Should I Send Text or HTML Emails?

Isn’t this the age-old email, ezine, newsletter question of all time? Email is the life-blood of most online businesses. Sure we have RSS feeds, social networking, etc. – but at the end of the day, all of us should be asking the permission to continue contact via email of every visitor to our site(s). Period.

So how should you get your message out – effectively every time? Well, there was the theory that we should just send everything out via text because it was sure to get through the spam filters and many people do not have the capability of viewing html emails.

Then there was the case for html’s power to get the emails opened and read. They are attractive and compelling – just not as boring as the dozens of text emails we receive each day.

So now this is the new theory – really not so new:) – and that is to send out your newsletters in both text and html format for each issue. This way you are covering your bases. Those who can only view text emails or choose to only view text emails – will see your text email. Others who prefer html – will get your html version. This gives your subscribers the power to make the decision how they read your newsletter – and not you giving them only one option.

*HINT – There are many newsletter/autoresponder services out there which may give you the option of a text or html message, but pay close attention to the details.

There are some that can generate a text message out of your html message automatically – which is a nice feature.

There are others which can have you post both versions – and will send both versions. So your subscribers will get two emails with the same content. (That one annoys me. I use to have that option with my old service.)

Or you can have the option of sending both text and html versions – but the subscriber will only see the version they have set up on default. For example, I have set up my Apple Mail to always read html messages. I prefer them. So when I send a test email to myself – that is the only version I see. Others will only see the text version – never both. This is a really cool feature I use over at aweber.

Bottom line – take the extra step or the extra few minutes and send out both text and html versions to ensure deliverability. Remember that building relationships with your members/ readers is at the core of creating a buzzed about business!

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