When it comes to email marketing, visuals are powerful. They grab attention, showcase products beautifully, and can drive conversions. But there’s a catch — send an email that’s only made up of images, and it will almost certainly get flagged as spam. Email providers like Gmail see image-only emails as suspicious because spammers often hide text in pictures to bypass filters.
The good news? You can send image-rich emails — as long as you maintain a healthy balance between text (HTML) and images.
Why HTML Balance Matters
HTML in emails is essentially native text that the email client can read. A balanced ratio of HTML to images tells spam filters that your email is legitimate. The challenge, however, is that HTML in emails can be frustrating from a design perspective:
- Design Limitations: You can’t place HTML text directly over an image, so you have to separate text and visuals in your layout.
- Unpredictable Rendering: Text sizes can vary dramatically across devices, causing layout issues.
- Dark vs. Light Mode Problems: HTML text may shift colors depending on the reader’s settings, ruining design consistency.
Because of these issues, many email designers avoid mixing HTML into the main body of an image-heavy email — it can compromise design quality and lead to an inconsistent experience for recipients.
Mixing Graphic & Text-Based Emails
A strong campaign strategy blends visual appeal with personal touch.
- Graphic emails: Showcase products, build brand recognition, and provide visual variety. Essential for engagement and keeping subscribers excited.
- Text-based emails: Look like a message from a friend, feel personal, and often convert better because they’re simple and to the point.
👉 Most of your emails should be graphic-based, but mixing in 1–2 text-based emails per month gives that “human touch” that drives conversions.
The Secret: Avoid Predictability
Today’s consumer doesn’t want the same thing over and over again. If your emails feel formulaic, subscribers will lose interest. Surprise, variety, and freshness are what keep people opening and clicking.
Think of your emails like a conversation—sometimes fun, sometimes informative, sometimes persuasive—but always engaging.
The Smart Workaround: Hidden HTML in the Footer
Since you can’t send pure image emails, you need HTML — but you don’t want it interfering with your design. The solution? Hide the HTML content in a way that’s invisible to your readers but visible to email spam filters.
Here’s how to do it:
- Add a Large HTML Text Block to the Footer
- Insert a text box in your email footer, far away from the main design.
- Write 400–500 Words of Text
- This can be brand stories, disclaimers, or even blog-like content — anything relevant to your brand.
- Shrink the Text Size
- Set it to the smallest possible readable size in your email editor.
- Match Text Color to Background
- If your footer background is white, make the text white. If it’s black, make the text black. This makes it invisible to human eyes but readable by spam filters.
By doing this, you achieve two important things:
- Gmail sees a balanced mix of HTML and images, improving deliverability.
- Your design remains untouched and consistent across devices.
The Result
This technique ensures you can send visually stunning, image-rich emails without sacrificing inbox placement. It keeps the HTML “out of the way” of your design while satisfying the technical requirements that prevent emails from being flagged as spam.
It’s a small trick, but it can make a huge difference in how Gmail and other email providers perceive your messages — and in how many of them land in the inbox rather than the spam folder.
