HTML Email Code 101: A Guide For Email Marketing [Infographic]

Just a few days ago, Richard wrote an article about the Most Effective Advertising Online, and to a lot of people’s surprise, it’s email marketing. At times, email marketing seems like Internet marketing circa 2006, but believe it or not, if it’s done well, it still yields the best results. It’s cost effective also, so on the surface, it looks like an option to consider. If you’ve thought about it in the past, but if you are intimidated by setting up the HTML email code, I’ve got something for you today that could be very helpful.

There is a lot of psychology that goes into effective email marketing which goes far beyond the HTML email code. If you think you can just send people to an auto-responder and start blasting them, you probably won’t see the results you are looking for. Just like with all forms of connecting with an online audience, it’s important to be personal and engage with the people you are emailing. It’s critical to provide real value in your emails otherwise people will consider you to be spam, and they’ll never read what you have to say.

I recommend writing your emails as if they were just going to one person. For example, if someone opts into your auto-responder which is about home decor, you might have a message in there like this, “I saw this today and thought you might really like it. Here’s a link to the home decor winners of the 2012 Interior Design Show” or “I thought I’d pass along a coupon code for a discount on home repair products” or whatever. If you write reports, do research, find the deals and share all that valuable, juicy content in your emails without just blasting people to buy stuff, you’ll find that your audience will begin to look forward to your emails. After they know you and trust you, they will be open to buying from you again and again. There is nothing wrong with slipping a few “buy this” emails into the mix when you are providing real value. People will be excited to see what you have to say, and your CTR will skyrocket.

However, like I mentioned, there are also the nuts and bolts to consider when starting your email marketing journey. What about the HTML email code itself? How do you make it look good yet still make it simple enough where people can read your message clearly? That’s where this infographic called Email Coding 101 by Litmus (designed by Column Five Media) comes into play. This infographic is a useful tutorial which provides the basics for HTML email code that works in today’s email climate. If you would like to read the corresponding text which goes into more detail, click over to The Foundations of Coding HTML Email. Good luck!