Adestra

A Client asked me this question recently. They are currently using plain text emails to promote their publications and have great deliverability – but the question is, are they making the most of the channel?

When it comes to email marketing the debate still rages over what’s best – HTML or plain text email formats.

Here is the lowdown:

HTML contains images and colours. Plain text emails on the other hand look exactly how they are named, emails that contain only text – no colours, graphics or formatting.

There are advantages and disadvantages of both types of email formats:

Advantages of using plain text emails

• All email clients will display the plain text emails correctly so you know that the recipients will see what you see.
• Looks more like a personal message.
• Blackberries handle plain text much better than HTML

Disadvantages of using plain text emails

• You cannot track open rates in Plain text emails.
• Colours and graphics can’t be used, which means that the email will lack visual impact.
• People scan emails, which is harder to do with text-only emails – will your call to action stand out?

Advantages of using HTML emails

• One of the golden rules of marketing is tracking the results – open rates can only be tracked with HTML email.
• Colours and graphics can be used and are important for creating a visual impact and especially important when you’re attempting to portray a brand image.
• It’s easier for the recipient to scan HTML emails.
• Text links can be made clickable.

Disadvantages of using HTML emails

• Some email clients are text-only (but these tend to be the really old ones), therefore your HTML email will be displayed as code, making it illegible for the recipient. That is why you MUST send multi part email messages (HTML and Text – this way the email client will accept the version it can render).
• Images are often blocked, thereby removing some of the visual advantage of HTML emails and will also affect the open rate (we only know an email has been opened when the images are downloaded from the server).

So overall, the choice is yours! But the advantages of using HTML far outweigh the disadvantages.

Reena Mistry, Client Strategy Consultant

This question just keeps coming up with our Clients weighing up which subscription procedure is the better one for them – standard opt-in or confirmed double opt-in.

Both sign up procedures are fine from a legal point of view, but when it comes to getting relevant and qualified addresses for you to grow there is a clear winner.

Standard opt-in

This is when there is no confirmation of sign up. This method can generate more subscribers as it’s quicker to complete, but unsubscribe rates are higher and spam complaints occur more often.  This method is also susceptible to Fraudulent email addresses, especially when running subscription offers or incentives.

Confirmed double opt-in

Confirmed double opt-in (sometimes called double opt-in/closed loop) asks subscribers to confirm their email address/subscription by clicking on a link sent to them by email. The confirmed double opt-in process gives you with an audit trail, so if in the unlikely event of a complaint you can prove their subscription.  You will find that marginally fewer people will subscribe via the confirmed double opt-in process because of the extra step asking them to confirm their subscription, but you will generate high-qualified and relevant addresses delivering higher response rates, less spam complaints and lower unsubscribe rates.

And so which should you use?

The clear winner is the confirmed double opt-in subscription process. We recommend the confirmed double opt-in process to all of our Clients, which helps to ensure they are growing their database but also building a list of qualified, relevant subscribers that they can develop.

Reena Mistry, Client Strategy Consultant

Growing your database is likely to be high on your list when it comes to your email marketing strategy. So how do you get browsers to opt-in to your newsletter?

1. Make sure your signup is visible on site (you may know where it is but do your prospective subscribers?)  In my experience the optimum placement for this is on the header of your website, this way is doesn’t matter where they land on your site it will always be on the top of the page.

2. Incentivise – give them a reason to sign up.

3. Keep it short and sweet – only ask for the information you are going to use – Name, email address and email preference HTML or Plain Text (you can always append data at a later stage).

4. Show them an example – manage their expectations, make sure they know what they are going to receive.

5. Link to your privacy policy – if you are not going to sell your data to third parties highlight the fact since  it may encourage opt-in.

6. Validation – run validation scripts within the opt-in form to ensure the correct make-up of the email address. After all you want to be able to mail them.

If you are not sure what to do first then test one thing at a time, see if it increases your subscription rate.

Remember… There is no exact science, so test and find out what works best for your site and your browsers.

Hollie Williams, Client Strategy Consultant