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When and how one can use plain textual content emails


Don’t overlook plain textual content emails. Typically, they’ll outperform fancier HTML emails.

Somewhat watch? Cool.  🎥👇 

Plain textual content emails are a minimalist marketer’s finest buddy. And whereas they’re typically considered as “old-fashioned,” text-based emails are nonetheless learn and despatched on a regular basis. You’ve most likely been sending some your self.

So if paring your e-mail messages all the way down to their easiest type, or making your emails readable on gadgets like Apple watches sounds fascinating, preserve studying. This text will cowl:

What’s a plain textual content e-mail?

A plain textual content e-mail is what it feels like: It’s an e-mail message that solely contains textual content. There aren’t any pictures or graphics and no formatting. All of the hyperlinks are written out.

Right here’s an instance of a plain textual content e-mail:

An example of a plain text email.

And right here’s the HTML model of that very same e-mail:

An example of an HTML email

The distinction between plain textual content and HTML emails

As you may see within the examples above, plain textual content emails appear to be… plain textual content. HTML emails look extra like an internet site web page, full with a picture, a coloured background, and embedded hyperlinks – all of the visible parts most entrepreneurs need to have of their emails. 

Perhaps most entrepreneurs, however not all of them. One survey of e-mail entrepreneurs confirmed that solely 20% of entrepreneurs favor to ship solely HTML emails. 62% favor to ship a hybrid HTML/plain textual content e-mail, and 16% really favor to ship solely text-based emails. 

Most email marketers send two versions of every email: a plain-text email and an HTML email.

That is per e-mail advertising finest practices. It’s additionally pretty simple to do. Virtually all e-mail advertising companies let folks ship two variations of their emails – textual content and HTML. And lots of e-mail companies will routinely create a textual content model of each e-mail

When two variations of an e-mail are despatched (utilizing “​​multi-part MIME format,” if you wish to get geeky), every subscriber’s e-mail consumer will present both the HTML or the plain textual content model, relying on the settings within the subscriber’s e-mail consumer. 

For the e-mail senders who expressly need to ship solely textual content emails, many e-mail service suppliers enable them to arrange their e-mail marketing campaign so it solely goes out as plain textual content.

For this reason you’re most likely sending plain textual content emails already – as a result of your e-mail service supplier routinely makes a textual content model of each e-mail you ship. 

When to make use of a text-based e-mail as an alternative of an HTML e-mail

So why do some e-mail advertising companies routinely create text-only emails? Is there ever a superb purpose to ship solely a text-based e-mail?

These are all nice questions. 

Plain textual content emails nonetheless have their place. Listed here are 5 causes to make use of them:

  • Plain textual content emails have a smaller file dimension than HTML emails, in order that they load sooner

Textual content-only emails are nice in case your subscribers occur to have a gradual web connection. So… say you’re sending emails to hikers within the backcountry or to folks in different distant locations. In case you despatched them a text-only message, they’d be extra possible to have the ability to learn it with out having to attend a very long time for it to load. 

  • Textual content-only emails could be learn on extra gadgets.

Plain textual content emails could be learn by “web of issues” form of gadgets like Apple Watches, and even by apps that may learn folks’s emails to them whereas they’re driving. 

This additionally means they’re higher for accessibility. For people who depend upon text-to-speech readers, these emails are simpler to be learn aloud for these with imaginative and prescient impairments.

  • Plain textual content emails can have a extra private really feel.

Typically copywriters, coaches, or consultants will ship text-only emails as a result of they need their emails to look extra private. And a plain textual content message does look extra like a message you’d get from a buddy. 

How effectively this tactic will work will rely in your viewers and your copywriting abilities. As soon as all the beautiful footage and design are gone, all that’s left is your copy.

  • Textual content-only emails could be a good format for transactional emails

One different occasion the place you would possibly see a textual content e-mail now’s should you’ve positioned an order on-line. Not all ecommerce web sites ship text-only transactional emails, however many do. 

You received’t have the ability to embody product pictures or social media icon hyperlinks should you use a plain textual content e-mail, however should you’re simply getting began with your enterprise, sending a plain-text e-mail is an efficient sufficient begin. 

  • Some ecommerce consultants say that “ugly” (aka plain) emails convert higher than “fairly” (HTML) emails

Why? They are saying as a result of ugly emails stand out within the inbox higher. There are additionally experiences that ugly emails work higher for fundraising as effectively.

The jury’s out on this – however you would possibly need to check the idea. Create a split-test of some ugly emails and check them towards your prettier HTML emails. Tell us what you discover out!

Ugly emails sometimes convert better than prettier, HTML emails.

Do textual content emails enhance e-mail deliverability?

No. However just a few years in the past, there was some dialogue on-line about whether or not or not plain textual content emails improved e-mail deliverability. Finally, it wasn’t true. 

AWeber e-mail deliverability knowledgeable Chris Wong means that any fear about HTML versus plain textual content e-mail supply is misplaced. He suggests,

The higher inquiries to ask are the next:

1 – Who’re your subscribers (are they Gmail, Yahoo, and many others, customers, or are they B2B customers)?

2 – Has the consumer subscribed to be mailed and offered their consent to be mailed, and are they anticipating your messages?

3 – Are the messages being despatched partaking to the consumer or are they being ignored, or worse, customers are complaining about them?  Recurrently take a look at your engagement price developments.

There are numerous indicators concerned that contribute as to whether messages go to the Inbox.  Relying on who you might be mailing and the Mailbox Supplier they reside with, that may dictate the place your focus must be.  Main Mailbox Suppliers will closely weigh consumer engagement, each constructive and unfavourable.  The evaluation from these can have a powerful affect on the place the messages go.   

Be cautious of what’s in your messages as effectively.  After being attentive to your engagement charges and bounce charges, then examine if any hyperlink domains are blocklisted, or if there are explicit phrases or phrases that is perhaps contributing to spam detection.  This may entail testing your message, attempting totally different variations, in addition to performing split-testing, which could be useful to check topic traces and message content material, offering perception into what performs finest.   

So set that e-mail advertising fable apart. There are good causes to ship plain textual content emails, however e-mail deliverability isn’t one among them. 

How one can make text-only emails look higher

Plain textual content emails could be “dressed up” a bit extra than simply plain textual content. That is particularly essential for scannability and calls to motion.

As you most likely know, most individuals don’t learn all of the copy on a web page (you aren’t the one one who skims!). We are able to’t cease this habits, so we have now to adapt to it. Even professional copywriters will make their copy simple to scan. 

To make your emails simpler to scan, attempt:

  • One-line or very brief paragraphs
  • Bullet factors 
  • Easy characters to emphasise textual content
  • Placing your name to motion on a line by itself
  • Utilizing a postscript to spotlight the important thing message of your e-mail
  • Sometimes utilizing all caps (please use sparingly)

This textual content e-mail from e-mail copywriting grasp Ben Settle employs lots of these finest practices, together with one-line paragraphs, the decision to motion by itself line, and some phrases in all caps.

Many copywriters prefer plain text emails because they appear to be more like a letter to a friend than HTML emails.

Clean up auto-generated plain textual content emails 

So that you most likely have already been sending plain textual content emails, as a result of most e-mail advertising companies ship each textual content and HTML variations of each e-mail.

However have you ever ever checked how your plain textual content emails look?

Typically auto-generated textual content emails get a bit of garbled, so it’s not a foul concept to do a fast spot examine of your emails earlier than they exit. You’ll most likely solely have so as to add just a few line breaks, however it’s going to make your emails simpler to learn. That is very true should you are likely to ship HTML emails in a two or three-column format.

Right here’s how to do that inside an AWeber account. That is the view of the message editor. It exhibits the HTML model of an e-mail message. To edit the plain textual content model, simply click on on the plain textual content icon within the decrease left-hand nook of the display screen.

Here's where to click to edit the text-only version of your emails in your AWeber account.

After you click on that, you’ll see the textual content model of your e-mail. 

It's a good idea to clean up the automatically generated text-only version of your emails.

Even now, plain textual content emails have their place

In order that’s the 411 on plain textual content emails. They deserve extra consideration than they get. Relying in your viewers and your e-mail advertising targets, they may work rather well for you. And if in case you have any outcomes to share about plain textual content emails that outperformed HTML emails, we’d love to listen to about them within the feedback. 



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