Keywords: forward, formatting, fw

Once a Vuture email lands in a client’s Outlook account (or any other email service provider) it is impossible to prevent them from forwarding it.

While it is desirable that the client feels your email is worth forwarding, the act of forwarding can damage the structure of the email so that the result is not as expected when you built the page in the first place.

Columns can be distorted, images not rendered the way you wish them to be and elements of the email can be pushed out of alignment by extra spaces.

Why does this happen?

Damage occurs because email clients all render emails differently.  When a contact forwards the email through their email client, sometimes changes take place to the code in the forwarded message.  There is nothing that Vuture can do to prevent this.

Vuture’s design team works hard to ensure that your firm’s templates are as robust as possible.  They are thoroughly tested, against all known email clients, before you get them and they give the best possible results.  However, email clients are all different, and constantly evolving.  It is not possible to ensure that every event has been covered. So, it would be sensible to spend some time analysing how often your emails are being forwarded, and whether they are breaking at all.  

Use the Vuture reports to see how many of the emails you send out are forwarded.  Is it worth you spending your time on this?  Is it an issue, or is it just an occasional blip? 

How to rectify emails breaking?

If you are concerned about the effect of forwarding on your emails, there are some things you can do to help.  You will never prevent it entirely, but here are a couple of ideas that will help you:

Forward to a Friend

Promote the use of Vuture’s Forward to a Friend feature.  This feature guarantees that the email you build will be the email that your contact’s colleagues will see.  Using the Forward to a Friend button takes a copy of the email and sends it to colleagues in exactly the same format that you received it. In addition, the feature allows for blanking of any prefilled, personal contact details so it conforms to Data Protection ideals too.  There is an article about this feature on the Help Desk here. 

How should you emphasize Forward to a Friend?  

Don’t bury it in the footer of your emails.  Move the button up to the body of the page and choose a contrasting colour to highlight its presence.   You could also use the social share buttons to encourage your clients to share the web version of the email via social media.

Use Best Practice Template Design

Ensure that you are using responsive templates, and keep the structure of your emails as simple as possible.  The more elements you include, the more likely it is that something will go wrong.  

There is an article on the Help Desk covering best practice for email template design here.  Alternatively, visit the Help Desk and search for “design”.

Litmus can help

Get a Litmus account (Basic and Plus options, set up with Litmus not with Vuture) and use the Litmus preview to see how all your emails will render in the different email clients.  

There is a Help Desk article covering this process here, or search for Litmus on the Help Desk to read the article.  Litmus can also help with Spam tracking and identifying broken hyperlinks before sending.  We recommend that all Vuture users take advantage of at least the Basic Litmus option before sending an email.

To find out more about any of the suggestions in this article please contact your Account Manager.