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Plain Text or HTML in your autoresponder series??

by clg21
29 replies
Hey Warriors,

Just wondering what you all use in your follow up emails to your lists. Does anyone use the html templates provided by your autoresponder service?

I am wondering if someone will be more inclined to click on a link if it was on a sidebar of the template as opposed to a contextual link in the body of the email.

Have any of you tested this? Does it matter what niche you are in? I get a ton of email from people in the IM Niche and so far, none of them use the html templates. So I am wondering what the response is in the non-IM Niche.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Happy Holidays,
Carlo
#autoresponder #html #plain #series #text
  • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
    For most of my outgoing e-mails I send out both HTML
    and Plain Text versions of the message.

    I do not use any of the fancy HTML templates though
    and instead use a basic HTML template of my own that
    has minimal formatting and no additional images (apart
    from the HTML tracking image).

    At first blush, my HTML e-mails look like Plain Text e-mails
    but there are additional benefits like being able to use
    some text formatting such as bold, italics, underline and
    color.

    Plus, with HTML I can have 'prettier' links instead of the
    butt ugly tracking URLs used in Plain Text versions. I can
    also use the HTML anchor text to include a strong call-to-
    action and affect click-through-rates too.

    P.S. You need another option on your survey poll for the
    people who send out BOTH versions together at the same
    time. (i.e. HTML and Plain Text)

    Dedicated to mutual success,

    Shaun
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  • Profile picture of the author clg21
    Hi Shaun,

    Are you in a non-IM niche?
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    • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
      Originally Posted by Carlo Leon Guerrero View Post

      Are you in a non-IM niche?
      I provide e-mail marketing advice to clients inside and
      outside of the IM niche.

      Only a split-test will let you know what option works
      best for YOUR list, in YOUR niche using YOUR messages.

      Test it and see. Other people's opinions are irrelevant to
      your list (including mine!).

      Dedicated to mutual success,

      Shaun
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      • Profile picture of the author clg21
        Originally Posted by Shaun OReilly View Post

        I provide e-mail marketing advice to clients inside and
        outside of the IM niche.

        Only a split-test will let you know what option works
        best for YOUR list, in YOUR niche using YOUR messages.

        Test it and see. Other people's opinions are irrelevant to
        your list (including mine!).

        Dedicated to mutual success,

        Shaun
        I'd have to build a list first, lol!
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  • Profile picture of the author cb1803
    I prefer plain text, because ultimately content matters.
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  • Profile picture of the author xxxJamesxxx
    I use both HTML and Text in all the markets I'm in.

    And like what just been said above, you can make your links more "Clickable" as you can have a call to action in them instead of an ugly link.

    P.S. You need another option on your survey poll for the
    people who send out BOTH versions together at the same
    time. (i.e. HTML and Plain Text)
    Totally agree with this as I didn't bother entering into the pole as I use both.

    James Scholes
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    • Profile picture of the author clg21
      Originally Posted by xxxJamesxxx View Post

      I use both HTML and Text in all the markets I'm in.

      And like what just been said above, you can make your links more "Clickable" as you can have a call to action in them instead of an ugly link.



      Totally agree with this as I didn't bother entering into the pole as I use both.

      James Scholes
      Thanks, I set the option so that you can click on both and submit, but I'll add another for both, if I can edit it.
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  • Profile picture of the author EricTheGekko
    Hi can somebody give me some good outlines for a sales orientated autoresponder series ? Would appreciate every info I can get. Pretty new in this and wanna set up a good sales orientated autoresponder series. Thank you very much in advance
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  • Profile picture of the author johnes4th
    I agree with James - both.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    Where's the 'both' option? That's all I ever use.
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  • Profile picture of the author loi77
    Using both is the best way to go because some email software/service can't read html.

    I'd have to build a list first, lol!
    Yes, you'd need a list to start with.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joseph Robinson
    Banned
    I mix and max in my niches, it's situational. I do tend to want to bold, underline, and all that fun stuff. So HTML comes up a bit more than plain text.
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  • Profile picture of the author saralees
    I say plain for less chance of mixups.... if you use aweber then the choice is the subscribers though. Also means twice the work when being set up... the advantage to that is they look 100 times better and we are visual beings.......... that is why TV's sales have never dropped
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    • Profile picture of the author bbjumpman
      Originally Posted by saralees View Post

      I say plain for less chance of mixups.... if you use aweber then the choice is the subscribers though. Also means twice the work when being set up... the advantage to that is they look 100 times better and we are visual beings.......... that is why TV's sales have never dropped
      So on aweber if you set up with html in the message they automatically take care of providing the option to view as text or html to the viewer when they open it?
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      • Profile picture of the author Michael Mayhew
        Originally Posted by bbjumpman View Post

        So on aweber if you set up with html in the message they automatically take care of providing the option to view as text or html to the viewer when they open it?
        I use AutoresponsePlus. You get to give them a choice.
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        • Profile picture of the author bbjumpman
          Originally Posted by Michael Mayhew View Post

          I use AutoresponsePlus. You get to give them a choice.
          Thanks..I've actually been working through Aweber this afternoon. Looks like some good stuff.
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    • Profile picture of the author bbjumpman
      Originally Posted by saralees View Post

      I say plain for less chance of mixups.... if you use aweber then the choice is the subscribers though. Also means twice the work when being set up... the advantage to that is they look 100 times better and we are visual beings.......... that is why TV's sales have never dropped
      So if I use an html template Aweber will automatically give the viewer who opens the email to see in html or text?
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  • Profile picture of the author Premier Plugins
    Currently experimenting with text style mailing built in html format. But absolutely no images because so many email services have those disabled by default anyway.
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  • Profile picture of the author niceguy36
    I used plain text until now... but I think I'll test it out. Haven't thought of that yet.
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by bbjumpman View Post

      So if I use an html template Aweber will automatically give the viewer who opens the email to see in html or text?
      No, they will not be given the option. If the users email program supports HTML then they will be given the HTML version, if not, then they will be given the plain text version.

      There may be an option on the unsubscribe page where users can nominate which email format they would prefer but I haven't seen it myself.

      Originally Posted by saralees View Post

      I say plain for less chance of mixups.... if you use aweber then the choice is the subscribers though. Also means twice the work when being set up... the advantage to that is they look 100 times better and we are visual beings.......... that is why TV's sales have never dropped
      By twice the work do you mean simply copying your text email and pasting it into two boxes rather than one? I'm not sure that's a real big increase in workload. Basically two extra clicks on the mouse.

      What you are forgetting is a lot of people (like me) use HTML emails that look identical to text emails. The advantage of using HTML emails is you can use text hyperlinks rather than long ugly urls, you can bold, italicize or underline the odd word, and you can use things such as tracking scripts.

      Using HTML emails does not mean your email has to look any different to the plain text version.
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      • Profile picture of the author bbjumpman
        Originally Posted by WillR View Post

        No, they will not be given the option. If the users email program supports HTML then they will be given the HTML version, if not, then they will be given the plain text version.

        There may be an option on the unsubscribe page where users can nominate which email format they would prefer but I haven't seen it myself.

        Thanks..I've been working through it today. I've been doing affiliate blogging for years and it's my mistake I haven't been taking advantage of list building. Better late than never I suppose.
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  • Profile picture of the author GMT
    Seeing as my email client automatically filters out HTML I say go with plain text, that way you won't have to worry about if the user can even read the mail or not.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Nope, only plain autoresponder emails. Popular email providers (like Gmail) block graphics and images by default. So if you send out an HTML email, you run the risk of it looking tacky and odd looking... possibly even spammy.
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  • Profile picture of the author ITMNOW
    I only use plain text in my autoresponder. Why risk HTML messages not going through? I figure my subscribers are either interested or not in what I have and know how to click on a link. If you want to have your entire offer in your email with no link out, then I suppose it might make sense to use HTML. Also for a newsletter right in your email.
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  • Profile picture of the author LifeIsGood
    I have AutoresponsePlus where the recipients have a choice of Html or plain text.

    However, with Html you risk the emails not getting through, and unless your adept at using it, you risk sending some pretty ugly emails On the receiving end, I've received some pretty outlandish looking emails. So much for esthetics. You never know what you're gonna get.

    That said, I think it all depends on who your audience is and your sensitivity to them, your ability to design the right looking email, esthetically, and to the particular message. And I always prefer clickable links.

    LifeIsGood ~ It's About To Get Even Better!
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  • Profile picture of the author big-marketing
    Just to clear some misconceptions up....

    1. Using html in of itself does not increase your risk of "not getting through". Just include a plain text version (which is not twice the work). Spam is as spam does regardless of plain text or html.

    2. Your email not looking good with images turned off is not a con of using html with images. It means you're email sucks

    3. You are not at risk of sending some pretty ugly emails by using html even if you are a beginner (should always test anyways). Ugly emails are the result of poor coding and not testing.

    4. "I figure" means assume or guess. "Marketing is testing so don't speculate; test..." Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, MarketingExperiments

    hth
    big jason
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    Big Jason Henderson of Breakthrough Email Marketing
    18+ years of email marketing... Certified Email Marketing Optimization, Landing Page Optimization, Value Proposition Development and Online Testing Specialist by MECLABS

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