HTML Email

How HTML Email Works

Before you can start designing, coding, and sending HTML emails, you should know how it works and what tools you’ll need. Here’s some background information every email designer and marketer should know…

The Multipart/Alternative MIME Format

The most important thing you need to know about HTML email is that you can’t just attach an HTML file and a bunch of images to a message and hit “send.” Most of the time, your recipients’ email applications will break all the paths to your image files (because they’ll move your images into temporary folders on your hard drive). And you can’t just paste all your code into your email application, either. Most email apps send messages in “plain-text” format by default, so the HTML won’t render. Your recipients would just see all that raw source code, instead of the pretty email it’s supposed to render.

You need to send HTML email from your server in “Multipart-Alternative MIME format.”Basically, that means your mail transfer agent bundles your HTML code, PLUS a plain-text version of the message, together into one email. That way, if a recipient can’t view
your beautiful HTML email, the good-old-fashioned plain-text version of your message is auto-magically displayed. It’s kind of a nerdy gobbledy-geek thing, which is why a lot of people mess things up when they try to send HTML email themselves. You either need to program a script to send email in multipart/alternative MIME format.

Image Files in HTML Email

Embedding images and photos into messages is the number one reason people want to send HTML email. The proper way to handle images in HTML email is to host them on a web server, then “pull them in” to your HTML email, using “absolute paths” in your code. Basically, you can’t send the graphics along with your message. You host the graphics on a web server, and then the code in your HTML email downloads them whenever the message is opened.

Incidentally, this is how “open tracking” works. You place a tiny, invisible graphic into the email, and then track when it’s downloaded. HTML email, not plain-text, and why the new email applications that block images by default (to protect your privacy) can screw up your open rate stats.

HTML Email Hosting Services

When it comes to hosting the images for your HTML email, you really need your own server to do it. Don’t try hosting images on a free “image hosting service,” because those websites often put scripts in place to prevent you from linking to them in emails (they can’t handle all the traffic). And since you really do get what you pay for, free image hosting services tend to be pretty unreliable under heavy traffic conditions. Also, spammers use free image hosting services all the time, to “cover their tracks.” If you don’t want to look like a spammer, use your own web server. If you use an email marketing service they usually come with a newsletter builder tool with image hosting capabilities built-in.

Delivering HTML Email

Many newbies make the mistake of setting up forwarding lists, or “CC’ing” copies of a message to all their customers. This causes all sorts of problems, like when a customer hits, “reply to all.” Plus, there’s no way to do any kind of individual tracking or personalization when they CC: a big group like that. Finally, it just looks so unprofessional and impersonal when recipients can see your entire list of other recipients like that.

That’s why when a direct email marketing system sends your campaign, we take your message and send it one at a time to each recipient on your list (really, really fast). Unlike your or computer linked to your local ISP (which probably has a standard monthly bandwidth limit), email marketing vendors like us use dedicated mail servers that are capable of sending hundreds of thousands of emails (even millions, for larger vendors) per hour.

Common mistakes people make when coding HTML emails

Here are some of the most common mistakes people make when coding HTML emails:

1. Not coding “absolute paths” to their images. Remember, attaching graphics and using “relative paths” won’t work. You need to host the images on your server, then link to them in your code.

2. Using JavaScript, or ActiveX, or embedding movies. That stuff just doesn’t work in HTML email.

3. Getting over ambitious with designs. Designing HTML email isn’t the same as designing web pages. You can’t have all the CSS-positioning, DIVs, DHTML, and complex, embedded tables like you can in web pages.

4. Forgetting—or refusing—to include an opt-out link. It’s stupid and unprofessional not to allow recipients to unsubscribe from your list. Oh yeah, it’s illegal, too. Be sure to read and understand The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003.

5. Linking to an external CSS file. You usually put CSS code in between the tags of web pages, right? But browser based email applications (like Yahoo, Hotmail, and Gmail) strip and tags from HTML email. Embed your CSS below the tag.

6. Letting your permission “grow cold.” If you’ve been collecting opt-ins at your website like a good email marketer, but you haven’t sent an email in several months, your subscribers have forgotten all about you. So when they receive a full blown email newsletter from you “out of the blue” they’re going to click their “this is spam button” in their email application (related blog post: Surviving the inbox whack-a-mole game). Don’t let your permission grow cold. Send occasional emails. If you’ve been collecting emails for years, and you’re only just now sending your first email to everyone, you should send a little “re-invitation” to your list. Something like, “A really long time ago, you subscribed to my email list. Well, I’ve finally got some time to start sending my really cool newsletter, and I want to make sure you still want to receive it. Click here to sign up…” At the very least, send an email and place some kind of text at the top that reminds them of where and when they opted in. People usually forget about opting-in to something after about 6 months or so.

7. Sending to a list without permission. This is the worst offense. Lots of “innocent” marketers, who “mean well” commit this heinous crime. Here are some common ways legitimate marketers can inadvertently become known as “evil spammers:”

Getting an email list from a tradeshow. “But I’m exhibiting there, and the tradeshow host said it would be okay, and when people purchased tickets, the fine print said that we could email them, and…” Nope. You’re spamming. Don’t do it. If they didn’t give you permission to email them, they didn’t opt-in to your list. If they didn’t opt-in, you’re spamming. Even if you can legally send them email marketing, those recipients are more likely to report you for spamming them. Then, you’ll get blacklisted. Plus, your company will look really slimy. Don’t do it. If a tradeshow host is collecting email addresses, then they should be doing the emailing. It’s all about permission, and setting expectations.

• Getting a list of “fellow members” from some trade organization. Just because they joined a club, and the club posted contact information so everyone could keep in touch with each other, it doesn’t mean each member gives you permission to send them newsletters and offers. If you sent them a personal greeting from your own email account, they probably wouldn’t mind. That’s what the organization’s “members list” is for. But add them to a list and send them a huge email newsletter, and you’ll be reported for spamming. Don’t do it.

• They go to events, and swap business cards. The business cards just get thrown into a “prospects” pile. Years later, they get an intern to finally type all the contact info from those cards into a database. Then, one day out of the blue, they send a big, fat email newsletter to everyone. As if they actually want to hear from you! Trust us, they don’t.

• Fish bowl of business cards. Similar to the example above, but they hold an event, and collect business cards in a fishbowl to win a “door prize.” The people who dropped their business cards into the bowl wanted the coffee t-shirt you’re giving away (plus all the fame & glory). They didn’t opt-in to your list.

8. Using a WYSIWYG to “code” your HTML. WYSIWYGs are notorious for generating absolutely horrible HTML. They insert so much junk code, it’s unbelievable. Even the ones that generate “clean” code don’t know how to “rig” things to work in email applications (like sticking your embedded CSS below the tag). To code HTML email properly, you need to learn a little HTML. It’s really not that hard.

9. Forgetting to test. Thoroughly. When you send HTML email, you’ve really got to test it in as many email applications you can. Then you have to test on different operating systems. Then different ISPs (we’ll explain shortly). If you keep things simple, and build a rock solid, thoroughly tested template for each newsletter, you won’t have to test so much. But you should always send at least a few campaigns to yourself before sending it out to your entire list.

10. Sending nothing but a big, gigantic graphic as their HTML email. Sigh, that’s what spammers do. And since most email programs block images by default, what do you think your recipients see when (if) they open your email? Many spam filters will block your email if you don’t have a healthy balance of images and text.

Direct Email Marketing – A website provide information about definition, history, key terms and concepts of email marketing, opt-in email advertising, email spam, legal requirement of email marketing, advantages and disadvantages of email marketing, email marketing campaign, web-based email marketing service providers and email marketing software.

Source : HTML Email

History Of Email Marketing

Email is probably a necessity to you, but there was a time when there was no email! Today email is considered the backbone of all digital communications. Just like the printing press 500 years before it, email is an effective and efficient means of mass distribution. Email also provides an easy way to conduct personal one-on-one dialogue.

Email is a way of sending messages or data to other people means of computers connected together in a network. Email actually predates the Internet, and was first used as a way for users of the same computer to leave messages for each other all the way back in 1961. Ray Tomlinson is credited with creating the first network email application in the year of 1971. He initiated the use of the @ sign and the address structure that we use today (username@domainname.com). Email was used to send messages to computers on the same network, and is still used for this purpose today.

It was only in 1993 that large network service providers, such as America Online and Delphi, started to connect their proprietary email systems to the Internet. This began the large scale adoption of Internet email as a global standard. Coupled with standards that had been created in the preceding twenty years, the Internet allowed users on different networks to send each other messages.

The first email spam dates back to 1978. Spam is defined as unsolicited commercial or bulk email, and today is said to account for 80 to 85% of all email (Waters, 2008). Direct marketing has long played an integral part in marketing campaigns, but the high cost meant that only large companies were able to pursue this. However, with the growth of the Internet, and the use of email to market directly to consumers, marketers have found these costs dropping, and the effectiveness increasing. That is the born of direct email marketing.

Source : History Of Email Marketing / History Of Email Marketing