(For those of you that have not yet downloaded the guide, Rich Media email is email that contains flash, moving images, audio, etc. These functions usually require scripting or plug-ins to run.)
OK...
Email clients do not have the same capabilities as web browsers. As such, most rich media campaigns will fail. They are also most often sent by those with a lack of experience in email marketing & what works (or doesn't in this case).
Flash in emails: Disabled when Active X is switched off.
Vbscript in emails: Disabled by anyone that has the slightest concern for security.
Javascript in emails: Not cross-client compatible. Major problems for web-based email clients.
Audio in emails: Requires plug-ins or active scripting.
If you're an advertiser that has little experience with email marketing, but want to impress potential clients, offer Rich Media email. Just don't expect campaigns to live up to the hype.
If you're a marketer that doesn't mind the fact that 80%+ of your recipients won't see the message as intended, use Rich Media email.
By all means, feel free to test Rich Media (every situation is different after all). However, if you want to save yourself some time & money, I wouldn't bother IMHO.
If anything, email clients are becoming more basic every day. For example, the latest version of AOL, & the upcoming version of Outlook 2003, both disable images by default. Do you really think you'll be able to deliver a Rich Media message in such an environment. I think not!
Russell
Note:
Looking at the Email Vendor Comparison Chart, I see that iMailer appears to be the only one that does NOT offer Rich Media capabilities. In the context of "will it create a flash email for me", then OK, no it won't. However, if you include Flash or javascript code in your HTML email (or anything else for that matter), iMailer will deliver it. It therefore has as much Rich Media functionality as many of the other vendors in this respect.
Email Marketing Buyer's Guide, Russell , 18 Nov 16:26 Hi Ashley,
Another quality resource. Well done! :)
I have a few points about Rich Media & Email...
(For those of you that have not yet downloaded the guide, Rich Media e ...
Email Marketing Buyer's Guide, Darwin Peltan, 27 Nov 17:58 Russell
I totally agree with the points you make about the unreliability of rich media emails. However to focus on whether or not to use rich media because of it’s reliability i ...
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Email Marketing Buyer's Guide, Russell 
