Outlook 2007...

Older version of Outlook used the rendering engine in the Internet Explorer browser, but Outlook 2007 no longer uses IE. Instead, it uses the rendering engine in Word 2007 - which has less features available and will impose some limits on what you can do with HTML email.

If you're just starting to learn how to produce an HTML email, this change may not bother you too much. All of the techniques covered in the previous article (HTML Email - Part 1) will still work. It's when you want to step things up a notch and get a bit more sophisticated with your HTML emails that the challenges will arise.

Here are some of the Outlook 2007 restrictions...

• No background images - but you can still use color in the background
• No animated images
• No Flash or other plugins
• No forms
• No CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) layouts - which means tables are the only way to go - good thing you learned how to make them in Part 1!

You can ignore the restrictions of Outlook 2007, but, considering the fact that Outlook has market share among business users of over 50%, you do so at your own peril.

Image blocking...

Many email programs automatically block any external image by default. This means that the graphics in your HTML emails won't be seen unless the recipient has chosen to enable image viewing. It's estimated that 59% of email users routinely block images. What can you do to compensate for this?

• Ask your email recipients to add you to their address book. Once you're in their address book, your images should automatically be displayed in most email programs.
• Don't rely on your graphics to convey your message. The graphics you use should be an enhancement to your email, but should not convey any important information.
• When you use a graphic, be sure to add Alternate Text (Alt Text) for any image you use. When you insert your graphic into your email, there will be an option to add your Alternate Text. Be sure the words in your Alternate Text convey what the graphic would have displayed. That, way, if your image isn't displayed, your message will not be lost. For instance, you could enter, "Grand Canyon at sunset" for a Grand Canyon graphic.
• Consider creating a web page version of your HTML email and send the link to your email recipients.

Test drive...

Just as a web site will look very different when it is viewed with different browsers and on different computers, your HTML email will also look very different when it's opened with different email programs.

If you are going to rely on HTML emails for a successful marketing campaign, you should see how they look in as many different email programs as possible.

• Sign up for a number of free online email accounts and send your HTML email to them.
• Send your HTML email to friends who use different email programs and get their feedback.
• Download a number of free email programs to install on your computer and see how your HTML email looks on them.

The idea is to develop an HTML email template that looks the best it possibly can when opened in most email programs.  Once you've developed this template, it will be much easier to create new HTML emails based on the template you've created.

User friendly...

Your newly designed HTML email looks so awesome and you can't wait to send it to everyone! That's understandable - you've put a lot of work into creating it.  HTML email is a great marketing tool. However, before you send out hundreds (or even thousands) of that awesome email, take a moment to look at it from the standpoint of your recipient.

Consider carefully the size and relationship of your email graphics to the message you are sending. Graphics that appear in the top or bottom (or both), of your email EVERY TIME you send an email may make a favorable impression the first time or two, but after awhile, it has the potential to become annoying.  Sometimes the graphic takes up more room and more memory than the email message itself.  Because they contain both the plain text version, and the HTML version, all HTML emails are at least double the size of a plain text email.

If you really enjoy using HTML email, a good idea is to have a smaller, simple HTML signature or HTML email for everyday correspondence, and save the awesome, full blown, knock your socks off HTML email for the marketing campaigns that really need to make an impression.  If you use Outlook, you can set up your email program to use a number of different signatures that you've created for various different occasions... everyday, business proposal, attention grabber, marketing campaign, etc.

Your email recipients will appreciate your consideration of their time and will be more likely to respond favorably to your email marketing efforts.

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