Ask Aunt May: PDF Emails

I’ve been asked to put my company’s quarterly print newsletter online. The printed piece is a single sheet 8.5″ x 11″ printed on both sides. I’ve been thinking that I could simply convert it to a PDF file, then email it out to online subscribers as an attachment. Will this work?

PDF,
Oshawa, ON

A: Dear PDF,

It all depends on what you mean by “Will this work?”.

Technically, if you convert your print newsletter to a PDF file and email it to a subscriber list as an attachment, your subscribers should be able to read your prolific prose. So, in the strictest, most minimalist possible sense, yes it will work.

Of course, you can also get rid of a hangnail by cutting off your finger. It works, but it’s not necessarily a good idea.

First, let me tell you why sending your newsletter as a PDF isn’t particularly wise:

• PDF’s are sent in an email message as attachments. Attachments can contain viruses. Some of your readers will automatically delete your messages out of fear. Attachments are almost NEVER a good idea in an email marketing campaign.
• The presence of an attachment in your broadcast email message my trigger some spam filters, causing your messages to be blocked entirely.
• You are likely going to pay a delivery surcharge for including an attachment in your broadcast email messages.
• You can’t track user behaviour within your PDF file, so you will be severely limiting the amount and type of feedback data you can collect.
• PDF files tend to be larger in size than a typical email message, increasing the bandwidth you will use to transmit your broadcast. Once again, you’re paying higher fees.
• Even if your message gets through, your readers need Acrobat Reader to view it. While it’s true that Acrobat Reader is free and most users are likely to have it installed already, you are still asking them to work harder for the privelage of viewing your marketing messages. Which will result in lower open rates.
• If you archive your newsletter on your website, you will limit your search engine effectiveness by posting this information only in PDF format.
• You might also limit the effectiveness of the search engine on your own website.
• Jumping back and forth between HTML web pages and PDF documents is frustrating and will detract from your user experience.

In summary - sending your email newsletter as a PDF attachment is likely to cost more money in the long run, decrease the likelihood of successful delivery, lower your open rates and prevent you from effectively tracking reader response behaviours such as clickthroughs. You will pay more and get less.

Some companies try to get around this by sending an email message that contains a link to view the PDF on the website. This solution will solve your attachment problems and provide you with marginally better tracking data. But it still isn’t an optimal user experience.

Why not take the key articles from the quarterly printed piece and post them as HTML pages on your website. Then send online subscribers an email containing the highlights of full articles, with a link to read the whole story online. Beef up the email with short news items, interesting facts and quick links to valuable online resources.

You might also want to consider the frequency of the email communication. Once every three months and subscribers are likely to forget they signed up! If the print newsletter usually contains four distinct articles, why not send one article each month to email subscribers? That way, you’re maintaining more regular contact while still providing good value.

Whatever you decide, always be careful about sending attachments in email messages. There’s almost always an easier, and better, way!

Aunt May