How to Create Image Collages for Your Email Campaigns

A collage is a simple way to liven up your campaigns with more images while saving space simultaneously, which is especially handy regarding emails. To create a unique info block, you simply combine multiple images into one. See how different brands use collages in their email campaigns and learn how you can create collages yourself.

Examples of How to Use Collages in Email Campaigns

ALDO uses collages to help their customers see how the dress, shoes, and accessories will look together. In this way, the store can both offer a complete look and showcase all the items up close.

Image collages are also a great solution when adding meaningful pieces of text to your email. Here’s how Birchbox has styled images and text elements into a collage for their Valentine’s Day email campaign.

Light background, padding, and minimum text added to a collage create a light and airy feel.

Another good option is to use collages in your product cards. You can group images, rotate them, and experiment with layout with collages. The only thing to remember is that your collages should help readers consume your content, not get in their way. Here’s an example.

Urban Outfitters showcase products against monochrome backgrounds and images demonstrating how to use them. The overlay elements of the email help grab readers’ attention and keep them reading.

Alternatively, you can go for pure functionality in your collage. Combine a promo code with a picture or a GIF animation. Your customers won’t have to remember the code since it will remain as text, easy to copy and paste.

How to Create an Image Collage

A quick Google search returns dozens of tools and templates for creating collages, easy to find when you need them. Some are paid, some are free, and many use a freemium model. For example, Icons8’s collage maker offers an intuitive and simple editor where you can create absolutely unique collages and either download them or import into your email right away. With some minor limitation, you can use the editor free of charge. Or you can choose to pay for better quality, bigger size, or a file in PSD format.

Another option is to create collages within your email. With MailerLite’s drag-and-drop email editor, you can use gallery blocks to create designs with images aligned in your chosen way.

Just add the block to your email and select your photos. You can then customize the design by editing the spacing or changing the background color.

If you want to add more images to the collage, just choose another image or gallery block.

Also, you can create a collage in other email editors. Let’s take the example of eSputnik drag-and-drop email template editor. This way, you’ll be able to make collages on the go as you design your emails without having to use any extra services.

To make a collage in the eSputnik editor, use the Structures menu. Structures make it easy to create collages of any complexity by combining multiple structures into a single strip, like the one below.

Make sure to try and drag readers’ attention to the product cards by making them stand out against the other elements. For instance, keep the background in the style of your brand.

You can design a background for each separate block as well as for the entire strip.

Now, let’s take a closer look at how to create a collage with a staggered layout and four different images in the eSputnik editor.

To create the collage, you’ll need two containers with two content blocks in each. Use the left pane menu to configure the image sizes and paddings — first, configure the structure. Next, customize content blocks within the structure.

You can set paddings as you like. For example, use paddings for top or bottom content blocks only.

eSputnik has a built-in photo editor where you can edit images for your collage. Here, you can crop off parts of the image you don’t need. Or, should you need to resize the image, there’s a tool for that as well.

Conclusion

When it comes to email marketing, image collages provide an effective and simple way to diversify your content and save up the invaluable email space. Simple image collages don’t require any special software, just about any photo editor you have will do. Moreover, with email template editors like the one in eSputnik you will be able to use images, text blocks, CTA buttons, promo codes, and just about any other type of content in a collage. Collaborating with leading email marketing companies can offer insights and expertise to further optimize your collage-based email marketing campaigns. All in all, collages provide a great way to show off your content and boost your email campaigns’ conversion rates!

Review the tips on how to cope with banner blindness, and check the list of free photo editing software.

About the author
Kateryna Milokhina, a creative writer for eSputnik, Marketing Automation Software for B2C.