The new Hotmail is quickly being rolled out across the Hotmail user base.

However not without a significant issue for email marketers.

One of the first things we have noticed is the alignment of your email and some background colours are missing when using a user reads your email in Firefox, Chrome, Safari or any other browser which is not IE.

This is nearly 70% of Internet users according to w3schools.com

Here is an old versus new Hotmail example on an email: Read More

toptable.com have added an extra dimension to their already fantastic emails. Not only do customers receive emails tailored to their location and usage frequency, but now they can even smell before they book!

This may seem a strange innovation to make but when you consider that “Flavor is recognized primarily by our sense of smell,” (Paul A. Kedeshian*) things starts to become more clear.

This feature is obviously just a tongue in cheek gimmick for most recipients as their computer screens cannot actually produce smells, but due to the launch of the iPad and the next version of the iPhone with their scent omitting capabilities, scratch and sniff emails may become more common place.

Stay tuned for further developments!

* (Paul A. Kedeshian MD, assistant clinical professor in the division of head and neck surgery at UCLA)

The newest member of the Emailcenter team (Simon) talks about the main issues to consider when trying to get your marketing emails to render correctly in Outlook 2007.

Over the past few weeks retailers have starting to send out the first of their Christmas related marketing emails. Although I am sure to have a new favourite by the time I am stuffed full on mince pies and watching the “Vicar of Dibley” on Christmas day, I have decided to share a couple that have already caught my eye.

One good

I doubt this email is personalised, unless the baubles change depending on the films you have recently rented! The fact that LOVEFILM have put the effort into customising the decorations makes me feel it is worth paying attention to this email.

The message is clear and to the point. The “Visit Shop” call to action and the time limit tells the customer what they need to do and when to do it.

It could be better though. The entire email is made up of images, when it would have been easy to turn the wording into real text, making the message clear even if images were disabled.

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What is a web version?

You will often see at the top of an email a piece of text which says something like “If you cannot see this email properly click here”.

This will link to a version of the email in the browser and is often referred to as the web version.

Why is it needed?

Different email clients render emails in different ways. Some might mess up the formatting so it is not legible. This is certainly the case with some mobile email clients although thankfully this is quickly changing.

The other reason is if images are not displayed. While some recipients will know how to turn images on, it is sensible to give people this additional option.

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