[chris_bcn]

Quick couple of questions if you have a couple of mins!

What do you consider to be good HTML email examples?

Digital Web Magazine does a good job - degrades nicely with images off.

It has Compelling content that's easy to digest

What makes for a successful HTML email?

[chris_bcn]

wow- that was a really helpful comment. Well done.

Wait a minute - Steveb - where did your comment go? THat was all very odd.

Anyhoo - Steve made a decent, if not helpful point. Obviously HTML emails can be annoying etc. but they are part of marketing campaigns and they aren't going away.

I'm looking at improving ours and trying to find out ways to make them suck a bit less.

Are there any emails you get that you like?

Veer?
Borders?
buy.com?

[steveb]

Well done for making it disappear!

My point being, html email is 95% spam or otherwise unnecessary advertising. So stop clogging the internets with it.

[chris_bcn]

how would I have done that? with my magical forum pixie dust?

[gray]

theres a new bollocks filter

[steveb]

It's gone now, innit? Maybe the Admin did it.

Haha! Doesn't stop the rest getting through!

[gray]

apple and sony have nice emails.

[chris_bcn]

HTML is not going to go away - I can tell the marketing dept. that they're crap, that people have images turned off etc etc. but they're still going to make build them.

I'm merely trying to get some ideas to help me make them suck less.

You really are grumpy old bugger - are local children scared of you?

[chris_bcn]

Cheers Gray - I'd forgotten apple. Don't think I've ever had a sony email - time to sign up for a newsletter

[solix]

I like Alienware's too

[steveb]

Laughing out load as I type! No, the local kids - and their parents - always have a good time in my company, as I do in theirs. It's a matter of priorities, and your company's boring HTML email is low down on everyone's list except for the sad sacks at your company, of course.

[chris_bcn]

Jesus fucking christ man.

You don't like HTML email - we get it. No-one on here does - esp. the poor sods that have to build them. But they're going nowhere - so why not try to make them better? Why not ask other designers for their opinion on how that might be best achieved?

If you have nothing useful to contribute -sod off to another thread

[steveb]

Oh alright. But I think you already answered your own question.

What do you consider to be good HTML email examples?
Digital Web Magazine does a good job - degrades nicely with images off. It has Compelling content that's easy to digest

The reason it doesn't work, as a format for advertising, is that everyone is sick of spam. You know it, I know it, he/she/it knows it - except for your employers. It will never work.

[Agricola]

just about all HTML mail spam that hits my inbox gets deleted and most of it doesn't make any sense anyway as I have Outlook Express set up so no images load etc.

Only use HTML webmail for people who sign up for it. THat would be better question to ask actully, Given a choice of receiving an HTML or text newsletter which would you prefer?

I have a few HTML newsletters sent to me, none of them do a perfect job and rely too much on images to convey the information, alot of time i just get a blank page with the missing image icon, no proper ALT tags set up so no idea what picture is, no plain text so i can get an idea what the email is about etc.

I can not recommend a good HTML mail as i haven't received anything worth recommending.

[Do Gooder]

I personally hate newsletters that ramble on. Much perfer short snappy news items and pretty pictures to go with them

we do a newsletter (before anyone gets spikey! sign up.. not spam..) they are by no means fanstastic but folks seem to like what they get. there's a archive of them on our site if you fancy a butchers.. cliky below

[chris_bcn]

We always offer a text only and an HTML version. I'm always amazed how many people sign up for the HTML version.

One of the biggest challenges is the degradation aspect I think. Ours, at the moment are very text heavy. Even if you sign up for a newsletter - do you really read it, or just scan it. I just scan for things of interest and then will happily go to the site for more info

[Do Gooder]

i always scan through newsletters. lifes too short.

being a website bodger. I'm not big on the technical side but we send HTML with plain text embeded.. i think.

and start out the email with a link to read the newsletter online if things arn't dislaying properly

[sub]

Most of the examples shown on Campaign Monitor are good examples of HTML emails. If you haven't already had a look: Email Design Gallery - Campaign Monitor

[chris_bcn]

top link sub - cheers!