Marketing email images not displaying

[sjeGC]

I'm on the free plan. i am prepping a marketing email and the images all look great when I do. As soon as I preview with a contact's email added, the images just have a question mark and alt-text. what setting do I need to change? the image types I've tried are jpg and png. I've checked firefox, chrome, and safari in case it's the browser. not sure what's up. The first marketing email i sent was fine but all the ones since have had this issue. I am using mac for all devices. Thanks!

[JSheridan0]

Hello! Did you ever find a solution to this problem? I am on a paid starter plan, previously sent email campaigns fine but this week I've experienced your exact above issue. 

[Ben_M · Accepted solution]

Are the images hosted at hubspot or on a third party server? If the latter, you may need to check/configure hotlinking settings which may prevent hubspot from loading images. If they are hubspot hosted images, what happens when you send a test to yourself.

Also, as you are on a free account, I would warn you that this list should be thoroughly vetted before sending. Hubspot's restrictions and limitations on free accounts are different from paid accounts in that they are much more strict and can lead to irreversible platform bans if the spam/bounce rates are above these strict levels. I personally do not recommend using Hubspot's free email for anything other than testing and recommend if you are serious about building your subscribers that you upgrade to a paid plan.

[sjeGC]

Thanks ben. When i add the image i upload it to hubspot. i think it says it's uploaded as non-indexed or something. is that the issue? maybe that's the setting to change.

as for sending to myself, i included myself on the list last time adn the image didn't appear. that's how i knew it was a problem (how embarassing!)

I am considering an upgraded plan but can't seem to get anyone in sales to talk to me to explain the differences so i know what i'm getting for money. I realized the written explanations are not clear as i keep discovering things i thought were included are not indeed included at all. so far no major issues with boucning, but i'm a new user. thanks for the tip. I've mainly sent templated emails anyway, but would be nice to be able to send things more broadly when needed.

[Ben_M]

Noindex is ok. That just means that search engines won't be able to find the images. Can you post a link to a preview in browser URL (not the internal test, but the one that you add to an email body yourself) for a test email and share that so we can view the error that is causing this whether it is not found or being blocked?

As far as sales not reaching out to help sell Hubspot, that is surprising. They have a few ways to get in contact here you can try: https://offers.hubspot.com/contact-sales .

[sjeGC]

I am not quite sure what you're asking me to post. I have gone to preview the email in hubspot. when i have no recipient the picture appears. When i add a recipient it disappears. Screenshots attached. If you can instruct how to find the one that i add to an email body, i can post somethign different.

Thanks for the link to reach sales.

preview adding myself as recipient. no difference based on who I add. Assistant sent the email to herself and the images had disappeared when she received it.Preview with no recipient 

[Ben_M]

That is odd. And sorry it's been awhile since I played around with the free email editor and it looks like the "view in browser" link is not part of the free plans now and is only a paid feature. This is the only way to share access to view the email without having to grant access into your hub as that link is public as opposed to the shareable link that is normally in the top right of your window that seems to also be removed from the free version.

I really cannot explain why this is happening and not something I have come across in the past. Due to limitations Hubspot has, short of going into your hub and looking around, I cannot explain why this is happening and even with access I may not be able to explain it. Unfortunately without Hubspot offering their own support on free plans, this is a tough situation. Personally in these cases, I would recommend using Hubspot as a CRM and integrating a tool like Mailchimp or others for your email needs.

[sjeGC]

Thanks, Ben!

I ended up removing all graphics and sending as a plain email. Can't win 'em all!

I'm noticing many of the features that are explained in the Knowledge centre as applying to all plans (free included) are not actually available. I appreciate the mailchip suggestion. HubSpot seems to have identified the perfect crime - make the free system just useful enough so users invest time and energy in it and then make it untenable without an upgrade. TADA! 

Thanks again for trying!