What are the best practices for embedding vCard links in welcome emails?
Summary
What email marketers say13Marketer opinions
Marketer from Email Geeks shares that attaching vCards has not resulted in adverse results for his clients.
Email marketer from Email Campaign Experts suggests A/B testing the inclusion of vCards against other methods of providing contact information to see which performs best with your audience.
Email marketer from Email Analytics Pro suggests tracking vCard downloads to measure the effectiveness of this strategy and optimize future campaigns.
Email marketer from Privacy Matters Blog emphasizes the importance of GDPR compliance when collecting and storing contact information via vCards.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Tips Blog suggests placing the vCard link prominently within the email body, ideally above the fold, to maximize visibility.
Email marketer from Email on Acid recommends thoroughly testing vCard compatibility across various email clients and devices to ensure proper functionality.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Forum suggests providing a clear call-to-action alongside the vCard link, explaining the benefits of adding the sender to the contact list.
Email marketer from Reddit advises ensuring the vCard is easily accessible on mobile devices and that the file size is optimized for quick downloads.
Email marketer from Email Marketing Strategy Blog recommends making the process of saving the vCard very clear and easy to follow so the end-user understands how to download and save the contact.
Email marketer from Marketing Land recommends providing alternative contact methods, like a simple text-based signature with key contact information, in addition to the vCard.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests linking to the vCard and integrating contact details directly into the email design, as most email clients automatically link phone numbers, emails, and addresses.
Email marketer from Creative Email Designs suggests personalizing vCards with a professional headshot and company branding to enhance credibility and recognition.
Marketer from Email Geeks suggests applying the 'jobs to be done' mentality to evaluate how adding contact details helps users make progress and how they've resolved this need in the past.
What the experts say2Expert opinions
Expert from Word to the Wise warns that including vCards might lead to recipients marking the email as spam if they are unfamiliar with the sender, potentially harming the sender's reputation.
Expert from Word to the Wise suggests caution because older and smaller email clients may render the attachment incorrectly and the file itself may be stripped from the email.
What the documentation says5Technical articles
Documentation from Microsoft Support details how Outlook handles vCard attachments and suggests best practices for ensuring vCards are correctly displayed in the email client.
Documentation from Apple Developer Documentation explains the proper formatting and structure for vCard files to ensure compatibility across iOS devices.
Documentation from IETF RFC specifies the correct MIME type ('text/vcard') for vCard attachments to ensure proper handling by email clients.
Documentation from vCard Association shares that the accepted format is vCard version 4.0 and details all data fields to be used.
Documentation from Mozilla Developer Network recommends using UTF-8 encoding for vCard files to ensure proper display of characters across different languages and systems.