Email Rendering Is All The Rage These Days

EMAIL RENDERING IS ALL THE

Rendering Insight #1: Knowing if your messages look and function properly in the many email readers. Email readers can be Web-based such as Yahoo or Hotmail or can be installed software such as Outlook and Lotus Notes. One thing they have in common is that, well, they are not all common. Meaning, just because a message looks good in one of them, does not mean it looks and functions properly in all of them. Reviewing what your message actually looks like in the most popular email readers is critical. Take a peek at a MediaPost email in two different readers. In Outlook XP, with images on, it looks fine--but in Lotus Notes with images on, it's another story altogether! Worth fixing? We think so.

Rendering Insight #2: Learning if the integrity of your message is retained when images are disabled. Quite a few email readers have images disabled by default. This means that beautiful email that you designed shows up with all your images turned off. Examples include GMAIL, Outlook 2003, Hotmail, and Mozilla Thunderbird. Unfortunately, most mailers continue to design and QA their message with the completely false assumption that images are on. This is certainly not a practical nor advisable design strategy. Emails should be designed to retain brand and call-to-action integrity whether images are on or off. Don't believe this matters? Take a look at what one of the MediaPost newsletter looks like when images are on versus off.

Rendering Insight #3: Learning how well your key selling points are posted "above the fold," or taking advantage of "preview panes." Numerous studies have been conducted on this topic but most of us probably need only look at our own reading habits to recognize the importance of "preview panes." Most recipients make a decision on whether to open or delete the email based on what they see in the preview pane. If you are not designing your message to ensure your most compelling calls to action and brand are readily viewable in the all important preview pane or above-the-fold in the message view, your message might end up in the trash folder more often than you realize. Here is a screenshot of the MediaPost article in the new Yahoo BETA preview pane.

Where do you find the answers? Tune in to next week's column to find out.

Part 2: Jan 11, 2007

LAST WEEK WE TOOKa graphical look at how 3 key insights of email rendering have become all of the rage. However, the column assumed that readers understood how and why image rendering has become such a big issue and what options there are for help and advice on image blocking and testing and what we can expect in the future.

While the history of image rendering in emails dates all the way back to the very first text email, current date rendering lends itself to driving success by focusing on three critical issues:

1) Knowing if your messages look and function properly in the many email readers.
2) Learning if the integrity of your message is retained when images are disabled.
3) Learning how well your key selling points are posted "above the fold" or take advantage of "preview panes."

Early next week, The Email Experience Council (eec) will be releasing an in-depth look at the history of email rendering, its present challenges and a glimpse into the future. You can reserve a pre-release notification of this report by sending an email to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

To help ensure that marketers have access to the latest and greatest testing and validation tactics of the day, we also wanted to share a quick recap of the professionals who offer rendering services. These providers have solutions that make answering design optimization an infinitely easier process. They allow you to take control of your message design and rendering and ultimately ensure the performance of your email communications. (Most of these vendors also provide deliverability validation and testing services.) Check them out below or download the pdf.

My 2007 rendering prediction: In 2007, rendering will continue to be the rage as it is linked directly to brand impact and revenue potential. So take control of it now, before it takes control of you.

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Jeanniey Mullen is Partner-Senior Director of E-mail Marketing at OgilvyOne worldwide, New York. Ali Swerdlow is the director of the Email Experience Council. This is part 1 of 4.   Click the PDF icon to download a PDF of this article + the EEC's Vendor Evaluation Card!