Text vs. HTML - which is best?

A question that is often asked is should I send my message in HTML or plain text? Of course with solutions such as Maxemail you can send in multi-part and the vast majority of email clients can read HTML now.

Here are the pros of sending in HTML

Response rates are much higher – in fact they have been measured at over 10 times better by previous research

It is easier to communicate your message in HTML as you can use images and colour

HTML emails can be tracked for opens

Longer newsletters can be made easier to read by laying them out using tables cells and using different size fonts

But it has to be said there are advantages of sending in text only format:

Some spam filters treat HTML emails harshly compared to plain text

A plain text message can look more personal and like someone has simply written it from their email client

There will never be any rendering issues

Our standard advice is to send in multi-part wherever you can and only for very important messages informational that do not require branding schemes should you send in text as the response rates to HTML far outweigh the lessened deliverability you might experience.

And if you need to make the email look like someone has written it from their own email client there is no reason why you cannot get the same effect using HTML but just don’t add any images – at least you can then track the images.