HTML vs Plain Newsletters
HTML newsletters revolutionized the way online marketing
worked in the 90's, and their market share of online advertising
grew steadily into the early 2000's. HTML offered a level
of customization and design control that was before unseen.
Much in the same way HTML helped drive the internet, it
thrived in the world of email. Currently, the percentage
has plateaued, and remains constant. So why is it that some
users refuse to use HTML for their email? What benefits
does HTML offer? Will text email ever die out? Read on to
find out!
HTML email does offer a number of benefits, both to the
recipient and the sender. The sender can use email applications
to track links and track open rates. They can also completely
customize the email to fit their design standards, match
their website, and otherwise offer an attractive product.
Images load within formatting, so you can create a beautiful
email message that is more likely to be read once the user
opens it. For the recipient, HTML email allows them to view
their emails in the true form the creator envisioned while
writing the content. It also means more content, since you
can organize it better, which gives the subscriber more
of what they want.
With all these benefits, why would anyone choose not to
use HTML? There are reasons originating from several different
issues. First, many email users rely on a system that currently
does not support html emails. This group has gradually shrunk
with the proliferation of broadband and faster computers,
but these individuals still exist. As well, many of the
exploits spammers look for while sending out email are related
to HTML, meaning only using text email is a response to
problems with spam, especially spam intended to run code
on the computer without your permission. Finally, different
email applications render mail differently, so some subscribers
may switch to text email if formatting isn't working correctly
for their email application.
Many of these issues relate to problems with the software
that the end user is accessing email through. If the security
situation on the Windows platform improved, that would add
more HTML email users. As time goes on, an increasing number
of computer users will be running modern, high powered machines,
but this does not necessarily mean individuals will stop
using plain text email readers.
In the end, text email will probably never go away, so
anyone involved in email marketing should focus on marketing
to both, rather than making either your only way of advertising.
A hybrid of text and HTML advertising is guaranteed to reach
both audiences, and can be customized to play to the strengths
of each email format. Focus on creating an attractive layout
with a lot of content if you are writing an HTML email.
If you are creating text emails, be straight to the point,
come out with what you want to sell and don't try to include
much else, that way your users aren't intimidated by the
length. Focus on meeting a diverse number of customer's
needs and your marketing will be better off.
