The Power of the Plain Text Email (And When to Use One)

Open your inbox right now. Chances are it’s full of beautifully designed emails with branded headers, colourful buttons, perfectly placed product images and carefully chosen fonts.

Now think about the last email that actually stopped you in your tracks.

Was it the one with the polished design? Or was it the one that felt like it came from a real person?

Plain text emails – simple, unformatted messages that look like something a colleague might send you – are quietly outperforming their designed counterparts in some of the most important email marketing scenarios.

What is a plain text email?

A plain text email is exactly what it sounds like. No HTML. No images. No branded templates. Just words on a screen, formatted the way a personal email would be.

It looks like this:

Hi [First Name],

I noticed you haven’t heard from us in a while. Wanted to reach out personally…

No logo. No banner. No button. Just a message.

That simplicity is precisely where its power lies.

Why plain text emails work

The psychology behind plain text emails is straightforward: they feel personal. When a reader opens a beautifully designed email, their brain immediately registers it as marketing. When they open a plain text email, it feels like a real human reached out to them directly.

That perception shift changes everything – open rates, click rates, and most importantly, how the reader feels about your brand.

There’s also a deliverability advantage. Plain text emails are less likely to be caught by spam filters than HTML-heavy emails, which means they’re more likely to actually land in the inbox rather than the promotions tab or junk folder.

And with email clients like Gmail increasingly clipping long HTML emails mid-send – cutting off content before the reader even gets to your call to action – a plain text email sidesteps the problem entirely.

When to use a plain text email

Plain text isn’t a replacement for designed emails – it’s a tool for specific situations. Here’s when it works best:

1. Re-engagement campaigns

This is where plain text emails shine brightest. When you’re trying to win back lapsed or unengaged subscribers, a designed email screams “marketing blast.” A plain text email says “I noticed you haven’t been around – I wanted to reach out.”

We’ve seen this work firsthand. After sending a plain text re-engagement email to a segment of unengaged customers for one of our eCommerce clients, a significant number of them re-engaged – customers who had been ignoring beautifully designed campaigns for months. The personal tone cut through in a way that a polished template simply couldn’t.

2. Founder or CEO communications

If the email is coming from a real person at the top of the business – a founder update, a personal thank you, a note about a company change – a designed template undermines the authenticity. Plain text reinforces that this is a genuine message from a real human, not a marketing department.

3. High-stakes announcements

Announcing a price change, a product recall, a service disruption or any news that requires trust and transparency? Plain text signals seriousness. It says: we’re not trying to dress this up. We just want to communicate clearly.

4. Personalised sales outreach

For B2B businesses reaching out to prospects or existing clients, a plain text email feels like a direct conversation rather than a broadcast. It invites a reply in a way that a designed email doesn’t.

5. Newsletter content that’s opinion or story-led

If your email is built around a personal story, a strong opinion, or a direct conversation with your reader, plain text can actually serve the content better than a designed template. The format matches the tone.

How to write a plain text email that works

The freedom of plain text can feel surprisingly difficult to navigate. Here’s how to make it land:

Write like a human

The whole point of plain text is that it feels personal. Write in first person, use conversational language and avoid corporate-speak. If it sounds like a press release, start again.

Keep it focused

Designed emails can carry multiple messages, products and CTAs. Plain text works best with one clear point and one clear ask. What do you want the reader to do? Say it once, clearly.

Use the reader’s name

Personalisation matters more in plain text than in a designed email. A “[First Name]” merge tag in the opening line immediately reinforces the personal feel.

Don’t be too long

Plain text emails work because they feel like a quick, direct message. A 1,000-word plain text email loses the intimacy that makes the format effective. Keep it tight.

Still include a clear CTA

Plain text doesn’t mean no call to action – it just means the CTA is a hyperlink or a simple instruction rather than a button. “Reply to this email” or “Click here to read more” works fine.

Test it before you send

Even without HTML, plain text emails can render differently across email clients. Send yourself a test and check how it looks on mobile and desktop.

Plain text vs. designed emails: it’s not either/or

The mistake many marketers make is treating this as a binary choice. It’s not.

Designed emails are powerful for product launches, promotions, newsletters with multiple stories and any content where visual hierarchy and branding matter. Plain text emails are powerful for the specific scenarios above.

The most effective email marketing strategies use both – knowing when to reach for the polished template and when to strip it all back and just talk to your reader like a person.

Take action

Next time you’re planning an email campaign, ask yourself: does this message need a design? Or would it land harder if it felt like it came directly from a human being?

For re-engagement, for personal updates, for high-stakes communications – sometimes the most powerful thing you can send is just words on a screen.