Why create a plain text version?

1. Mail Client spam filters are much more likely to filter an email that does not include a plain text version as well as the HTML version.
2. Some people prefer plain text and have their mail client settings configured to only display plain text. No plain text version = blank email.
3. Some mail clients and mobile devices cannot display HTML emails.

How it works

When you create both an HTML version and a plain text version of an email, Suite26 will automatically send the email as one combined email. If a recipients’ email client can read HTML, they receive the HTML version, but if the recipient’s email client cannot read HTML, then they receive the plain text version and not a blank email.

How to create your plain text version

After you have finished putting the finishing touches to your HTML version of the email, simply highlight all the content (select All) and press copy. Then click on the Plain Text Content tab, and paste it in. This will insert all the text content in a plain text version without your graphics and using minimal formatting.

For more information or help with creating your plain text version, please call 0845 313 0912.

With a few modifications to the code, here is how to set it up:

First you have to add xmlns: v=“urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml” to your html tag.

Secondly, within your style tag, add the following selector:

v\:* {
behavior: url(#default#VML);
display:inline-block;

Then finally, within your table cell, you must add:

<td width="600" height="402" valign="top" bgcolor="#000000" background="images/yourimage.gif">
<!—[if gte mso 9]>
<v:image id="image" style='position:absolute; height:402px; width:600px;top:0;left:0;border:0;z-index:1;' src="images/yourimage.gif"/>
<v:shape id="text" style='position:absolute; height:402px; width:600px;top:0;left:0;border:0;z-index:2;'>
<![endif]—>
<p align="center" style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color:#ffffff; font-size:18px;">This is the text in front of the background image.</p>
<!—[if gte mso 9]>
</v:shape>
<![endif]—>

Before you send your next campaign, take a look at the link between the length of the subject lines from previous email campaigns and the number of unique opens and total clicks they received.

You should also carefully consider that subject line word choice, word order and recipient awareness are also vital factors in receiving more deliveries and opens.

We recommend that you stick to these points when writing your next subject lines:

1) Keep the subject line as short as possible
2) Avoid using ‘Spammy’ words such as; Urgent, Free, Buy Now and symbols like !!, ££, **
3) Only use longer subject lines when there is considerable reason to do so
4) Whenever you’re unsure, always test your emails.

Most people will not notice the change, but if you sending an email which requires to images to  be placed right next to each other you will may see a gap between them.

This can be remedied by adding a simple "display: block;" to your images like so:

<img src="image.png" style="display: block;" />

You'll find the guide here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/help/HA010450051033.aspx

Most points there are fairly obvious and would never be used by legitimate mailers, but a couple there may catch people out who use a term in a legitimate way.

The guide is not a complete list and there are many other factors that could still cause your email to get blocked.   It should also be noted that this guide is for the filter built into the Outlook client only.

Here at Suite26 we always advise you to test your email campaigns as much as possible in as many different email clients before sending.   It's easy to register a Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail account and just send a preview message to those accounts, but we would also recommend using an email testing service such as LitmusApp which will test your email in a number of different email clients and against lots of different spam filters.

Gmail users access this link by first clicking on the 'Show Details' link when they receive a message, as seen in the image below.

We are pleased to announce that Suite26 now supports the additional unsubscribe method the Gmail is providing.   A Gmail recipient clicking on this link will be unsubscribed from you contacts within minutes of clicking the link and you will see the unsubscribe recorded in your usual campaign reports with a reason of 'Feedback Loop'.

At present Gmail will only show this unsubscribe link when the email has been signed with DomainKeys/DKIM so that they can be sure that the email has come from a valid sender, it is therefore important for you to setup an authenticated domain with Suite26.  It only takes a few minutes to setup an authenticated domain, it's totally free with Suite26 (many providers will charge you £100s to do this) and, even better, it will help your deliverability - what are you waiting for?

Please see our help article about changing link colours in your email for full details.

An authenticated domain is by no means a guaranteed way of ensuring your email does not end up in spam folder, but it can certainly help.

For more information please see our help article about authenticated domains, DomainKeys, DKIM and SPF.

Setting up a domain is easy and should only take a few minutes.   You will need to know how to make some DNS entries for your domain (your web host should be able to help you with this).  If your domain is already hosted with Global Gold then we can make the changes for you.

There are no disadvantages to setting up and authenticated domain, only advantages, therefore we recommend that all users set up an authenticated domain as soon as possible.

Full instructions can be found in our help centre: Set up an authenticated domain for DomainKeys, DKIM, SPF and SenderID

As always, if you need any assistance please do not hesitate to contact us.

We would advise Suite26 users to remove (or set to Do Not Mail) any contacts from their list using the lycos.co.uk e-mail address.

Suite26 now allows you to set your preferred fields which are seen on the "Match Fields" stage of the contact import.  Just click on the Options tab the Import Field Preferences and choose which fields are visible to you and which are not.

Once you set your preferences you will only see the fields you need on the "Match Fields" stage of the contact import.   A simple toggle facility will remain on that page to allow you to easily switch between seeing your preference fields or all fields.