Hi Michael - my experience is, simple is better.
We recently instituted a new email rule called "The 5 Inch Rule".
Simply stated, if your email can't be easily read and consumed within the confines of a 5" inch smartphone screen, then it's not worth sending.
Over half of all emails are now opened on a mobile device, and that number is only going to grow.
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Expecting your intended recipient to pinch, scroll and swipe to get your message is probably asking too much.
We instituted this rule ourselves five months ago, and our email response rate has increased dramatically.
If you do go down the road of HTML formatted emails, I would recommend you use a tool like the Litmus Email Tester. This nifty tool will show you what your email will look like in 30+ email clients and devices.
Let us know which way you decide to go!
----edit 3/28/14----
I wanted to append my comments by adding a stat I ran across this morning while doing research for a new blog post that this discussion inspired.
Check it out....
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75% of smartphone owners say they are highly likely to delete emails they can't read on their phones...
'nuff said?
