Text vs HTML Head to Head
Round One: Interactivity- The ability for the reader to interact with the e-mail message itself via quizzes, embedded videos, animation, photos, and much more. HTML allows rich, colorful content. Text has virtually no interactivity except in allowing a reader to click on a full hyperlink...
***Advantage: HTML***
Round Two: Ease To Read- Ultimately, newsletters deliver one thing of value- information. To do this well, you have to make sure the content is easy to read. Most people who use text format don't know how to format the newsletter for ease of read, though it can be done. (i.e., you need to to manually adjust each line to be no more than 65 characters long, you need to change the curly " and ' marks you pasted from MS Word to straight quote marks or they will turn into strange looking symbols, and you need to make headings stand out).
***Advantage: HTML***
Round Three: Security- By it's nature, HTML is more susceptible to carrying security breaches. Because of this, many end users opt not to receive HTML e-mail.
***Advantage: TEXT***
Round Four: Deliverability- For many reasons, including that mentioned in Round Three, HTML is not always delivered to the subscribers. Under certain circumstances, the e-mail may even be blocked at the server before the subscriber even sees the message. Text formats have far fewer deliverability issues, meaning more of your messages will reach the subscriber.
***Advantage: TEXT***
Round Five: Privacy- With text messages, everything is laid bare for you to see. With HTML message, the sender can often hide things in the code (i.e., tracking links, affiliate links). HTML messages even send an invisible image, that when the e-mail is opened, sends back stats to the sender so they can track what percentage of the HTML messages are opened.
***Advantage: TEXT***
Round Six: Offline Reading- Many HTML messages have images or videos linked to a server. If the reader is not connected to the internet when reading the e-mail, then that content is not viewable. By its nature and limitations, text messages are always readable offline.
***Advantage: TEXT***
Round Seven: Ease To Create- This is a slam dunk. Text newsletters are much, much easier to create. There is no code that you need to know. If fact, the ease to create is such an advantage that it often contributes to the poor formatting that gives HTML the advantage it has in Round Two- Ease To Read.
***Advantage: TEXT***
Round Eight: File Size- With all things equal, the smaller the file size needed to deliver your message, the better. HTML file sizes can often take much longer to open in your subscriber's e-mail program, especially if they are downloading their messages from the server to a program like Outlook.
***Advantage: TEXT***
Round Nine: Aesthetics- No doubt about it, HTML is almost always much prettier and appealing to look at. Color, photots, videos, font styles all conspire to create eye candy that can make your subscribers enjoy the reading experience.
***Advantage: HTML***
THE KNOCKOUT ROUND
I saved the best for last. In fact, it really doesn't matter who wins in Rounds 1-9, the winner of Round Ten should be the one you always go with when sending out your newsletter- Always.
Round Ten: Testing- To really find out which format to send your newsletter out in, you need to test both and go with the winner. Actually, you need to test all three (HTML, Text, and Both- remember, some ESPs give you the choice of sending out one or the other, or both). Depending on the following factors, you may find that the text format gives you consistently better conversions. And if that's the case, you need to put on your business hat, do away with the personal preference, and deliver the message in text.. at least until, through your testing, you find an HTML version that can beat your text message. Here are the factors that may give the text format an advantage with your newsletter:
* Your subscribers- some subscribers types will set their default to receive text only. If you have a lot of these, then text may be the way to go.
* The ease of getting your message through the spam filters.
* The length/complexity and timeliness of your message. While some message may be too complex for text only, when you need to respond quickly to a time sensitive message, text can be the way to go.
Testing will tell you which format to send. In my last position, I tested our newsletters in Text and HTML format fully expecting to have more conversions with our HTML format. I was surprised to find that our text messages consistently delivered more sales than the HTML version. Since my main job was to increase sales, it became silly for me to continue to use HTML until I could find an HTML format to convert more sales than the text format.
Are you looking to get people to sign up for a newsletter, make a sale, or visit a page? Then test both formats and let the winner of the test determine the format you will use. Then, continue to test and improve your text and HTML messages until you fully optimize your newsletter.
The bottom line is this: It doesn't matter how eloquent your argument is for one format or the other, if you are going against the winner of your tests, you are missing out on the success you are trying to achieve in your newsletter. And never trust your gut for any length of time without testing to see if your intuition is correct.
***Advantage: Toss-Up***
**NOTE** A couple of options that I did not mention are delivering your newsletter in a PDF download or sending a link that the subscriber can visit to view your newsletter online. Personally, I don't like to add steps that subscribers have to take before they get to my message, but that's my gut and if I test these two as well, I will have an unbiased answer to how they affect my conversion rate.
Good luck finding the perfect format to deliver your message in. Approach it like a business and you will have no problem doing the best thing to sell your book.
Tony Eldridge
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