I get a lot of really great questions about email marketing and I love to answer them! One of the more frequent ones I have gotten is related to plain text emails vs HTML and formatted template emails. This question hit my inbox the other day, “I’ve heard it’s better to send emails in plain text instead of a formatted template or HTML. Is that true?” I have heard this too and wondered the same thing! So let’s find out.
Plain Text Emails vs HTML
First, what is plain text? And what is HTML? Plain text is exactly what it sounds like, text without any formatting such as bold, underline, or italics that doesn’t use any fancy formatting tools. HTML stands for Hypter Text Mark-up Language. It is a basic “techy” language that tells the browser how to format your text.
Which is best?
Honestly, it depends on your audience if you should send plain text emails vs HTML. Much like I discussed in our FAQ post about email frequency, you need to do a bit of research.
Some people say that templates and HTML emails can feel salesy and overdone. While others think it’s a great way to express your personality and solidify your branding with your audience. When it comes to plain text, some subscribers say it feels more personal while others think the plain text is boring.
A/B Testing
If you are curious about whether one format is better than the other, test it out & see how your audience responds. You can send plain text emails for a period, then switch to HTML. Another strategy is to play around with A/B or split testing to get some more solid data. Basically, you take your email list and split them into two groups, one gets the plain text and the other gets the HTML or formatted template. Then you check the analytics to see which email format was the most successful. Recently you may have received an email from me in plain text because I’m actually running some tests with my own emails to measure plain text emails vs HTML.
Looking for easy to use formatted templates? Give AWeber Free a try. They have some great options for any purpose. Click here to check it out!
Want more help?
If you have any questions about email marketing or social media management, shoot me an email or comment below. Also, if you want to hear more tips like these about email marketing or even social media marketing follow me on my Facebook page. Not lacking creativity or inspiration, just lacking time? Then let’s talk about me handling your email marketing!
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