Plain Text Email vs HTML Email

Source: Jay Chambers

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Here are the pros and cons you have to take into account when considering plain text OR HTML:

Plain Text:

PROS:

• Displays well in most email clients and devices

• Looks like a personal message

CONS:

• Need to type out full URL for a link

• No colors or graphics

• Harder to format for easy reading

• Can only use one column

• Click tracking can be done, but ugly long tracking links have to be used and must be typed in full and cannot be hidden by an anchor. Open rate tracking is pretty much out of the question, but you can get an idea of opens as clickers on your emails must have opened them in the first place!

PRO TIP: If you are using a long ugly tracking link, you can use an URL shortening service to disguise your link. For example, the following link (http://www.jaymail.net/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=Textlink&utm_campaign=ProfileLink) was shortened using bitly’s pro service to: http://jyml.me/tw1tr I use this link on my twitter page, and it links back to my home page. As you can see, the short link is much easier to work with, and the end portion can be personalized to your needs.

However, using certain shortened URL’s (such as bitly’s standard service) in your email can result in email getting marked as spam (certain spam filters pick up on short links as a way to cloak harmful links) so always check for this prior to launch!

HTML Email

PROS

• You can get more detailed stats on your messages (open rate, click rate etc)

• You can use anchors like this to hide ugly tracking links

• Can add graphical elements, color, images, call to action buttons and more

• Almost limitless options for formatting

CONS

• Can look less personal that plain text

• Images can be blocked by the email client

• Rendering in email clients is prone to breaking so time consuming testing is required

I find that html email with subtle styling/images can work well, as it’s a good middle ground between plain-text and html. This could look almost like plain text, but we can use anchor links, track our message and have more control over styling and format.

To conclude – there is no real hard and fast rule here. The only way to go is to test what works best on your list!

Image credit: Idea go