HubSpot Ideas

bgarlich

Warning when HTML and Plain Text in email doesn't match

I recently ran into a problem where recipients were clicking on links that were not present anywhere in my HTML email and not relevant at all to the content. The email was cloned from a different email and changed completely. I was unaware that the Plain Text version retained the original content of the cloned email even though I changed the content on the HTML version. So when this email was sent, those viewing it in Plain Text saw something completely different than intended. Even though it's easy to fix by resetting the Plain Text version to match the HTML, I strongly feel there should be a warning displayed that the Plain Text and HTML content do not match before sending.

6 Replies
mlennon1
Participant | Partner

I concur.

The original email that was cloned had a CTA button. We deleted that button and replaced it with a new CTA button. However, HubSpot didn't update the text version of the email. It remained the same as the original email that we cloned. This is ridiculous.

 

There definitely needs to be a warning message. I can envision a few warning messages. One might pop-up when you first clone an email. Another would pop-up during the review process. 

mvm
Member

+1

 

When creating HS email campaigns there is a tab for HTML and a tab for Plain Text. If you do not pay attention to this "plain text" tab then text from a cloned email will be sent unchanged.

 

A cloned email with a plain text version will send the new HTML and the old plain text version to people that have opted for just plain text. Seems logical but HubSpot doesn't warn you to tell you to you might have to change the plain text version because you cloned it!!!!

 

For people who are taking over from a seasoned Hubspot user this is a BIG problem until someone in their list lets them know!

 

Suggestion for a SIMPLE SOLUTION: When checking out and reviewing the email in the Review section it should have a block message in red and white text: "We noticed you cloned an email. Have you changed the plain text version to represent the HTML version?"

BrianSchmidt
Member

Also strongly feel there should some indicator that the plain text  of the original remains in the cloned version. Could be:

  • A warning in the checklist
  • A warning on the edit page

I bet I have a lot of plain-text email readers wondering why I was promoting last month's webinar Smiley Sad

 

Thx for considering.

KevinWalsh
Participant

I was about to post the same idea.

 

The review section offers a suggestion, if you do not have a customized plain text version of the email, to create one.

 

I think a better suggestion would be, if a customized plain text email was updated less recently than the HTML version, then warn that it could need updating.

 

A specific error we have made is cloning an email not realizing that it had a custom plain text version, we never touch the plain text version, and end up sending out a completely wrong email to those viewing as plain text. In this scenario, there is no suggestion in the Review section.

BarIT
Member

It happened to me also. very disappointing. Please add a warning or have the plain-text settings refresh when cloned. There is absolutely no reason to have a customized plain-text stay the same after cloning an email. it should automatically match the HTML as a new email does. 

linhfelix
Participant

Totally agree. This is disappointing, particularly when you inherited things and used the clone functionality to make sure you are following the right process. I was bewildered as to why the report was showing clicks to the wrong URLs and voila! The plain text version was the culprit and no one would have known!