How email design affects open rate in a newsletter email
Experiment ID: #11038
NextAfter
Experiment Summary
Timeframe: 03/14/2019 - 03/18/2019
Email appeal experiments had given us a predisposition to think that email with button, images, and minor design elements are ineffective. But we had really only discovered that to be true in the specific context of a donation appeal.
In this experiment, we wondered if basic design elements could actually lead to greater click-throughs. The control was a plain-text style email in the format we had tested into, and the treatment added section images and clickable html buttons.
But we also wanted to keep an eye on open-rates. We thought it was possible for these design elements to hurt deliverability and inbox placement, and hurt open rates as a result.
Research Question
Will a designed email newsletter affect open rates?
Design
C: Plan-Text
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[thumb_372] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-372x1961.jpg
[thumb_372-width] => 372
[thumb_372-height] => 1961
[single_post_thumbnail] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-119x625.jpg
[single_post_thumbnail-width] => 119
[single_post_thumbnail-height] => 625
[thumb_32_32] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-6x32.jpg
[thumb_32_32-width] => 6
[thumb_32_32-height] => 32
[thumb_48_48] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-9x48.jpg
[thumb_48_48-width] => 9
[thumb_48_48-height] => 48
[thumb_64_64] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-12x64.jpg
[thumb_64_64-width] => 12
[thumb_64_64-height] => 64
[thumb_128_128] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-24x128.jpg
[thumb_128_128-width] => 24
[thumb_128_128-height] => 128
[thumb_122_67] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-13x67.jpg
[thumb_122_67-width] => 13
[thumb_122_67-height] => 67
[thumb_153_153] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-29x153.jpg
[thumb_153_153-width] => 29
[thumb_153_153-height] => 153
[thumb_130_163] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-31x163.jpg
[thumb_130_163-width] => 31
[thumb_130_163-height] => 163
[thumb_232_177] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-34x177.jpg
[thumb_232_177-width] => 34
[thumb_232_177-height] => 177
[thumb_272_325] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-123x650.jpg
[thumb_272_325-width] => 123
[thumb_272_325-height] => 650
[thumb_271_346] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-66x346.jpg
[thumb_271_346-width] => 66
[thumb_271_346-height] => 346
[thumb_271_271] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-51x271.jpg
[thumb_271_271-width] => 51
[thumb_271_271-height] => 271
[thumb_272_172] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-33x172.jpg
[thumb_272_172-width] => 33
[thumb_272_172-height] => 172
[thumb_372_461] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-87x461.jpg
[thumb_372_461-width] => 87
[thumb_372_461-height] => 461
[thumb_372_500] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-95x500.jpg
[thumb_372_500-width] => 95
[thumb_372_500-height] => 500
[thumb_385_270] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-51x270.jpg
[thumb_385_270-width] => 51
[thumb_385_270-height] => 270
[thumb_416_241] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-46x241.jpg
[thumb_416_241-width] => 46
[thumb_416_241-height] => 241
[thumb_448_410] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-78x410.jpg
[thumb_448_410-width] => 78
[thumb_448_410-height] => 410
[thumb_448_410_retina] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-156x820.jpg
[thumb_448_410_retina-width] => 156
[thumb_448_410_retina-height] => 820
[thumb_574_382] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-72x382.jpg
[thumb_574_382-width] => 72
[thumb_574_382-height] => 382
[thumb_776_395] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-75x395.jpg
[thumb_776_395-width] => 75
[thumb_776_395-height] => 395
[gform-image-choice-sm] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-scaled.jpg
[gform-image-choice-sm-width] => 57
[gform-image-choice-sm-height] => 300
[gform-image-choice-md] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-scaled.jpg
[gform-image-choice-md-width] => 76
[gform-image-choice-md-height] => 400
[gform-image-choice-lg] => https://www.nextafter.com/wp-content/uploads/Designed-scaled.jpg
[gform-image-choice-lg-width] => 114
[gform-image-choice-lg-height] => 600
)
)
)
Results
| Treatment Name | Open Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | Plan-Text | 30.0% | ||
| T1: | Designed | 32.4% | 8.1% | 98.1% |
This experiment has a required sample size of 2,808 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 8,041, and the level of confidence is above 95% the experiment results are valid.
Flux Metrics Affected
The Flux Metrics analyze the three primary metrics that affect revenue (traffic, conversion rate, and average gift). This experiment produced the following results:
8.1% increase in traffic
× 0% increase in conversion rate
× 0% increase in average gift
Key Learnings
This result is a little bit baffling. We expected we might see a decrease in opens, or in the best case scenario, see no change at all. Instead, we saw an 8.1% increase in open rates at a 98% level of confidence.
We thought it was possible that the preview text appeared differently, but that proved to not be the case. Subject lines and senders were also exactly the same. Now, the 98% confidence means theres a 1 in 50 chance that this result may not hold in when tested again. The odds of that are very slim, but seeing that we have no real explanation for why this result occurred, we will test again to be sure.