Formatting a Targeted Email message can be more complicated than formatting a web page. In both cases, you have to factor in how different browsers and devices render code. Email has the added challenge of also accommodating how each email client reads the code.

There are hundreds of email clients, and even among the most common, there are major differences in how they display emails. For example, Outlook.com and Gmail are web-based email clients, so they have the additional job of making the HTML email content work with the HTML that their product is built on. Software-based programs like the Outlook app or Apple Mail may have an entirely different way of reading and encoding the text and images.


We suggest that you try to format your emails for the email clients, browsers, and devices that are most commonly used by your supporters. If you already use a service to track that information, you can use that data to help you decide how to format your messages.

If you are not tracking things like what browsers or email clients your supporters use, you can these general best practices below to help you create messages that will have the best chance of displaying properly.

Most commonly used browsers

• Chrome
• Internet Explorer
• Safari
• Firefox

Most commonly used email clients

• Apple iPhone
• Gmail
• Apple iPad
• Apple Mail
• Outlook
• Outlook.com

Content creation tips

• Use one-column layouts, as they tend to have higher conversion rates for links in the content.
• Focus on making the email look best in the most commonly used browsers and email clients. You can't foresee every possibility, so don't worry about testing every possible scenario.
• Use a solid color background - many email clients have trouble displaying background images.
• Use simple layouts (like the One-Column default options) and simple CSS - if the CSS is stripped by the server, your email should still look okay. Utilize your plain-text versions of the sample emails to confirm this.
• If you're drafting HTML or CSS content in a word processing program, copy and paste it into a text editor such as Notepad (PCs) or TextEdit (Macs).
• Test, test, and test again! There are plenty of free sites where you can see how your email will look in different browsers, including Litmus and Email on Acid. Send yourself sample emails so you can get a good idea of how it will look to your supporters.

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