative messages about the people featured in your stock photos. 

You’ll also want to consider the clothing the people are wearing and the copy surrounding the stock image. You’re telling a story, so you want to make sure your email and the images all send the message you mean to send.

3. Don’t forget to test your free stock images.

There’s a lot to consider when choosing a stock image for your email. Should you include more humans in your stock photos? Do images of technology resonate with your audience and support your branding? Maybe you want to try images with a dark aesthetics vs. those with a lighter feel. 

The great news is that you can easily A/B test these images to see which ones elicit the desired response from your audience. You’ll be able to say with confidence which email is the right one to send.

Create one email and then take the two images you want to test and send them to a small portion of your most-engaged subscribers. You’ll be able to see which image receives the most engagement and then send that out to the rest of your list. That way, you’ll be able to say for certain that you’re sending the email that will get the best results.

You don’t have to decide right away what images you’ll feature in your emails. And just because you choose an image today doesn’t mean you are stuck only using similar images forever. The important thing to remember is to keep your overall branding and message consistent and test, test, test!

4. Don’t forget alt text.

Alt text can be the difference between an inclusive experience and an unsubscribe. Alternative text is the backup text that provides a description of your image, and it’s what screen readers use to get a description of an image. Alt text is also what will display if your images get blocked.

Alt text is hugely important for accessibility reasons. Screen readers pick up alt text and read that to the user. Without that alt text being read, your email will likely not make a ton of sense. Imagine alienating a portion of your audience with every single email you send. When you don’t include alt text formulated for screen readers, you leave out a huge number of your subscribers. 

Marketing should be inclusive and that means being sure your emails are accessible to everyone. Click here to read more about using alt text in your emails.