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getting started with Aweber

by sb06
18 replies
Hello,

I'm about to create my first email that will go out to people who subscribe to my list! I just had one quick question though. I'm on several other internet marketers lists, and I noticed that all the messages I get from people are simple, plain text, with only a few paragraphs max and a couple hyperlinks. I see Aweber offers "templates" and different ways to design your emails to make it colorful and add graphics etc. But I don't think I've ever seen a single email from a marketer that was "fancy" in any way. Is there a reason for this? Why do people choose to send such "plain" emails when they could make it look better?

Thanks!
#aweber #started
  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    1. Aweber introduced those crazy templates just recently...

    2. Before it was that you had to a)create the html version manually and b)create the plain text version of it, as well
    Ergo, most people went with ONLY plain text: less trouble, faster, better chances to get through the spam filters.

    Some marketers, occasionally sent out more formatted messages (like those templates) even before.
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  • Profile picture of the author stoltingmediagroup
    Fancy messages may look nice when properly formatted, but not everybody wants to receive them. This could be for many reasons. Bandwidth usage could be a reason, and also for security reasons many people turn off images. This is why most marketers simply decide to send in plain text, even though they could create a fancy html email. A study was done a few years ago that showed only 48% of email recipients actually see images automatically. Allot of email clients still have images turned off by default etc etc. You get the picture. (no pun intended).
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  • Profile picture of the author sb06
    awesome, thanks!
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  • Profile picture of the author stevoarnold
    I think the psychology behind why marketers use plain text is that it is the type of email you'd receive from a friend, and hence are more likely to open and read it.

    As soon as you see an email with big flashy graphics, your own inbuilt spam-guard in your brain instantly gets triggered... Well, mine does anyway
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  • Profile picture of the author Shaun OReilly
    Originally Posted by sb06 View Post

    Why do people choose to send such "plain" emails when they could make it look better?
    Many marketers want their e-mails to look more personal
    and informal so they go for either plain text and/or HTML
    e-mails with minimal formatting.

    Sure, a well-designed template may "look better" and
    differentiate you from other people in the inbox, but
    the question is: does it get you a higher response?

    Do you get more opens, clicks and sales because you
    use a template vs. a plain e-mail?

    The way to answer that is to test your new subscribers
    through one of two paths: a plain one and a fancy pants
    template one.

    Then track results and choose whichever wins for you.

    Dedicated to mutual success,

    Shaun
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  • Profile picture of the author AJMontoya
    I know for me personally, images don't download automatically on my email. So if you sent an email with a lot of time put into a design, I wouldn't even know. As long as the information in the text of the email is straight forward, enticing, and informative, you're golden.
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    • Profile picture of the author Brian Tayler
      Originally Posted by xismfofx22 View Post

      I know for me personally, images don't download automatically on my email. So if you sent an email with a lot of time put into a design, I wouldn't even know. As long as the information in the text of the email is straight forward, enticing, and informative, you're golden.
      Same here. Both my GMail account and my Outlook client both inherently DO NOT download images. Incidentally, GMail and Outlook users cover a large majority of the market... but I'd also suspect my hotmail.com and yahoo.com accounts act similarly.
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      • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
        Originally Posted by Brian Tayler View Post

        Same here. Both my GMail account and my Outlook client both inherently DO NOT download images. Incidentally, GMail and Outlook users cover a large majority of the market... but I'd also suspect my hotmail.com and yahoo.com accounts act similarly.
        This is a very good point that you bring up Brian. I noticed in my primary hosting accounts that my webmail's default setting is to block images.

        However, they do provide a link that reads "click here to view Unsafe Images". They are already biasing the end-receiver of that e-mail that images might be dangerous.

        I like keeping things as simple as possible, so plain text rules the day for this kid.

        RoD
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    Image heavy html emails immediately scream corporate to me. The same way having someone's name in the subject line does.

    Try and think about how emails you receive from family and friends look and feel. That is the relationship you want to try and replicate. Informal and personal.
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  • Profile picture of the author KevinChapman
    Plain text emails seem more friendly and of course they are quicker and easier to write!

    I do always add my banner and signature though, I want my readers to get used to the brand.
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    • Profile picture of the author rodonet
      I too prefer sending and receiving plain text messages. Simple, quick and no hassles.
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  • Profile picture of the author curationsoft
    i think having email messages with template design takes too long to load on your email, so I rather prefer to use plain text message.
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    Originally Posted by sb06 View Post

    Hello,

    I'm about to create my first email that will go out to people who subscribe to my list! I just had one quick question though. I'm on several other internet marketers lists, and I noticed that all the messages I get from people are simple, plain text, with only a few paragraphs max and a couple hyperlinks. I see Aweber offers "templates" and different ways to design your emails to make it colorful and add graphics etc. But I don't think I've ever seen a single email from a marketer that was "fancy" in any way. Is there a reason for this? Why do people choose to send such "plain" emails when they could make it look better?

    Thanks!
    I've been with Aweber for a long time. While the templates they've provided are a fairly recently thing, I was always able to send my e-mails via plain text or in HTML format.

    I tested a ton of my own templates before Aweber came up with their theirs, I tested HTML messages, and plain text.

    After years of testing and millions of e-mails sent, my plain text e-mails had far superior open rates and much better overall ROI. In most of the markets I'm in, I send out plain text messages for that very reason.

    RoD
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    "Your personal philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life works out."
    - Jim Rohn
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  • Profile picture of the author Mrnace
    I am sure that if the email had all this fancy stuff on it, your email would just see it as spam .
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  • Profile picture of the author Joel Young
    The only time I would use templates like that is for newsletters that people actually sign up to receive. Any messages derived from a squeeze page - whether sales letters or follow-ups - are plain text. If I were to set up an opt-in specifically for a specific newsletter that people specifically want to read, I'd be more likely to use a template to provide a more enhanced reading experience for subscribers.
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  • Profile picture of the author Geri Richmond
    Hi,
    You don't want any distractions on the email page, especially if you want them to click on a link. The old KISS method works best. The first email is kind of scary! Good job.
    Good luck.
    http://www.geririchmond.com
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  • Profile picture of the author sb06
    Actually the first email was very simple! I just left my link for the free report I promised if they opted-in with a little snippet of what it's about.

    Now I'm having a hard time coming up with content for my email sequence :/ I only have one product of mine to sell and the people on my list see it after they confirm their opt in they get set to a OTO page which is the product I sell on my site at a discount. Should I promote this product again somewhere else in my email sequence?

    I was just planning on creating 3 high value emails for every 1 "promo" email, and I only have 2 clickbank products to promote... so my entire email campaign was only going to be about 8 emails :x Is that too little? Then to keep them engaged while I dig around for another product to promote, I was going to email them the start of my blog posts with a link that says "click here to read the entire blog post"

    Thanks for any advice you can give me about this warriors!
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    • Profile picture of the author AJMontoya
      If you want to provide value, you can always look for free PLR products to send to your subscribers. This way they can use the product to benefit themselves and have you to thank for it

      Originally Posted by sb06 View Post

      Actually the first email was very simple! I just left my link for the free report I promised if they opted-in with a little snippet of what it's about.

      Now I'm having a hard time coming up with content for my email sequence :/ I only have one product of mine to sell and the people on my list see it after they confirm their opt in they get set to a OTO page which is the product I sell on my site at a discount. Should I promote this product again somewhere else in my email sequence?

      I was just planning on creating 3 high value emails for every 1 "promo" email, and I only have 2 clickbank products to promote... so my entire email campaign was only going to be about 8 emails :x Is that too little? Then to keep them engaged while I dig around for another product to promote, I was going to email them the start of my blog posts with a link that says "click here to read the entire blog post"

      Thanks for any advice you can give me about this warriors!
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