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Plain emails not only save time but work better (2016)

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Re: Plain emails not only save time but work better (2016)

#21

Post by maho »

chippy wrote: post #15

Click rate of plain text email: 1% Click rate of html email: 0.3% That's very low and yet the result was, loudly claimed in bold, that the plain text one had 3.3x more clicks than the designed email!! Also, the opened rate is within the margin of error and therefore insignificant. I may not be a data analyst, yet I look at the analysis and think to myself, "eh?"

Each email went out to 12,000 people. 125 opened the unstyled mail, 37 opened the styled mail. That result seems pretty significant to me.

Re: Plain emails not only save time but work better (2016)

#22

Post by mack1001 »

Email marketing is such a thankless process, with really low conversion of any sorts and irritation the usual emotion associated with it. Having sent several cold campaigns and reported on (sorry) we just stopped it entirely. Unless you have a credible brand sending emails is like having a twitter handle.

Re: Plain emails not only save time but work better (2016)

#23

Post by oddlyaromatic »

Klathmon wrote: post #3

Can't most of the results be attributed to it simply being different ? If everyone started sending marketing emails like this, then they would start looking like advertisements, they would feel less personal, spam and "promotional" filters would adapt, and you'd be back to square 1. Plus, I very much like the "Promotional" filters for email, both as someone that receives it, and someone that has sent it. Email spam i…

>If everyone started sending marketing emails like this, then they would start looking like advertisements, they would feel less personal, spam and "promotional" filters would adapt, and you'd be back to square 1.

True, but this is the case for every other marketing technique also. There will never be one permanent "best" way to get the most attention from readers for exactly this reason. The article does seem to miss this aspect. Plain email is currently probably a reasonable move in certain cases, in the ongoing dance of trying to get things read.

I do agree, though, that using plain email to avoid being filtered as a promotional message is not a respectful out very useful angle. I'd prefer to receive lightly formatted newsletters that work fine on mobile and were identified as marketing on my devices.

Re: Plain emails not only save time but work better (2016)

#24

Post by gipp »

chippy wrote: post #15

Click rate of plain text email: 1% Click rate of html email: 0.3% That's very low and yet the result was, loudly claimed in bold, that the plain text one had 3.3x more clicks than the designed email!! Also, the opened rate is within the margin of error and therefore insignificant. I may not be a data analyst, yet I look at the analysis and think to myself, "eh?"

I'd call 1% quite high.

Re: Plain emails not only save time but work better (2016)

#25

Post by [deleted] »

pc86 wrote: post #16
Klathmon wrote: post #3

Can't most of the results be attributed to it simply being different ? If everyone started sending marketing emails like this, then they would start looking like advertisements, they would feel less personal, spam and "promotional" filters would adapt, and you'd be back to square 1. Plus, I very much like the "Promotional" filters for email, both as someone that receives it, and someone that has sent it. Email spam i…

I love the promotional filter. I can look through the 50-60 promos and newsletters I get every day at one shot, open the 0-5 that look interesting then wipe everything. Then something happened where Bryan Harris' VideoFruit emails started coming directly into my inbox rather than the promo folder where they had been. Guess which is the only email list I've unsubscribed from in the last month?

[deleted]

Re: Plain emails not only save time but work better (2016)

#27

Post by gabemart »

gipp wrote: post #24
chippy wrote: post #15

Click rate of plain text email: 1% Click rate of html email: 0.3% That's very low and yet the result was, loudly claimed in bold, that the plain text one had 3.3x more clicks than the designed email!! Also, the opened rate is within the margin of error and therefore insignificant. I may not be a data analyst, yet I look at the analysis and think to myself, "eh?"

I'd call 1% quite high.

Really? The last newsletter I sent out went to ~20k people and had a click rate of 18% - although I think that's out of people who opened it, which was 51%.

I don't know much about this space, but 1% of people seems really, really low if it's people who have actually asked you to email them

Re: Plain emails not only save time but work better (2016)

#29

Post by hashmal »

Ensorceled wrote: post #18

This might work until the bulk of users, like me, get so many "drip" emails a day that I have the opposite reaction to these types of "plain" emails.

Considering how most companies are structured, it's not ready to happen. Usually there's a guy high in the hierarchy who will "think like a user" and say that "users love pretty stuff" and damn, "we're professionals, we have to look professional."

I've seen it countless times, at this point "plain emails work better" is an elephant in the room.

Re: Plain emails not only save time but work better (2016)

#30

Post by IgorPartola »

boffinism wrote: post #11
k__ wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like plain emails much more than styled ones. But the point with the "does it convert better" is a pretty big. I mean, I work with people who hire marketing consultants who tell them what they need to do for better conversions. All decisions are based on that metric. So I wouldn't expect much change if there are no numbers that tell "plain converts better".

The article references a 3x click rate improvement, which is pretty good. Although this is just one data point (and there's a bias at play: All the people who tried plain text emails and didn't see a conversion increase won't have bothered writing a blog post about it).

Hah. Save 15% or more with GEICO. And all other insurance companies have similar slogans. Why can’t you just keep switching between them until you pay nothing?! :)
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