I always subscribe to text version of a newsletters when given a choice since I don’t use the traditional e-mail client — usually Outlook. Plus, I use Web-based e-mail applications, which don’t display HTML e-mails very well.
Jeffrey Zeldman rants about HTML newsletters, something I addressed in the past. Many respect him and listen to him — so it’s good to have a designer’s confirmation.
Simply put, if you can do it — offer a text version of the e-mail newsletter, or provide a link that takes the reader to the online version where HTML works fine in a Web browser. If you can only offer one e-mail formatting option, I recommend text. You can reach a wider base with text than one with HTML that doesn’t display right. Certain common e-mail applications used in an office network struggle with displaying the newsletter at all.
Marketers don’t like to hear about text being a better choice than HTML since HTML-based e-mails can track metrics better. That’s true. However, I’d rather have little metrics information and more readers than the other way around. After all, you can see the results of your newsletter by the visits to the Web site, those who took advantage of the call to action and so on.
