Using forms in an email has always been a hot topic for debate. Do we give our clients the ease of submitting their information on the spot and take the chance that their email client may have disabled or crippled the form to a point where the information won't reach us? Or do we take our chances by sending them an outside link where the forms are guaranteed to work but we may lose them in the clicking?

At Lyris we always recommend directing your users to an outside Web page to submit their survey or form. There is more than one benefit to this method. First, you are almost always guaranteed that the form will work and the information will reach you (barring technical problems like mis-coded forms, etc). Second, by way of the click through tracking in the application, you are able to view and segment future mailings based on those who clicked the link. For example, if 205 users clicked the link but you only recieved 150 responses to your survey, the click through tracking allows you to cross reference those who clicked and submitted against those who clicked and did not submit a form. You can then send a reminder email to those who did not submit a survey or form.

I’m not saying that forms don’t work in some email clients, because I’ve seen some that do, and more work now than they used to. However, it’s still not predictable enough for me, personally, to put all my eggs in that basket. I would rather take my chances that someone doesn’t click through to the form than not have the embedded form submit the information they just filled out. At least with the click through, I can target them in future messages based on their non-click. With the embedded form, I’m in the dark as to who filled it out and who didn’t.

So again, while forms may work in some email clients their days are numbered. Moving your forms to an outside Web page gives you the greatest chance of success.

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