Is minimalism nonetheless in? Is it higher to maintain it easy, silly? Or do you have to attempt to stun your subscribers with animated photos and colours galore? Plain textual content versus HTML emails: which one do you have to use in your subsequent e-mail marketing campaign?
When e-mail entrepreneurs and builders have a look at an interactive e-mail marketing campaign with an eye-popping design, they could see a masterpiece. However the fact is, there are some individuals who have 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 precise alternative in your advertising and marketing technique? Must you be sending plain textual content emails or are enticing HTML emails higher at getting individuals to have interaction and convert?
First, let’s be certain that we perceive the technical variations between these two sorts of emails. Then, let’s focus on an strategy which will provide you with and your record the very best of each worlds.
What’s a plain textual content e-mail?
Okay, this sounds a little bit self-explanatory, however bear with us. A plain textual content e-mail is an e-mail message that solely consists of textual content. There aren’t any photos, graphics, columns, layouts, or formatting. Your reader’s e-mail shopper 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 every of our newsletters:
Seems to be fairly boring, proper? However generally, boring isn’t a nasty factor. Let’s take a detour to have a look at HTML emails earlier than we unpack their variations and undergo some execs and cons of each. Grasp 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… not less than they definitely have the potential to be rather 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 the usage of any code in any respect. HTML emails will embody components like headings, completely different fonts, photos, hyperlinks, buttons, animations, carousels, and even interactivity.
Check out this HTML model of an E-mail on Acid publication:
Much less boring than the plain textual content model, proper? However with nice energy comes nice accountability. When utilizing HTML, you’ll should deal with 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 cellular gadgets.
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. Reality 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 needs to be some HTML code making it occur. In our authentic instance of a plain textual content publication, the dwell hyperlinks have been all full URLs.
HTML emails aren’t only for advertising and marketing. If you happen to 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 an effective way to visually break up the textual content. | You possibly can’t create columns or sections. However you possibly can create areas between traces of textual content – in addition to that, there’s no different method to create layouts. |
| Fonts and styling | Utilizing HTML and CSS, you possibly can specify font sort, shade, and measurement. Use font stacks for unsupported fonts. | Your textual content at all times renders with the e-mail shopper’s default font. |
Let’s break issues down a little bit additional. What are among the particular benefits or disadvantages of sending your record 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, participating, multimedia experiences. | Inconsistent e-mail shopper help: Your e-mail designs might not render as desired in some mailboxes. Meaning it gained’t look or operate as anticipated. |
| Thrilling inbox experiences: Add personalization with dynamic content material, graphics, variable mapping, and extra. | Accessibility: Further steps should be taken to ensure subscribers of all skills can view and interact with HTML emails. |
| Efficiency monitoring: HTML emails present lots of metrics to assist entrepreneurs measure success | Mail Privateness Safety: New security measures forestall monitoring pixels from precisely reporting metrics resembling 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 gained’t want to check how plain textual content emails render. The one distinction would be the e-mail shopper’s default font. | Low engagement: It’s powerful to persuade individuals to learn and click on with nothing however boring textual content. |
| Look private: These messages typically appear to be easy emails from as an alternative of fancy advertising and marketing. They’re additionally accessible for individuals utilizing display screen studying software program. | Lack of branding: Your emails gained’t be capable to embody your model’s brand or observe any of your most popular model tips. |
| Deliverability: Plain textual content emails are barely much less prone to be filtered into spam folders. | Lack of monitoring: With out the power so as to add monitoring pixels or UTMs, you gained’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 somewhere else, they usually complement one another very effectively. So why not ship each on the similar time?
This is named 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 shopper can select what model to put in your readers’ inboxes primarily based on their specs.
Minimalist e-mail design: A contented 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 feel and appear of a plain textual content e-mail.
The fantastic thing about HTML e-mail design is you get to determine how a lot branding, imagery, shade, and interactivity goes into it. Because it seems, anti-branding and minimalism are two very talked-about e-mail design developments.
Minimalist graphic design methods make use of unpolluted traces, loads of white area, and restricted or monochromatic shade 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 during which shoppers attempt to keep away from large, company manufacturers. It’s a type of model aversion, which is mainly 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 undoubtedly 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 during which mimicking a plain textual content e-mail may very well be a greater strategy than designing one thing flashy and complicated. Let’s check out the sorts of emails during which minimalism might assist maximize your outcomes.
Gross sales outreach emails
We’ve all in all probability acquired a couple of emails from gross sales reps seeking to arrange a demo. They appear private, they usually normally look pretty plain. However there’s a excessive chance they’re truly automated HTML emails.
Gross sales outreach emails, particularly chilly gross sales emails, want that private angle. It’s extra essential to begin an interesting, private dialog than to wow them together with your e-mail design capabilities. For that reason, it’s in all probability higher to make use of a minimalist design strategy.
Essential bulletins
Typically, e-mail is used for disaster administration. If in case you have essential info to cross alongside to your record, you could not have time to develop an HTML e-mail. And truthfully, it might not be acceptable 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 little bit 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, will 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 info, so it’s greatest to maintain them brief and to the purpose.
Nevertheless, a little bit little bit of design can increase model recall and create a extra memorable and even gratifying e-mail expertise. Have a look at the way in which Nike designed this order affirmation e-mail. Get extra concepts for transactional e-mail design.
What about advertising and marketing emails and publication design?
You definitely can use minimalist e-mail design for newsletters and promotions. Nevertheless, in case you’ve bought a colourful model, eye-catching merchandise, or participating imagery in your content material, you may wish to do one thing greater than minimal. Plus, in case you’ve bought a gifted e-mail staff, you’ll need them to get artistic, construct lovely HTML emails, and push the envelope of what’s attainable contained in the inbox.
Finally, what works greatest comes all the way down to what your audience (or on this case your record) 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 can be much less pushy and flashy – extra like plain textual content emails.
- E-mail on Acid by Sinch tends to draw those that are critical about e-mail growth and wish to strive new issues. So, we attempt to mirror a few of that in our campaigns and newsletters.
- Mailjet by Sinch has an viewers that features individuals from all types of promoting roles, together with designers. So, they’re extra doubtless to reply to an e-mail during which it’s clear somebody frolicked contemplating design and technique.
There might even be sure segments of your record that want one sort of e-mail design to a different. However how have you learnt what works?
Take the time to check your emails
There are two sorts of testing that may aid you perceive your viewers/subscribers and take your e-mail program to the subsequent degree:
- A/B testing (aka break up testing): Take two completely different components or designs and take a look at the efficiency of 1 choice in opposition to the opposite. You can 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, house in on particular design components, 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 gadgets. It’s extraordinarily essential for all sorts of HTML emails and it helps A/B testing too. That’s since you’ll wish to ship a constant design to get correct outcomes from a break up take a look at.
E-mail on Acid affords limitless pre-send testing with all our plans. Meaning you possibly can good your HTML e-mail designs and put your greatest e-mail ahead with out worrying about operating out of previews.
Creator: The E-mail on Acid Crew
The E-mail on Acid content material staff is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up e-mail geeks.
Join with us on LinkedIn, observe us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on e-mail advertising and marketing.
Creator: The E-mail on Acid Crew
The E-mail on Acid content material staff is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up e-mail geeks.
Join with us on LinkedIn, observe us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on e-mail advertising and marketing.
