Is minimalism nonetheless in? Is it higher to maintain it easy, silly? Or do you have to attempt to stun your subscribers with animated photographs and colours galore? Plain textual content versus HTML emails: which one do you have to use to 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. 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 engaging HTML emails higher at getting folks to interact and convert?
First, let’s be certain that we perceive the technical variations between these two forms of emails. Then, let’s talk about an strategy that will offer you and your record the most effective of each worlds.
What’s a plain textual content e-mail?
Okay, this sounds a bit 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 an alternative, they’re totally written out.
Right here’s an instance of a plain textual content model from certainly one of our newsletters:
Seems to be 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 execs 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, properly, plain… HTML emails are the precise reverse… not less than 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 improvement, 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 accountability. When utilizing HTML, you’ll need to give attention to 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, could look completely different in Gmail, and horrible in Outlook inboxes. Fact be instructed 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 e-newsletter, the reside hyperlinks had been all full URLs.
HTML emails aren’t only for advertising. 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 below are three key variations between plain textual content and HTML emails:
| HTML e-mails | Plain textual content e-mails | |
|---|---|---|
| Hyperlinks | You may set the anchor textual content for hyperlinks. | The anchor textual content is the URL itself. |
| Columns and sections | You may design as many or as few columns and sections as you need. HTML creates an effective way to visually break up the textual content. | You may’t create columns or sections. However you’ll be able to create areas between strains of textual content – moreover that, there’s no different strategy to create layouts. |
| Fonts and styling | Utilizing HTML and CSS, you’ll be able to specify font sort, shade, and dimension. 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 a bit additional. What are a number of 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 could 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: Further steps have to be taken to verify subscribers of all skills can view and have interaction with HTML emails. |
| Efficiency monitoring: HTML emails present lots of metrics to assist entrepreneurs measure success | Mail Privateness Safety: New safety features forestall monitoring pixels from precisely reporting metrics akin 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 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 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. They’re additionally accessible for folks utilizing display screen studying software program. | Lack of branding: Your emails gained’t be capable to embrace your model’s emblem or observe any of your most popular fashion tips. |
| 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 gained’t get any information 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, and so they complement one another very properly. 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’ll be able to 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 strategy to get a number of the better of each worlds. By that, we clearly imply you’ll be able to ship HTML emails which have the appear and feel of a plain textual content e-mail.
The great thing about HTML e-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 very fashionable e-mail design developments.
Minimalist graphic design strategies make use of fresh strains, loads of white house, and restricted or monochromatic shade palettes. Consider a minimalist e-mail as being a plain textual content e-mail with only a few important thrives. Anti-branding is a motion by which shoppers attempt to keep away from huge, company manufacturers. It’s a type of model aversion, which is mainly the other of name loyalty. Right here’s how Envato describes the anti-branding design pattern:
“The anti-branding pattern 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 prospects 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. As an alternative, it has the extra private feel and look 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 strategy than designing one thing flashy and complicated. Let’s check out the forms of emails by which minimalism might assist maximize your outcomes.
Gross sales outreach emails
We’ve all in all probability obtained just a few emails from gross sales reps trying to arrange a demo. They appear 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 start out an interesting, 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 strategy.
Vital bulletins
Typically, e-mail is used for disaster administration. When you have essential info to cross alongside to your record, it’s possible you’ll 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 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, might be plain textual content emails. You don’t actually need 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 finest to maintain them brief and to the purpose.
Nonetheless, a bit little bit of design can enhance 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 emails and e-newsletter design?
You definitely can use minimalist e-mail design for newsletters and promotions. Nonetheless, if you happen to’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, if you happen to’ve bought a proficient e-mail workforce, you’ll need them to get artistic, construct lovely HTML emails, and push the envelope of what’s potential contained in the inbox.
In the end, what works finest comes right down to what your target market (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 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 e-mail improvement 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 folks from all types of selling roles, together with designers. So, they’re extra seemingly to answer an e-mail by which it’s clear somebody hung out contemplating design and technique.
There could even make certain segments of your record 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 forms of testing that may assist you to perceive your viewers/subscribers and take your e-mail program to the following degree:
- A/B testing (aka break up testing): Take two completely different parts or designs and check the efficiency of 1 choice towards the opposite. You possibly 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, dwelling 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 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 wish to ship a constant design to get correct outcomes from a break up check.
E-mail on Acid gives limitless pre-send testing with all our plans. Meaning you’ll be able to good your HTML e-mail designs and put your finest e-mail ahead with out worrying about working out of previews.
Creator: 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, observe us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on e-mail advertising.
Creator: 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, observe us on Fb, and tweet at @EmailonAcid on Twitter for extra candy stuff and nice convos on e-mail advertising.
