Look Out for Outlook 2007

If you are currently a very active email marketer, you should be aware of the some of the hurdles that may be faced with by the new version of Outlook 2007.

It should already be a given that you test, test and test your email marketing campaigns before you send them out. So if you’re already testing in multiple email clients, do not neglect Outlook 2007.  You may find that your planning phase may require a little more strategic thinking when it comes to this new enhanced version of Outlook 2007 as the rendering engine for HTML emails moves from Microsoft Internet Explorer to Microsoft Word.

The new version will not support:

• Flash and animated GIFs. These will appear as static images, so do not rely on images to convey your message.
• Javascript and forms will not be displayed in the same way as previous versions, so consider placing a link in your newsletter to an online version of your form in stead.
• Background images.  Background images in both CSS and HTML tables will not work Design your emails with clean white background and normal clear text. 
• Complex CSS (cascading style sheets) properties.  the most basic CSS – inline (recommended) or embedded (acceptable) – will work in Outlook, assuming you’re using them only to specify basic font sizes and colours and nothing else too major.
• CSS div, float, word-spacing or list-style tags will not work in any Outlook 2007 email client.

The decreased functionality for HTML due to the use of the crippled Microsoft Word rendering engine will cause messages that rendered just fine before to de-format or not display at all in Outlook 2007.  Click here to see a list of Outlook 2007’s rendering capabilities.

If you’re wondering why your email campaigns are not receiving the desired conversions, you may find that this new version has had a rather significant impact on how your email was received and viewed by the targeted recipient.

You can read more about Outlook 2007 and download a free trial version of Outlook 2007 here.