Is minimalism nonetheless in? Is it higher to maintain it easy, silly? Or must you attempt to stun your subscribers with animated photographs and colours galore? Plain textual content versus HTML emails: which one must you use on your subsequent e-mail marketing campaign?
When e-mail entrepreneurs and builders take a look at an interactive e-mail marketing campaign with an eye-popping design, they could see a masterpiece. However the reality is, there are some individuals who take a look at emails like that and see nothing however slick advertising and marketing. They usually don’t actually belief it both.
So, what’s the best selection on your advertising and marketing technique? Do you have to be sending plain textual content emails or are engaging HTML emails higher at getting individuals to interact and convert?
First, let’s ensure we perceive the technical variations between these two sorts of emails. Then, let’s talk about an strategy that will provide you with and your listing the very best of each worlds.
What’s a plain textual content e-mail?
Okay, this sounds a bit of self-explanatory, however bear with us. A plain textual content e-mail is an e-mail message that solely contains textual content. There aren’t any photographs, graphics, columns, layouts, or formatting. Your reader’s e-mail consumer renders the font as their default e-mail font. To not point out, hyperlinks aren’t hidden. As an alternative, they’re absolutely written out.
Right here’s an instance of a plain textual content model from one in all our newsletters:
Appears to be like fairly boring, proper? However generally, boring isn’t a nasty factor. Let’s take a detour to take a look at HTML emails earlier than we unpack their variations and undergo some execs and cons of each. Hold tight. We’ll present you the place plain textual content emails shine!
What’s an HTML e-mail?
Whereas a plain textual content e-mail retains issues minimal and, effectively, plain… HTML emails are the precise reverse… at the least they definitely have the potential to be way more.
Whereas there are limits to what you are able to do with HTML and CSS in e-mail growth, the large distinction between the 2 is using any code in any respect. HTML emails will embrace parts like headings, completely different fonts, photographs, hyperlinks, buttons, animations, carousels, and even interactivity.
Check out this HTML model of an E mail on Acid e-newsletter:
Much less boring than the plain textual content model, proper? However with nice energy comes nice duty. When utilizing HTML, you’ll must concentrate on a brand new batch of points, like making your emails accessible to all of your readers and creating responsive designs to accommodate subscribers who open your emails on cell units.
Plus, the most important problem with creating HTML emails is inconsistent rendering amongst e-mail purchasers. The HTML and CSS code that works in Apple Mail, might look completely different in Gmail, and horrible in Outlook inboxes. Fact be informed that’s why an e-mail testing and optimization platform like ours exists.
Plain textual content vs HTML emails: What are the variations?
Visible variations apart, what makes an HTML e-mail higher (or worse) than sending plain textual content messages to your subscribers?
Alright, brace your self. This isn’t a plain textual content e-mail:
What? It’s nothing however textual content and hyperlinks, proper? Aha! However there are hyperlinks with anchor textual content on this message. Meaning there must be some HTML code making it occur. In our authentic instance of a plain textual content e-newsletter, the stay hyperlinks have been all full URLs.
HTML emails aren’t only for advertising and marketing. In case you composed an e-mail in Gmail and also you added an emoji, bolded some textual content, or included a hyperlink – it wasn’t plain textual content in any respect. Listed here are three key variations between plain textual content and HTML emails:
| HTML e-mails | Plain textual content e-mails | |
|---|---|---|
| Hyperlinks | You possibly can set the anchor textual content for hyperlinks. | The anchor textual content is the URL itself. |
| Columns and sections | You possibly can design as many or as few columns and sections as you want. HTML creates a good way to visually break up the textual content. | You possibly can’t create columns or sections. However you possibly can create areas between strains of textual content – moreover that, there’s no different method to create layouts. |
| Fonts and styling | Utilizing HTML and CSS, you possibly can specify font kind, colour, and dimension. Use font stacks for unsupported fonts. | Your textual content all the time renders with the e-mail consumer’s default font. |
Let’s break issues down a bit of additional. What are among the particular benefits or disadvantages of sending your listing plain textual content emails versus these with plenty of design and performance?
HTML e-mail execs and cons
| HTML e-mail benefits | HTML e-mail challenges |
|---|---|
| Design flexibility: Code emails to be colourful, partaking, multimedia experiences. | Inconsistent e-mail consumer assist: Your e-mail designs might not render as desired in some mailboxes. Meaning it received’t look or perform as anticipated. |
| Thrilling inbox experiences: Add personalization with dynamic content material, graphics, variable mapping, and extra. | Accessibility: Additional steps have to be taken to ensure subscribers of all talents can view and have interaction with HTML emails. |
| Efficiency monitoring: HTML emails present a whole lot of metrics to assist entrepreneurs measure success | Mail Privateness Safety: New security measures forestall monitoring pixels from precisely reporting metrics corresponding to e-mail opens. |
Plain textual content e-mail execs and cons
| Plain textual content e-mail benefits | Plain textual content e-mail challenges |
|---|---|
| Constant show: You received’t want to check how plain textual content emails render. The one distinction would be the e-mail consumer’s default font. | Low engagement: It’s robust to persuade individuals to learn and click on with nothing however boring textual content. |
| Look private: These messages typically appear like easy emails from as a substitute of fancy advertising and marketing. They’re additionally accessible for individuals utilizing display studying software program. | Lack of branding: Your emails received’t have the ability to embrace your model’s brand or comply with any of your most popular type pointers. |
| Deliverability: Plain textual content emails are barely much less more likely to be filtered into spam folders. | Lack of monitoring: With out the power so as to add monitoring pixels or UTMs, you received’t get any data on open charges or different e-mail metrics. |
Plain textual content vs HTML emails: Do I’ve to decide on one?
Right here’s the factor – you don’t actually have to decide on. HTML and plain textual content emails shine in other places, they usually complement one another very effectively. So why not ship each on the similar time?
This is called Multipurpose Web Mail Extensions (MIME). Most e-mail service suppliers (ESPs) can convert HTML to plain textual content so you possibly can ship each on the similar time. Then, your reader’s e-mail consumer can select what model to position in your readers’ inboxes primarily based on their specs.
Minimalist e-mail design: A cheerful medium
Guess what? There’s a method to get among the better of each worlds. By that, we clearly imply you possibly can ship HTML emails which have the appear and feel of a plain textual content e-mail.
The fantastic thing about HTML e-mail design is you get to resolve how a lot branding, imagery, colour, and interactivity goes into it. Because it seems, anti-branding and minimalism are two very talked-about e-mail design tendencies.
Minimalist graphic design methods make use of unpolluted strains, loads of white house, and restricted or monochromatic colour palettes. Consider a minimalist e-mail as being a plain textual content e-mail with only a few important prospers. Anti-branding is a motion through which customers attempt to keep away from huge, company manufacturers. It’s a type of model aversion, which is principally the alternative of name loyalty. Right here’s how Envato describes the anti-branding design development:
“The anti-branding development typically options monochromatic packaging, barely-there branding, and minimalist messaging…”
Kelsie Rimmer, Envato Author
With a minimalist e-mail design, you may make the marketing campaign really feel extra like a private message. Right here’s an instance from E mail on Acid. We requested our clients to participate in a survey.
The e-mail above positively isn’t plain textual content solely. It features a brand, headings, a button, textual content formatting, and hyperlinks. So we clearly used HTML and CSS to construct it. However when mixed with the message, it feels much less like pushy advertising and marketing. As an alternative, it has the extra private feel and appear of a plain textual content e-mail.
When to make use of minimalist e-mail designs
There are some conditions through which mimicking a plain textual content e-mail could possibly be a greater strategy than designing one thing flashy and sophisticated. Let’s check out the sorts of emails through which minimalism might assist maximize your outcomes.
Gross sales outreach emails
We’ve all most likely obtained a couple of emails from gross sales reps seeking to arrange a demo. They give the impression of being private, they usually often look pretty plain. However there’s a excessive probability they’re really automated HTML emails.
Gross sales outreach emails, particularly chilly gross sales emails, want that non-public angle. It’s extra necessary to start out a fascinating, private dialog than to wow them together with your e-mail design capabilities. Because of this, it’s most likely higher to make use of a minimalist design strategy.
Vital bulletins
Generally, e-mail is used for disaster administration. In case you have vital data to go alongside to your listing, it’s possible you’ll not have time to develop an HTML e-mail. And truthfully, it might not be applicable given the circumstances. When the COVID-19 pandemic started, the precedence wasn’t having flashy emails, the aim was getting messages about security and availability out to the general public.
Nonetheless, a bit of little bit of branding makes these sorts of emails look skilled and makes it clear who they got here from.
Transactional emails
Transactional emails, like order confirmations or password reset emails, might be plain textual content emails. You don’t really want to trace these emails. Plus, it lowers the technical overhead of coding HTML e-mail templates. Your readers are skimming these transactional emails for data, so it’s finest to maintain them quick and to the purpose.
Nevertheless, a bit of little bit of design can increase model recall and create a extra memorable and even fulfilling e-mail expertise. Have a look at the best way Nike designed this order affirmation e-mail. Get extra concepts for transactional e-mail design.
What about advertising and marketing emails and e-newsletter design?
You definitely can use minimalist e-mail design for newsletters and promotions. Nevertheless, in the event you’ve bought a colourful model, eye-catching merchandise, or partaking imagery in your content material, you would possibly need to do one thing greater than minimal. Plus, in the event you’ve bought a proficient e-mail workforce, you’ll need them to get inventive, construct stunning HTML emails, and push the envelope of what’s potential contained in the inbox.
Finally, what works finest comes right down to what your audience (or on this case your listing) responds to. For instance, the Sinch E mail manufacturers have completely different personas that reply higher to sure issues.
- Mailgun by Sinch is for a technical viewers together with software program engineers and IT professionals. We’ve discovered they reply higher to messages and designs which might be much less pushy and flashy – extra like plain textual content emails.
- E mail on Acid by Sinch tends to draw those that are severe about e-mail growth and need to attempt new issues. So, we attempt to replicate a few of that in our campaigns and newsletters.
- Mailjet by Sinch has an viewers that features individuals from all kinds of selling roles, together with designers. So, they’re extra seemingly to reply to an e-mail through which it’s clear somebody frolicked contemplating design and technique.
There might even make certain segments of your listing that want one kind of e-mail design to a different. However how are you aware what works?
Take the time to check your emails
There are two sorts of testing that may allow you to perceive your viewers/subscribers and take your e-mail program to the following stage:
- A/B testing (aka break up testing): Take two completely different parts or designs and take a look at the efficiency of 1 possibility towards the opposite. You may begin by testing how an HTML e-mail with a busier design performs in comparison with a plain model with a minimalist strategy. When you’ve bought your reply, residence in on particular design parts, like imagery and CTAs. Discover out extra about e-mail A/B testing and get some guidelines for doing it proper.
- E mail pre-send testing: This type of e-mail testing is a part of high quality assurance. It ensures you ship campaigns that render persistently throughout completely different purchasers and units. It’s extraordinarily necessary for all sorts of HTML emails and it helps A/B testing too. That’s since you’ll need to ship a constant design to get correct outcomes from a break up take a look at.
E mail on Acid provides limitless pre-send testing with all our plans. Meaning you possibly can excellent your HTML e-mail designs and put your finest e-mail ahead with out worrying about working out of previews.
Writer: The E mail on Acid Crew
The E mail on Acid content material workforce is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up e-mail geeks.
Join with us on LinkedIn, comply with us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on e-mail advertising and marketing.
Writer: The E mail on Acid Crew
The E mail on Acid content material workforce is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up e-mail geeks.
Join with us on LinkedIn, comply with us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on e-mail advertising and marketing.
