Images from bulk email tools are barred for very good reasons.
The reason why images are not initially loaded is due to two things. Firstly, organisations IT teams are set up not to download images because images can consume a lot of data storage space. Another reason is security: photos and videos can contain malicious code or links to websites that download spyware. These prevent vulnerability in the software that displays images and video from being exposed or malicious software downloaded into the organisation. Most cases of system attacks and ransomware threats are made from internal users unintentionally downloading content via emails.
So is there a way to solve this problem especially when you want to send images that convey your brand or are meant to quite legitimately display content as images like a chart or a graph?
Unlike when you don’t send emails via ProFundCom, where images are automatically downloaded – in the emails that you send through providers like MailChimp, Pardot and Marketo, a small invisible image – usually just one pixel in size – is inserted at the bottom of the HTML body. This invisible image is also called a web beacon, tracking pixel or pixel tag. It is a very common practice and is a surefire way of getting an email identified as coming from a bulk email system and increases the email being tagged as SPAM.
When a user opens the email and opts to download images, the web beacon is also downloaded. This action sends a request to the email senders’ servers. This request would provide identification information about the computer, allowing the sender to keep track of the user. This then feeds into the analytics that is displayed by these systems.
Blocking the images is the first port-of-call for IT teams to maintain security. As a result, if you are not using ProFundCom, where images are automatically downloaded, there is a very high chance that your emails are being delivered with no images or worse – not being delivered at all!!!
