Is minimalism nonetheless in? Is it higher to maintain it easy, silly? Or do you have to attempt to stun your subscribers with animated pictures and colours galore? Plain textual content versus HTML emails: which one do you have to use to your subsequent electronic mail marketing campaign?
When electronic mail entrepreneurs and builders take a look at an interactive electronic mail marketing campaign with an eye-popping design, they could see a masterpiece. However the fact is, there are some individuals who take a look at emails like that and see nothing however slick advertising. They usually don’t actually belief it both.
So, what’s the suitable selection to your advertising technique? Do you have to be sending plain textual content emails or are enticing HTML emails higher at getting individuals to interact and convert?
First, let’s be sure that we perceive the technical variations between these two sorts of emails. Then, let’s focus on an strategy that will offer you and your listing the very best of each worlds.
What’s a plain textual content electronic mail?
Okay, this sounds slightly self-explanatory, however bear with us. A plain textual content electronic mail is an electronic mail message that solely consists of textual content. There aren’t any pictures, graphics, columns, layouts, or formatting. Your reader’s electronic mail consumer renders the font as their default electronic mail font. To not point out, hyperlinks aren’t hidden. As an alternative, they’re totally written out.
Right here’s an instance of a plain textual content model from one in all our newsletters:
Appears fairly boring, proper? However generally, boring isn’t a foul factor. Let’s take a detour to take a look at HTML emails earlier than we unpack their variations and undergo some professionals and cons of each. Grasp tight. We’ll present you the place plain textual content emails shine!
What’s an HTML electronic mail?
Whereas a plain textual content electronic mail retains issues minimal and, properly, 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 electronic mail growth, the massive distinction between the 2 is the usage of any code in any respect. HTML emails will embrace components like headings, totally different fonts, pictures, 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 need to 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 cellular units.
Plus, the largest problem with creating HTML emails is inconsistent rendering amongst electronic mail shoppers. The HTML and CSS code that works in Apple Mail, might look totally different in Gmail, and horrible in Outlook inboxes. Reality be informed that’s why an electronic 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 electronic mail higher (or worse) than sending plain textual content messages to your subscribers?
Alright, brace your self. This isn’t a plain textual content electronic 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 unique instance of a plain textual content e-newsletter, the dwell hyperlinks have been all full URLs.
HTML emails aren’t only for advertising. If you happen to composed an electronic 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 electronic mails | Plain textual content electronic mails | |
|---|---|---|
| Hyperlinks | You’ll be able to set the anchor textual content for hyperlinks. | The anchor textual content is the URL itself. |
| Columns and sections | You’ll be able to 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’ll be able to’t create columns or sections. However you’ll be able to create areas between traces of textual content – moreover that, there’s no different option to create layouts. |
| Fonts and styling | Utilizing HTML and CSS, you’ll be able to specify font kind, shade, and measurement. 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 slightly additional. What are a few of the particular benefits or disadvantages of sending your listing plain textual content emails versus these with a lot of design and performance?
HTML electronic mail professionals and cons
| HTML electronic mail benefits | HTML electronic mail challenges |
|---|---|
| Design flexibility: Code emails to be colourful, participating, multimedia experiences. | Inconsistent electronic mail consumer help: Your electronic mail designs might not render as desired in some mailboxes. Meaning it gained’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 equivalent to electronic mail opens. |
Plain textual content electronic mail professionals and cons
| Plain textual content electronic mail benefits | Plain textual content electronic mail challenges |
|---|---|
| Constant show: You gained’t want to check how plain textual content emails render. The one distinction would be the electronic 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 usually appear like easy emails from as a substitute of fancy advertising. They’re additionally accessible for individuals utilizing display screen studying software program. | Lack of branding: Your emails gained’t have the ability to embrace your model’s brand or comply with any of your most popular model pointers. |
| Deliverability: Plain textual content emails are barely much less more likely to be filtered into spam folders. | Lack of monitoring: With out the flexibility so as to add monitoring pixels or UTMs, you gained’t get any data on open charges or different electronic 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, and so they complement one another very properly. So why not ship each on the similar time?
This is named Multipurpose Web Mail Extensions (MIME). Most electronic mail service suppliers (ESPs) can convert HTML to plain textual content so you’ll be able to ship each on the similar time. Then, your reader’s electronic mail consumer can select what model to position in your readers’ inboxes based mostly on their specs.
Minimalist electronic mail design: A cheerful medium
Guess what? There’s a option to get a few of the better of each worlds. By that, we clearly imply you’ll be able to ship HTML emails which have the feel and appear of a plain textual content electronic mail.
The fantastic thing about HTML electronic mail design is you get to resolve how a lot branding, imagery, shade, and interactivity goes into it. Because it seems, anti-branding and minimalism are two highly regarded electronic mail design traits.
Minimalist graphic design strategies make use of fresh traces, loads of white area, and restricted or monochromatic shade palettes. Consider a minimalist electronic mail as being a plain textual content electronic mail with only a few important prospers. Anti-branding is a motion during which customers attempt to keep away from large, company manufacturers. It’s a type of model aversion, which is mainly the alternative of brand name loyalty. Right here’s how Envato describes the anti-branding design pattern:
“The anti-branding pattern usually options monochromatic packaging, barely-there branding, and minimalist messaging…”
Kelsie Rimmer, Envato Author
With a minimalist electronic mail design, you can also make the marketing campaign really feel extra like a private message. Right here’s an instance from E-mail on Acid. We requested our prospects 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. As an alternative, it has the extra private appear and feel of a plain textual content electronic mail.
When to make use of minimalist electronic mail designs
There are some conditions during which mimicking a plain textual content electronic mail could possibly be a greater strategy than designing one thing flashy and sophisticated. Let’s check out the sorts of emails during which minimalism might assist maximize your outcomes.
Gross sales outreach emails
We’ve all most likely obtained just a few emails from gross sales reps seeking to arrange a demo. They give the impression of being private, and so they often look pretty plain. However there’s a excessive probability they’re truly automated HTML emails.
Gross sales outreach emails, particularly chilly gross sales emails, want that non-public angle. It’s extra necessary to begin an enticing, private dialog than to wow them along with your electronic mail design capabilities. For that reason, it’s most likely higher to make use of a minimalist design strategy.
Necessary bulletins
Generally, electronic mail is used for disaster administration. In case you have crucial info to cross alongside to your listing, chances are you’ll not have time to develop an HTML electronic 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 objective was getting messages about security and availability out to the general public.
Nonetheless, slightly 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, could be plain textual content emails. You don’t actually need to trace these emails. Plus, it lowers the technical overhead of coding HTML electronic mail templates. Your readers are skimming these transactional emails for info, so it’s finest to maintain them quick and to the purpose.
Nonetheless, slightly little bit of design can enhance model recall and create a extra memorable and even pleasing electronic mail expertise. Take a look at the best way Nike designed this order affirmation electronic mail. Get extra concepts for transactional electronic mail design.
What about advertising emails and e-newsletter design?
You definitely can use minimalist electronic mail design for newsletters and promotions. Nonetheless, when you’ve bought a colourful model, eye-catching merchandise, or participating imagery in your content material, you would possibly need to do one thing greater than minimal. Plus, when you’ve bought a gifted electronic mail staff, you’ll need them to get inventive, construct lovely HTML emails, and push the envelope of what’s attainable contained in the inbox.
In the end, what works finest comes all the way down to what your target market (or on this case your listing) responds to. For instance, the Sinch E-mail manufacturers have totally 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 are 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 electronic 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 types of promoting roles, together with designers. So, they’re extra possible to answer an electronic mail during which it’s clear somebody frolicked contemplating design and technique.
There might even make certain segments of your listing that favor one kind of electronic 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 provide help to perceive your viewers/subscribers and take your electronic mail program to the subsequent stage:
- A/B testing (aka cut up testing): Take two totally different components or designs and take a look at the efficiency of 1 choice towards the opposite. You possibly can begin by testing how an HTML electronic mail with a busier design performs in comparison with a plain model with a minimalist strategy. When you’ve bought your reply, dwelling in on particular design components, like imagery and CTAs. Discover out extra about electronic mail A/B testing and get some guidelines for doing it proper.
- E-mail pre-send testing: This type of electronic mail testing is a part of high quality assurance. It ensures you ship campaigns that render constantly throughout totally different shoppers and units. It’s extraordinarily necessary for every type 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 cut up take a look at.
E-mail on Acid affords limitless pre-send testing with all our plans. Meaning you’ll be able to good your HTML electronic mail designs and put your finest electronic mail ahead with out worrying about operating out of previews.
Writer: The E-mail on Acid Staff
The E-mail on Acid content material staff is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up electronic 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 electronic mail advertising.
Writer: The E-mail on Acid Staff
The E-mail on Acid content material staff is made up of digital entrepreneurs, content material creators, and straight-up electronic 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 electronic mail advertising.
