Part One: Don't Be Afraid of...Plain Text.
I can't even count how many emails I get on a daily basis - I operate out of Outlook and Hotmail everyday and there's always some new email demanding to be read.
And as we live in the world of flash and embedded images, hyperlinks and href's, the popular thing to do when sending emails (based on my powers of observation as an email recipient), is to send something that's all glitzy and glamourous.
As the person charged with organising 4MAT's mailshots, I will put my hands up and say "Yes, I too love to send a pretty email."
Everyone enjoys the aesthetics, not to mention showing off one's own HTML skills.
So poor old plain text has been left behind. It has been relegated to "back-up email" status, ie, if your sexy HTML one doesn't go through, here's a boring alternative.
B
ut with the rise of the Blackberry and other handheld devices, plain text emails are fighting back! Hooray!
Plain text is e-communication at its most honest. There are no graphical tricks to lure you in. It's just there in black and white, and you either like the content or you don’t.
Plain text isn't for everyone, so when planning your email marketing campaign, think about your target audience - if they're connected to their Blackberry (etc) then send plain text. If they're desk-bound, then splash out on HTML. But don't be afraid to use plain text. It's practical nature will override the cool factor.
So here are some top tips for your next text-only email:
- Since there are no images, it is important to have a single and dominant call to action hyperlink near the top of the email.
- Keep lines of text short so that they don't appear disjointed (nobody likes a sentance that is split over multiple lines for no reason) and add a hard return at the end of each one. A good rule is to restrict the length of each line to 65 characters.
- Use ++++++++++++, ///////////////////////////, ===============, or **************** to improve the visual appeal and break up sections. Imagine an old-school typewritten email - they managed to look great with such limitations!
- Always test your campaigns over time. You want to understand how plain text and html emails perform in your specific market, and to specifically targeted people.
