HTML Emails in Minimally Rich Text

[tedster]

I've noticed that in the conversations about HTML email or plain text, there seems to be an all or nothing approach to HTML. That is, either people are sending a high-design mini webpage through email, or it's text only, with perhaps a bit of ascii art to set sections apart.

Has anyone experimented by marketing with "minimally" HTML emails? Just some boldface words here and there, font face control (including color) and list formatting for good looking bullet points?

It seems to me that this would give advantages over plain text email without all the downside of graphics, etc.

[choster]

Well, to a certain extent, things are indeed all or nothing. If someone's e-mail reader can't understand <strong> or <ul>, sending them an e-mail thusly marked up will only annoy or confuse the recipient.

Now, if someone's e-mail reader can understand them, it is reasonable to assume that it will also understand <img> or <table>, although that doesn't necessarily mean they should be used. Here the discussion would parallel that of any kind of web design-- a minimalist or text-based design, or a richly styled multimedia one?