The pros and cons of text-only and HTML newsletters

The key to writing email newsletters is to create valuable content that people will look forward to reading. Use your copywriting skills to make every element attractive and relevant. Should your newsletter be in HTML or text-only? That depends. If the primary purpose of your newsletter is to get readers to click through to pages on your web site, you will almost certainly get a higher clickthrough rate with an HTML newsletter (HTML also enables you to track who is reading which elements in your newsletters and which links they are clicking). Be careful, however, that your ‘newsletter' doesn't end up simply being a promotional email and disappointing your subscribers. If your e-newsletter carries plenty of valuable content, and your primary purpose is to deliver useful information to your readers and build a long-term relationship, think seriously about a text-only newsletter.