In a wide-ranging video interview with BNET, strategist RJ Talyor of ExactTarget discusses a range of email marketing issues, and provides insight on the best way to handle messages sent to subscribers, whether they're reading email at their desk or on the go.

Says Talyor, "You need to develop an email that renders in some way on a BlackBerry—or a device that only displays maybe text or a mangled version of the HTML—in such a way that it's going to get the subscriber not to delete your email but instead flag it for follow-up when they get back to their laptop or desktop."

These days, you don't face an either/or decision when it comes to the various ways recipients can read your message. With multipart MIME, the recipient's device or computer selects text or HMTL, depending on its capabilities.

"For example," Talyor notes, "I have a Motorola Q … [that] displays only text. But when I go back to my inbox on my regular laptop … it displays the HTML version."

Multipart MIME doesn't just sound good; based on substantial research, ExactTarget found that the versatile approach that MIME enables produced significant statistical advantages.

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