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(1) How do I actually get the code into IE 5.5? I have seen alot of posts regarding Outlook Express, but not IE. I use a combo of Notepad and Dreamweaver to code. When I try pasting the code in an IE email message, and then send it to myself, it just keeps showing up in my Inbox looking like source code rather than a nicely formatted page.
(2) How can I detect whether or not a customer can receive an HTML email? And will this slow down the load time? In the past, we've just sent plain text emails, so we have not been in the habit of asking people if they prefer HTML or Plain Text.
(3) Could anyone tell me of their experiences with campaign management software? Ex. who you like and what they offer? I know people don't like to post product names in the forum, so feel free to email me at kathy_addams@yahoo.com .
Thanks very much!
1-do it from the 'attach file' command of your email client.
2-your html email can include graphic links back to your site. One of those graphic links can be a simple image based counter. That will get about 75% of the people who receive the email.
3-...
Brett, I tried sending as an attachment, but it just shows up in my Inbox as an attachment :-( . In Outlook 2000, I went to Tools/Options/Mail Format, and chose HTML. I then started a new email and chose Insert/File. But like I said, when I send the email to myself, I just see an icon for an attached file at the bottom of the email. Any suggestions are appreciated!!
Also, could you expand on what you mean about an image-based counter? I guess that opens up 2 questions:
(a) When I said I was trying to detect if someone could receive HTML, I meant a particular person. Ex. then I could split the mailing list and send a portion of the audience HTML, and send the other part of the audience Plain Text. It sounds like your counter would give me more a percentage -- ex. 75% of the audience could open this?
(b) I am also looking for a way to track page views. I was going to do this with a web bug -- a 1x1 pixel white gif, and then run WebTrends to see how many times that gif was accessed. Is there an easier way?
Thanks so much!!!
Beware, many people, like me, refuse to open the little devils on general principle.
html email is evil ;)
Nick
The HTML file I have is already done and is pretty lean (was created in Notepad and Dreamweaver), and I think it would be very difficult to re-create using Outlook.
That's why I'm trying to either (a) paste my code in the source code of the HTML email or (b) somehow attach my HTML file, but have it show up in the email window, not as an attachemtnt.
Still not having any luck, though... I tried attaching the file as a txt file, and still shows up as an attachment. :-(
K
That is how I have always done it in Outlook. Maybe someone else has a better way.
send a plain text email containing a link to a web site
at home I bin all html emails unread...at work we rip the html out and display as plain text
I'm not laying myself open to a worm or virus attack through an iframe just so I can see email in somebody else's idea of pretty colours
Are either of those possible?
Is there a particular reason you don't want to use Outlook Express?
Thank you all for your input! Guess I should have paid attention to the initial reading I was doing that kept pointing me to Outlook Express ;-)
then explain to marketing why they are wrong
html email is a poor marketing tool on several grounds...it doesn't appear at all for people who refuse all html email...it looks amateur to people who render html email in plain text...it implies the sender is more concerned about their image than the receiver's security (not a good message to send to potential customers)
above all it is half ass...it isn't using the strengths of either email or of html
a company's image is about a lot more than a pretty logo...if they can't see that, then they need to be replaced by a marketing team that have some idea about marketing
I just could not disagree more with your comments that HTML mail is "half ass." :)
Your arguments seem to be based on "those who don't recieve HTML e-mail." The fact is, a large majority , and perhaps a vast majority, of e-mail recipients can recieve HTML mail properly. Should a marketer send out a 90's-looking all text piece as the "image" of their company because a small portion of their potential audience won't see it properly?
I would much rather send out a great looking piece to 85% of my potential customers than a boring text only piece to 100%. Because I will get more results from the better looking marketing piece.
Among other things, my company markets real estate. We often send out HTML e-mail flyers to our client's partner companies to let agents around the country know of unique properties for sale. Without using HTML mail, these pieces would not get a second glance. With HTML mail, it is like sending a glossy four color printed piece in seconds. Inquiries start coming in immediately.
I think many HTML pieces are trash. But that's the fault of bad design, not HTML mail.
HTML mail is an overwhelming improvement over text-only, particulary for marketing pieces. Check out the marketing pieces that the biggest Internet comanies (Yahoo?) use. It's HTML.
The fact is, there are many compelling reasons for a marketing comany - and just about everyone else - to use HTML mail.
Are there potential security problems? Sure. There have been security problems since the first PC user stuck a floppy from someone else's machine into his own PC. There are security problems from being connected to the Internet. There are security problems from surfing the web. There are security problems from downloading files and software. Does that mean we should not do any of those things?
Heck, one of the biggest "viruses" going around now is a plain text email telling people their computer is infected and they need to delete certain files (which happen to be key windows components).
Perhaps people in other industries are less motivated by the power of HTML mail. But for someone who works with four color brochures, color television production, and web page design, I can't go back to the limitations of plain text e-mails. Obviously, your opinion is different. But I think calling HTML e-mail "half-ass" is unjustified.
the electronic publicity campaigns I've succeeded with are the ones where the hook is in the email/post/whatever subject and the glitter is on a well set up web page
html email is a half way house...it's cumbersome and doesn't have anywhere near the range of possibilities that a web page does
as for there being a small number of users not set to receive html email...it happens to include a huge number of large organisations...and with every round of new viruses the number is increasing
Also, do you know where in Outlook you go to block HTML emails?
Thanks much!
K
the latter can only be blocked by not opening the email or by rendering it only as plain text
This is the key: email time is personal time, not slick, corporate, impersonal time. A text message that quickly highlights the main point is being considerate of the user - and that's the essential message to send: that you care about and respect the user. Highly formatted HTML adds to the user's chore of dealing with their inbox, and in no way does it give a person to person message.
Email marketing does not occur in the same "information space" where 4 color brochures occur. The emphasis in an email should be on copy, not on eye candy.
This is where most email campaigns fall down, IMO - not taking the time to get the copy RIGHT. If you get the copy right, then the urge to use glitz, to assume that surface is more important than substance, will go away.
The problem with HTML email is the essentially the same as the problem in most marketing today [webmasterworld.com]. Slickly designed but vapid, uncommunicative "messages" bombard us at every turn.
If you want to move your email prospect, say something they will care about.
so can the right picture...but good images are too slow to load by email...so the impression that is given is "slow" rather than the one intended
a thousand words make a lot smaller file than a picture
if your target audience is magpies then send html email...if you have another group in mind then it is far more effective to spend the effort on coming up with an effective message subject
if your target audience is magpies then send html email
It is unfortunate that you have decided to resort to insults rather than rational discussions.
Thanks, but I won't join in.
