The Most Common Outlook Challenges
Outlook is well known for being one of the most challenging email clients when it comes to rendering HTML emails. For example, the Outlook desktop app, both with Classic and New Outlook, doesn't support the following common features:
Background images
Rounded corners (border radius)
Common web fonts and custom fonts
Inconsistent responsive rendering.
This means that recipients using the online version of Outlook, or other email providers, such as Gmail, etc, will see the background image or border radius, and responsive design, while Outlook desktop users can't because the Desktop app doesn't support these features.
To help address these challenges, we offer the following alternative ways of sharing your newsletters, as well as troubleshooting whenever necessary.
Note that you're welcome to combine all these sending/sharing methods, since we don't restrict you to one type of sending/sharing, and we collect analytics no matter how you send/share the newsletter 📊
1 - Ensuring perfect rendering with the email teaser
The Email Teaser option allows you to add a personalised email teaser to your email body that looks very much like your newsletter, and when readers click it, the newsletter opens in a web page, ensuring:
Perfect rendering and responsiveness everywhere once people click to open it
The ability to set a custom length, heading and description supported by AI-powered text
And of course, we collect analytics from there too
See how it looks and how to set it up here (don't miss the tips on resizing it if your email provider tends to stretch it out!)
2 - Adding a ‘View in browser’ Call to action
With the ‘View in browser’ CTA, your readers can open the live web version of your newsletter, guaranteeing a responsive, flawless experience on any device 📱
This is a great practice you've surely seen yourself on other HTML emails. The CTA is hyperlinked to the newsletter Share URL, so when people click it, the newsletter opens in their web browser, no matter the device used
3 - Sharing your newsletter's web version via Teams, Slack, WhatsApp and/or any browser
If you/your clients send an internal newsletter, and they use Microsoft Teams, Slack, and/or if you have your recipients' WhatsApp phone numbers:
You can easily share the newsletter in the related apps, as shown below. When people click the link and thumbnail that will show, the newsletter will open as a web page in their browser, no matter the device they use, and all analytics are recorded from there as well:
We noticed more companies start adopting this practice because:
The share link is a LIVE web version, meaning you can update it at any time and correct any typos/mistakes, which you cannot do when sending emails
It's really fast: you don't need to have multiple emails sent out, or worry about distribution lists, just one line of text with the Share link posted in the proper channel(s) will do the job
It provides extra security if you're on the Individual Plus or Team Plus plan, since you can set up a password and only people who know the password can access the newsletters.
It's a great way to reach out to any 'no desk team ' colleagues who might not use a laptop in their daily tasks, but have Teams, Slack or WhatsApp installed on their mobile
Some consider it more engaging than sending emails, which can be a bit forgotten among the ton of emails people usually receive.
4 - Switching to Publicate Send
With Publicate Send, you get the best rendering without any interference from Outlook, enjoy easy email personalisation and can manage it all in-house 🙌 :
🚀 Manage email campaigns and contacts directly from Publicate
🎨 Personalise your emails with the recipient’s name and other details using dynamic merge tags
✨ Enjoy high-quality rendering and responsiveness every time
🎁 Send 50-100 emails free (per month, plan dependent *)
📧 Top up sending credits if and when you need them, commitment-free
💰 Cost-effective pricing, from as little as $0.00249 per recipient
As a Publicate customer, you automatically get free credits per month: 50 credits if you're on the Individual or Team plan, or 100 if you're on an Individual Plus or Team Plus plan 🎁
If you have more recipients and need additional sending credits, you can purchase them whenever suits you best. Unused purchased credits roll over each month and are valid for a year .
To get started with Publicate Send, set up your sending domain as shown here.
5 - Troubleshooting other design issues
If the discrepancy you notice is not listed in this article's intro, and you use New Outlook and/or a Mac, please provide the following details via the in-app chat or to hello@publicate.it so we can investigate:
(** If you use Windows and Classic Outlook, and you sent with the Microsoft Store Outlook Add-in, we recommend trying our downloadable add-in instead. If the issue persists, please send the following details **)
Your newsletter Share Link (available from the 'Export' button):
Screenshot(s) of the discrepancy(ies) and confirm that it is from your email draft or a recipient's inbox. If it's the latter, please confirm the email provider and device they use. Please point out clearly in the screenshot(s) anything unexpected or expand in your comments so Tech can clearly identify the issues.
Confirm how you exported the newsletter: using the ' Export' button> ' Copy to clipboard' option, OR our dedicated Outlook Add-in or extension. And what's your set-up: if you use Windows or Mac, Outlook on the web or the Outlook desktop app, and whether you use 'Classic Outlook ' or 'New Outlook '. Here is how to find out.
If you've used the 'Export' > 'Copy to clipboard' option, we highly recommend using our integrations instead. Outlook is unfortunately known to impact the newsletter code and create discrepancies, which is why we created the integrations that protect your code and usually fix design issues (For clarity, they cannot fix the limitations inherent to Outlook listed in the intro, though).
Got more questions? These video tutorials might help, or send us a note via chat or to hello@publicate.it and we'll assist you asap 🙌
