Notebook

What you see is not what you get!

An HTML file can be displayed by both a web email client and a desktop email client such as Microsoft Outlook. There are many email clients, each with their own defaults for displaying content, not to mention the different browsers available. For that reason it can be difficult to predict what a design will look like. So a very important rule of thumb is to TEST TEST and TEST on all browsers and email clients.

Going back in time when tables were used for design.

Unfortunately most email clients are not in par with the newest CSS styling standards. So it is extremely unpredictable how a floating div will look like in Outlook Express vs Yahoo Mail. Of coarse you can test this out, but as mentioned earlier, there are various email clients you probably haven’t even heard of so the safest bet is sadly, to design using tables. This really means going back to HTML 1.0 and table design using table attributes and the long lost <font> tag. Yes, this is extremely painful, as you will have to wrap these attributes to almost every line in your content!

Keep it simple stupid! KISS … a designers all time favorite rule!

Since you cannot simply use embedded CSS, even if it is inline, the nice image you originally used as a CSS background, will have to be replaced with an actual image within your HTML code.  So when a design is created, it must be kept as simple as possible.

Be clear about limitations to your client so that expectations are met.

With the latest Flash techniques, Ajax and Web Gadgets, the perception that anything can be done on the web is seeping its way around the non-programmer community. So when a client wants an email that has collapsing content, dynamic images or animated pop-ups, you have to let them know that this is simply not possible. Telling them their limitations before they start dreaming up a flashy email marketing campaign can save a lot of hassle and miscommunication. Remember, if they don’t see what they want, it is YOUR fault.

Get a sense for who will be managing the email content to avoid your work from being damaged.

With so many HTML builders or do it yourself website makers, many individuals who use these off the shelf products truly believe they are familiar with HTML coding. HTML has become such a buzz word that it seems as long as you know how to change the content through a wizard, you know what is going on in the back-end. So beware of others editing your work.

Tags: email campaigns, email marketing, email templates, html templates, tips

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 11:07 am and is filed under The Internet, marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.