In a world full of HTML, simple plain text emails stand out.
Are you looking for an easy way to connect with your customers? Keep reading.
What you’ll learn
- The difference between HTML and plain text email.
- How we (successfully) use them for our clients.
- How to create and implement them in your email marketing strategy.
- What are the benefits of using them for your brand.
What is a Plain Text Email?
It’s an email that consists of, well… plain text.
Seriously, that’s all. No images, fancy fonts, graphics, colors, or links. Just a simple email message.
Do you remember the last time a brand sent you this type of email? Probably not.
Today, everyone uses HTML-based emails. And it’s no wonder. Email templates allow everyone to create awesome emails.
But there are benefits to using both of them.
HTML emails are more visually appealing, and the users can digest them more easily.
On the other hand, plain text emails have a more personal effect and are better used for content-heavy emails.
Plain Text Email
HTML Email
How to create plain text emails
It’s pretty simple. Most ESPs (we are using Klaviyo) will give you an option to choose how to create your email.
In this case, you want to select the “Text Only” option.
The next step is to write the content.
Plain text emails cannot use advanced HTML codes, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t look nice and clear.
You can make certain portions of your copy stand out by using bold, italics, underlining, and other simple formatting options. You can also change the color of the text. Just make sure not to overdo it.
Feel free to use embed or shorter links. Consider embedding your links much like you would in-line text links in a regular HTML message. And if you want your links to look like a text version of a message, make sure they are shorter.
The next thing to consider is using headings for every section. Tear down different sections of content by using engaging headings. And you can always rely on asterisks and dashed lines to separate sections in between.
Spacing your email content evenly is very important. Every section of the email should be easily defined. Scannability and readability are essential to success for plain-text emails.
And don’t forget the subject line. Write a great subject line that will match the overall email experience.
Once the content is done, click send, and voila. Your plain text email campaign is finished.
How to Use Plain Text Emails
We’ve always used plain text emails for our clients, and they have worked exceptionally well.
If you are a D2C e-commerce brand, your customers will love them.
We created this plain text email for one of our clients in the health industry. It was an email campaign that we sent just before New Year.
The goal was to show our customers that we appreciate them. And there was no better way to do it than with a plain text email.
Here’s why:
It’s simple, and it shows that you care. There is nothing fancy, no hidden goal, just a genuine message to improve their day.
It has a human touch. It looks like an actual person sat down, wrote the email, and sent it to you. People tend to appreciate that.
It’s personalized. It feels like a personal message from the email subject line to the body text. Emails are way more likely to be opened and read when personalized.
It’s not salesy at all. This is not a marketing email trying to sell you something. There’s no clickbait headline or subject line, no links or CTA’s.
The benefits of plain text emails
This is why you should make them part of your email marketing strategy.
1. They drive engagement. Every time we send a plain text campaign, we get great feedback. People follow up on our email and share their stories. Or they just show us how much they appreciate the email. It’s a simple message that means a lot.
2. They improve email deliverability. These messages tend to get very high open rates. And with no HTML codes in them, they are way less likely to be caught in the spam filters and end up in promotions, or even worse, in the spam folder. All of this improves the deliverability and sending reputation to our email provider.
3. They lead to conversions. The plain text email won’t lead to a lot of conversions instantly. That is normal since you don’t have a link or CTA button. But these emails’ real power is the relationships you build with your customers. Those relationships will create sticky customers that will stay and shop with you for a long time.
4. They are easy to create. With only text on them, they are a lot easier to create than standard HTML emails. It’s like writing a letter to someone and sending it to their email address.
Where can you use plain text emails?
Plain text emails can be very impactful for your business, but only if used correctly. They are the ace up your sleeve, and you only want to use them when the stakes are high.
Overusing them on a daily basis will completely lose their impact and even annoy people. Instead, every now and then, in between all the HTML emails include a plain text one.
And if you want to boost your marketing efforts even further using these emails, here’s how you can do it:
– Use them in your sunset email flow.
This email is sent to customers that haven’t interacted with your brand in a long time. And this is their last chance to do so before you delete them from your email list.
Sending a personalized plain text email to these customers might be your best chance to win them back.
– Use them in your VIP Customers Post-purchase flow.
This email gets triggered after a VIP customer makes a purchase.
And what better way to show how much we appreciate these customers than by sending them a plain text message.
It will make them feel special and appreciated for their loyalty.
But if you are struggling to convert your one-time shoppers into VIP customers, then this guide is for you.
Start using them
There you have it – everything you need to know about plain text emails.
If you thought they weren’t worth it before, this probably changed your mind.
They are extremely simple emails that only consist of text. Even so, they are a very effective way to connect with your customers.
You can incorporate them into your flows or use them to create campaigns. Either way, you will see a significant uplift in your email marketing strategy.
Looking to upgrade your Email Marketing?
Plain text emails and many more advanced email marketing strategies to maximize your ROI. Book a free call and let’s see how we can scale your business together.