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 have a look at an interactive e-mail marketing campaign with an eye-popping design, they might 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 suitable selection on your advertising and marketing technique? Do you have to be sending plain textual content emails or are enticing HTML emails higher at getting folks to have interaction and convert?
First, let’s make sure that we perceive the technical variations between these two varieties of emails. Then, let’s focus on an method that will offer you and your checklist the very best of each worlds.
What’s a plain textual content e-mail?
Okay, this sounds somewhat 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 shopper renders the font as their default e-mail font. To not point out, hyperlinks aren’t hidden. As a substitute, they’re absolutely written out.
Right here’s an instance of a plain textual content model from considered one of our newsletters:
Appears to be like fairly boring, proper? However typically, boring isn’t a foul factor. Let’s take a detour to have a look at HTML emails earlier than we unpack their variations and undergo some professionals and cons of each. Dangle 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… a minimum of they actually 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 improvement, the massive distinction between the 2 is using any code in any respect. HTML emails will embody components like headings, totally different fonts, photographs, hyperlinks, buttons, animations, carousels, and even interactivity.
Check out this HTML model of an Electronic mail on Acid e-newsletter:
Much less boring than the plain textual content model, proper? However with nice energy comes nice accountability. When utilizing HTML, you’ll must 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 units.
Plus, the most important problem with creating HTML emails is inconsistent rendering amongst e-mail shoppers. The HTML and CSS code that works in Apple Mail, might look totally different in Gmail, and horrible in Outlook inboxes. Fact be advised 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. Which means there needs to 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 and marketing. In the event 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 below are three key variations between plain textual content and HTML emails:
| HTML e-mails | Plain textual content e-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 an effective way to visually break up the textual content. | You’ll be able to’t create columns or sections. However you may create areas between strains of textual content – apart from that, there’s no different method to create layouts. |
| Fonts and styling | Utilizing HTML and CSS, you may specify font sort, coloration, and measurement. Use font stacks for unsupported fonts. | Your textual content all the time renders with the e-mail shopper’s default font. |
Let’s break issues down somewhat additional. What are a number of the particular benefits or disadvantages of sending your checklist plain textual content emails versus these with a number of design and performance?
HTML e-mail professionals and cons
| HTML e-mail benefits | HTML e-mail challenges |
|---|---|
| Design flexibility: Code emails to be colourful, partaking, multimedia experiences. | Inconsistent e-mail shopper help: Your e-mail designs might not render as desired in some mailboxes. Which means it received’t look or perform as anticipated. |
| Thrilling inbox experiences: Add personalization with dynamic content material, graphics, variable mapping, and extra. | Accessibility: Further steps have to be taken to ensure subscribers of all skills can view and interact with HTML emails. |
| Efficiency monitoring: HTML emails present quite a lot of metrics to assist entrepreneurs measure success | Mail Privateness Safety: New security measures forestall monitoring pixels from precisely reporting metrics similar to e-mail opens. |
Plain textual content e-mail professionals 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 shopper’s default font. | Low engagement: It’s robust to persuade folks 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 folks utilizing display studying software program. | Lack of branding: Your emails received’t be capable of embody your model’s emblem or comply with any of your most popular fashion 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 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 may ship each on the similar time. Then, your reader’s e-mail shopper can select what model to put in your readers’ inboxes based mostly on their specs.
Minimalist e-mail design: A contented medium
Guess what? There’s a method to get a number of the better of each worlds. By that, we clearly imply you may 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, coloration, and interactivity goes into it. Because it seems, anti-branding and minimalism are two very talked-about e-mail design tendencies.
Minimalist graphic design strategies make use of unpolluted strains, loads of white house, and restricted or monochromatic coloration 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 by which customers attempt to keep away from huge, company manufacturers. It’s a type of model aversion, which is mainly the other of brand 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 can also make the marketing campaign really feel extra like a private message. Right here’s an instance from Electronic 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 emblem, 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 a substitute, 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 by which mimicking a plain textual content e-mail may very well be a greater method than designing one thing flashy and sophisticated. Let’s check out the varieties of emails by which minimalism might assist maximize your outcomes.
Gross sales outreach emails
We’ve all in all probability obtained a number of emails from gross sales reps trying to arrange a demo. They give the impression of being private, they usually normally 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 vital to begin an enticing, private dialog than to wow them together with your e-mail design capabilities. Because of this, it’s in all probability higher to make use of a minimalist design method.
Vital bulletins
Generally, e-mail is used for disaster administration. You probably have crucial data to go alongside to your checklist, you could not have time to develop an HTML e-mail. And actually, it will 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, somewhat 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 data, so it’s greatest to maintain them quick and to the purpose.
Nonetheless, somewhat little bit of design can increase model recall and create a extra memorable and even pleasurable e-mail expertise. Take 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 actually can use minimalist e-mail design for newsletters and promotions. Nonetheless, in the event you’ve acquired a colourful model, eye-catching merchandise, or partaking imagery in your content material, you may need to do one thing greater than minimal. Plus, in the event you’ve acquired a gifted e-mail crew, you’ll need them to get artistic, construct stunning HTML emails, and push the envelope of what’s doable contained in the inbox.
In the end, what works greatest comes all the way down to what your audience (or on this case your checklist) responds to. For instance, the Sinch Electronic 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 can be much less pushy and flashy – extra like plain textual content emails.
- Electronic mail on Acid by Sinch tends to draw those that are severe about e-mail improvement 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 folks from all kinds of selling roles, together with designers. So, they’re extra doubtless to reply to an e-mail by which it’s clear somebody frolicked contemplating design and technique.
There might even make certain segments of your checklist that desire one sort of e-mail design to a different. However how are you aware what works?
Take the time to check your emails
There are two varieties of testing that may show you how to perceive your viewers/subscribers and take your e-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 possibility 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 method. When you’ve acquired your reply, dwelling 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.
- Electronic 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 totally different shoppers and units. It’s extraordinarily vital 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 cut up take a look at.
Electronic mail on Acid presents limitless pre-send testing with all our plans. Which means you may good your HTML e-mail designs and put your greatest e-mail ahead with out worrying about operating out of previews.
Writer: The Electronic mail on Acid Group
The Electronic mail on Acid content material crew 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 Electronic mail on Acid Group
The Electronic mail on Acid content material crew 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.
