How replacing a video thumbnail with a raw link affected email click rate
Dallas Theological Seminary
The DTS mission is, “to glorify God by equipping godly servant-leaders for the proclamation of His Word and the building up of the body of Christ worldwide.” They strive to help men and women fulfill the Great Commission and the Great Commandment, or more simply: Teach Truth. Love Well.
Experiment Summary
Ended On: 04/17/2020
Research Question
Will replacing a video thumbnail image with a raw link to the video affect email click rate?
Design
Results
| Treatment Name | Click Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | Video Thumbnail | 1.3% | ||
| T1: | Raw Video Link | 1.7% | 27.0% | 100.0% |
This experiment has a required sample size of 8,866 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 138,293, 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:
27.0% increase in traffic
× 0% increase in conversion rate
× 0% increase in average gift
Key Learnings
DTS has typically included thumbnail images in all emails containing video. Through this test, we were able to determine a 27% increase in engagement and traffic with the email that did not include the thumbnail image of the video. DTS should continue to use raw links in emails containing video moving forward.