Marketing With HTML Mail - Getting Started

Short for Hypertext Markup Language, HTML is the core programming language used to create just about every web page you will encounter on the internet. It is also an ideal tool for designing emails. The problem is that coding HTML mail can be a very cumbersome undertaking, so much that you may consider giving up and sticking with the old school plain text format. If you are a new marketer or even a veteran looking to improve the effectiveness of your campaign, the tips in this article will explain how to get started with HTML mail.

Choose a Component Designer

Are you skilled at HTML programming? If not, it would be a smart move to bring someone onboard that is to design your emails. Though often considered simple and basic compared to server-side programming languages such as PHP, HTML can still be a complex technology. This is especially true for someone who has never written a single line of code in their life. Trying to digest tags, attributes, styles and other related components could be enough to make your head spin. And while HTML has a shorter learning curve than many other languages, coding the messages for your marketing campaign is not advisable without experience.

Simple with a Splash of Sophistication

Marketers and readers both prefer HTML mail for the simple fact that it is far more advanced than text. However, the motto for designing your messages should be "keep it simple". Despite all the recent enhancements, email readers still have a difficult time rendering HTML. Every mail client will display your message differently, so it is a good rule of thumb to code for the lowest common denominator. This basically means keeping your readers email clients content with simple HTML programming. You should try to design with nothing more complex than tables and simple structures, while keeping your graphics and images to a minimum. Even though it may feel as if you are limiting your creativity, applying these basic rules will make your life much easier. go to website punctuation marks

Test Before You Send

Before sending out that first HTML mail, you must know and completely understand the cardinal rule of email marketing - testing. Once your design is finished, it is absolutely imperative that you test it before mailing it out to your subscribers. Set up accounts for testing with all the commonly used webmail programs such as AOL, Gmail and Hotmail, in addition to sending test messages to local programs like AppleMail and Outlook. After you have conducted a test run on multiple email programs, send your mail to friends and associates for proofreading. When you are certain that your message looks good enough, launch your campaign and prepare for the next one.

These are just the basics to give you an idea of what needs be done to get started with HTML mail. Aside from the intricacies of coding, the same practices and strategies that go into a traditional marketing campaign apply here. Succeeding with HTML email is all about realizing its strengths and weaknesses. Simply knowing this can help you conquer one of the most crucial aspects of the battle.