How adding an image in an email strengthens the value proposition
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
Timeframe: 06/29/2018 - 07/03/2018
Buckner International was sending their third campaign email of a series dedicated to a matching gift for the Family Pathways program. In this email, they tell a story about a single mom named Marissa who was helped by the program. They wanted to test if including a photo of Marissa and her daughter would increase clickthrough rate and build people’s emotional connection to her. All other copy was the same.
Research Question
Does adding an image of the person in the email story increase clickthrough rate?
Design
Results
| Treatment Name | Click Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | Control | 0.27% | ||
| T1: | With image | 0.48% | 76.6% | 100.0% |
This experiment has a required sample size of 6,638 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 81,642, 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:
76.6% increase in traffic
× 0% increase in conversion rate
× 0% increase in average gift
Key Learnings
Adding the image of Marissa increased clickthrough rate by 76%. Giving people a visual image to connect her story to, rather than just copy about her story, made the story more real to people and motivated them to click through to the donation page. We should test this concept with other email appeals.