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Plain Text or HTML eMails?

by KatieWilliams
8 replies
Hi,

Just a quick question.

I am with GetResponse and they do not track the open rates of plain text eMails.

Now, a high percentage of the eMail newsletters I receive from IMers are plain text. Why is this? Since surely having the open rate tracked is helpful?

Or, could it just be that other autoresponders do track the plain text open rates?

Can anyone clear this up for me?

Thanks,
Katie
#emails #html #plain #text
  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    You will find most Internet Marketers these days will send out their email in both HTML and text versions. The HTML is so you can do things like track open rates and make long links more pretty. They will usually style the HTML emails to look just like a regular text email so no one is none the wiser.

    I use Aweber and this is simple to do. You simply write the same email in the text and html boxes. When you send out your email those who can receive HTML emails will get the HTML version and those who cannot will automatically be given the text version.
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  • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
    Some people send e-mails that appear to be plain text
    but they are actually HTML e-mails with minimal formatting.

    They do this to gain advantages such as tracking open rates
    and using anchor text in hyperlinks, etc.

    There are advantages and disadvantages to each approach.

    The best thing to do is to split-test Plain Text vs. HTML
    e-mails to see which format works best for your list.

    There's no one-size-fits-all answer that can be applied to
    all lists.

    Dedicated to mutual success,

    Shaun
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  • Profile picture of the author daddykool
    Hi Katie

    Simple stuff really, text emails inbox far higher and with more mail companies, html are cool for optins / subscribers / members, but only after you sign them up and the receiving mail server keeps the contact / senders details, plus with plain text you are more likely to read further into the message as it is not full of crap upsell photos / pictures etc etc

    Hope that helps :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author KatieWilliams
    Ahhh - it never occurred to me that they were HTML messages masquerading as plain text! That makes a lot of sense.

    I'll be sure to do a split-test to see what works best with my list, but it's really handy to know that that is a possibility!

    Thanks,
    Katie
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    Katie

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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    My HTML emails look pretty much like plain text emails, with the exception of some bold and italic text.

    I don't include images in my mailings, except for those included by the mailing company for tracking purposes.
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    • Profile picture of the author daddykool
      Originally Posted by tpw View Post

      My HTML emails look pretty much like plain text emails, with the exception of some bold and italic text.

      I don't include images in my mailings, except for those included by the mailing company for tracking purposes.
      Spot on! less crap, more bank with 25 year old text emails!
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  • Profile picture of the author NateRivers
    Same as above. Write it in both boxes but make the html look like plain text. The idea is the only thing to focus and click on in the email is the link usually.
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  • Profile picture of the author niffybranco
    I only use html if i have to reason being plain text emails are hardly ever sent into junk folders. While Html is sometimes seen as spam and ends up in the junk folder, This is not the case for all html emails but it does happens.
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