Time-Saving Tips That Will Make You Look Good, Too

Creating AOL and plain text versions of your e-mail campaigns can be tedious and time-consuming. It can also be frustrating to manage last-minute changes if you have to make those changes in three places: in the HTML, AOL and plain text editors. If you find that you are spending a lot of time formatting plain text e-mails that actually go to very few of your subscribers, read on. We’ve got great time-saving tips that will actually improve the way those subscribers view your e-mails.

Overview of the three types of e-mails
First, let me give you a quick description of the three types of e-mails you create for each campaign in eMS:

An HTML e-mail is a full-color e-mail message that usually contains color graphics and hyperlinks. It’s actually a lot like a web page. In fact, HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the same computer programming language used to build websites. HTML messages can be professionally branded, and you have the option to track statistics for each campaign.

The vast majority of e-mail users can view HTML messages just fine, but in some cases your subscribers can only receive the AOL or plain text version.

A plain text, or text-only, e-mail is one that contains text with no graphics, color or detailed formatting. It can contain links to web pages, but generally no efficient tracking options are available with this type of e-mail campaign.

The AOL version that you create in eMS is much like the plain text version, though you can add color to text, and you can include hyperlinks without spelling out the entire web address. The AOL version you create is ONLY sent to individuals that cannot receive HTML e-mails and are using AOL version 5.0 and below.

NOTE: Your statistics page shows how many total AOL e-mail users you have on file, some of whom can view HTML messages and some of whom cannot. This statistic is not an indicator of how many AOL versions are sent.

How to save time and money and look good at the same time
Check the statistics on your latest campaign to see how many of your subscribers receive the plain text version of your e-mails. For a list of, say, 2,000 subscribers, this will typically be between 0 and 10. How much time do you really want to spend formatting a separate version for such a small number?

You probably spend a good chunk of your time creating the HTML version of your e-mail—being sure all the hyperlinks are working properly, that your images load correctly and the e-mail looks perfect. The next logical step would be to flow all of your HTML content into your plain text and AOL editors and then to tweak those versions until they look more reader-friendly for those few subscribers. If you are doing this—STOP! There is a way to save time and allow all subscribers the option to view your HTML-formatted campaign.

You may not realize it, but when you create an HTML e-mail in the eMS rich text editor, the system automatically generates a web page containing your newsletter, too. You can easily link to this online version using the %%viewonline%% custom link. Therefore, why not simply insert this code into your AOL and plain text versions, so all your subscribers may experience the full visual impact of your online publication?

Here's how to create a link to an online version of your newsletter:

1. Perfect the HTML version of your newsletter.
   
2. Scroll down to the plain text editor. Instead of flowing in the entire newsletter content, we suggest just highlighting the important headlines and providing a lead-in paragraph. Here is an example:
   
   Dear %%FIRST%%
   
   Spring is here and we all know what that means: cleanup! Sometimes we focus so much on sprucing up the house that we forget about the yard, so this month we're bringing you both yard and home spring cleaning tips.
   
   In This Issue:
   *In the Garden - Spring Cleaning Tips For Your Yard
   *Organize It! -Home Tips For Spring Cleanup
   *Sally's Book of the Month - "Unstoppable" by Cynthia Kersey
   * Free Home Buying & Selling Seminar, April 4
   
   
3. Then, insert some basic information and a link to the online newsletter. For example:
   
   Please view the rest of this newsletter as a web page by clicking on the URL below or copying and pasting it into your web browser: %%viewonline%%
   
   NOTE: Your eMS account will automatically replace the "%%viewonline%%" code with the correct URL that links to your current newsletter. You may also use this link later for archiving purposes.
   
   
4. Copy and paste the entire plain text version into the AOL editor, exactly as is.
5. Test all three versions, as always, and make sure you have the "viewonline" links working properly.