How including the brand name impacts email opens
Buckner International
Buckner International is a global ministry dedicated to the transformation and restoration of the lives we serve. We are a Christ-centered organization that delivers redemptive ministry to the most vulnerable from the beginning to the ending of life.
Experiment Summary
Ended On: 02/19/2018
As part of a stewardship series for recent donors, Buckner was sending an email that included some stories of people that were impacted by the ministries. This email was going to donors from the last 12 months. We decided to run a quick test to see if including the organization’s name in the sender information would increase brand familiarity and, thus, boost open rates.
Research Question
Will including the organization’s name in the sender information increase email opens?
Design
Results
| Treatment Name | Open Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | Individual | 17.2% | ||
| T1: | Individual w/ Org Name | 17.1% | -0.4% | 4.0% |
This experiment has a required sample size of 1,896,355 in order to be valid. Unfortunately, the required sample size was not met and a level of confidence above 95% was not met so the experiment results are not valid.
Key Learnings
We saw no statistically significant difference in the sender that incorporated “Buckner International” into the sender. This tells us the brand doesn’t necessarily boost engagement but it also doesn’t get in the way.
We always strive to humanize the marketing emails that get sent out but, at the same time, we have to try different techniques to increase subscriber engagement. That is why experiments like this are important with “minor” sends like this. We can use these messages to determine what works best for the audience and can then apply it to more critical emails like those that are a part of fundraising campaigns.