Is minimalism nonetheless in? Is it higher to maintain it easy, silly? Or must you attempt to stun your subscribers with animated pictures and colours galore? Plain textual content versus HTML emails: which one must you use on 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 reality is, there are some individuals who take a look at emails like that and see nothing however slick advertising and marketing. They usually do not actually belief it both.
So, what’s the fitting selection on your advertising and marketing technique? Must you 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 method that will offer you and your record one of the 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 a substitute, they’re absolutely written out.
Right here’s an instance of a plain textual content model from certainly one of our newsletters:
Appears to be like fairly boring, proper? However generally, boring isn’t a nasty 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. Hold 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, nicely, plain… HTML emails are the precise reverse… a minimum of 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 large distinction between the 2 is using any code in any respect. HTML emails will embody parts like headings, completely different fonts, pictures, 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 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 cell units.
Plus, the most important problem with creating HTML emails is inconsistent rendering amongst electronic mail shoppers. The HTML and CSS code that works in Apple Mail, might look completely different in Gmail, and horrible in Outlook inboxes. Fact be advised that is 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 is 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 authentic instance of a plain textual content publication, the stay hyperlinks have been all full URLs.
HTML emails aren’t only for advertising and marketing. When you 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 below are three key variations between plain textual content and HTML emails:
| HTML electronic mails | Plain textual content electronic 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 a good way to visually break up the textual content. | You possibly can’t create columns or sections. However you’ll be able to create areas between strains of textual content – in addition to that, there’s no different strategy to create layouts. |
| Fonts and styling | Utilizing HTML and CSS, you’ll be able to specify font kind, colour, and dimension. 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 record plain textual content emails versus these with plenty 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, partaking, multimedia experiences. | Inconsistent electronic mail consumer help: Your electronic mail designs might not render as desired in some mailboxes. Which means it will not look or operate as anticipated. |
| Thrilling inbox experiences: Add personalization with dynamic content material, graphics, variable mapping, and extra. | Accessibility: Additional steps should be taken to ensure subscribers of all skills 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 stop monitoring pixels from precisely reporting metrics corresponding 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 will not want to check how plain textual content emails render. The one distinction would be the electronic mail consumer’s default font. | Low engagement: It is robust to persuade individuals to learn and click on with nothing however boring textual content. |
| Look private: These messages usually seem like easy emails from as an alternative of fancy advertising and marketing. They’re additionally accessible for individuals utilizing display studying software program. | Lack of branding: Your emails will not have the ability to embody your model’s brand or observe any of your most well-liked model pointers. |
| 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 will not 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 nicely. So why not ship each on the identical time?
This is called 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 identical time. Then, your reader’s electronic mail consumer can select what model to position in your readers’ inboxes primarily based on their specs.
Minimalist electronic mail design: A cheerful medium
Guess what? There is a strategy 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 appear and feel 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, colour, and interactivity goes into it. Because it seems, anti-branding and minimalism are two very fashionable electronic mail design developments.
Minimalist graphic design strategies make use of fresh strains, loads of white area, and restricted or monochromatic colour palettes. Consider a minimalist electronic mail as being a plain textual content electronic mail with just some important prospers. Anti-branding is a motion during which customers attempt to keep away from huge, company manufacturers. It is a type of model aversion, which is principally the alternative of name loyalty. This is how Envato describes the anti-branding design development:
“The anti-branding development usually options monochromatic packaging, barely-there branding, and minimalist messaging…”
Kelsie Rimmer, Envato Author
With a minimalist electronic mail design, you may make the marketing campaign really feel extra like a private message. This is an instance from E mail on Acid. We requested our prospects to participate in a survey.
The e-mail above undoubtedly is not 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 a substitute, it has the extra private feel and look 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 may very well be a greater method than designing one thing flashy and complicated. Let’s check out the sorts of emails during which minimalism may assist maximize your outcomes.
Gross sales outreach emails
We have all most likely 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 is a excessive chance 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 start out an attractive, 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 method.
Vital bulletins
Generally, electronic mail is used for disaster administration. When you’ve got important data to move alongside to your record, chances are you’ll not have time to develop an HTML electronic mail. And truthfully, it is probably not 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, 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 data, so it’s finest to maintain them quick and to the purpose.
Nevertheless, slightly little bit of design can enhance model recall and create a extra memorable and even pleasing electronic mail expertise. Have a look at the best way Nike designed this order affirmation electronic mail. Get extra concepts for transactional electronic mail design.
What about advertising and marketing emails and publication design?
You definitely can use minimalist electronic mail design for newsletters and promotions. Nevertheless, should you’ve received a colourful model, eye-catching merchandise, or partaking imagery in your content material, you would possibly need to do one thing greater than minimal. Plus, should you’ve received a gifted electronic mail crew, you may need them to get artistic, construct stunning HTML emails, and push the envelope of what is potential 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 record) responds to. For instance, the Sinch E mail manufacturers have completely different personas that reply higher to sure issues.
- Sinch Mailgun is for a technical viewers together with software program engineers and IT professionals. We have discovered they reply higher to messages and designs which can be much less pushy and flashy – extra like plain textual content emails.
- Sinch E mail on Acid tends to draw those that are critical about electronic mail growth and need to attempt new issues. So, we attempt to mirror a few of that in our campaigns and newsletters.
- Sinch Mailjet has an viewers that features individuals from all kinds of promoting roles, together with designers. So, they’re extra doubtless to answer an electronic mail during which it is clear somebody frolicked contemplating design and technique.
There might even be sure segments of your record that desire 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 enable you to perceive your viewers/subscribers and take your electronic mail program to the subsequent stage:
- A/B testing (aka cut up testing): Take two completely different parts or designs and check the efficiency of 1 choice towards the opposite. You could possibly begin by testing how an HTML electronic mail with a busier design performs in comparison with a plain model with a minimalist method. As soon as you have received your reply, dwelling in on particular design parts, 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 completely different shoppers and units. It is extraordinarily vital for all sorts of HTML emails and it helps A/B testing too. That is since you’ll need to ship a constant design to get correct outcomes from a cut up check.
E mail on Acid gives limitless pre-send testing with all our plans. Which means you’ll be able to good your HTML electronic mail designs and put your finest electronic mail ahead with out worrying about working out of previews.
