Findings & Insights

Part 1: Design Tests

Color Temperature Test

Which color family did recipients prefer in the color temperature test?

Warm colors
Cool colors
Neutral colors

The test:

CTA Color (Cool vs. Warm, Cool vs. Neutral)

The hypothesis:

There won’t be a big impact here. The quality of the graphic is more important than the color family.

The results:Recipients preferred warm colors in our first test. In subsequent tests, neutral colors (we used black) won the day.

Our reaction:It’s not surprising that people preferred warmer tones, but the margins surprised us. Our dark pink CTAs produced 39% click thru rates. But we were quite surprised by the results of our neutral v. cool test.

The moral of the story? Cool colors don’t get clicks!

I would have thought teal would win in this showdown. But surprisingly black won with a shocking 67% improvement in CTOR.

Kelsey Yen, Demand generation manager

Design vs. Plain Text Test

The test:

Emails with designed elements vs. emails with only text elements

The hypothesis:

Designs are more engaging, so we’ll see better results with that option than with plain text.

Cast your vote: Designed Emails or Plain Text

Designed
Plain Text

The Data

Designed:

CTR: 1.35%
CTOR: 3.35%
Coversion Rate 7.2%

Plain Text:

CTR: 1.56%
CTOR: 3.65%
Coversion Rate 11.37%

Our reaction: *Double take* Wha-wha-whaat?! We did not see that one coming, and we’re not sure why. One idea: a less designed option looked more like a written email from an actual person than a corporate email with lots of design bells and whistles.

Plain text
had a 45%
better
conversion
rate!

Links vs. Buttons Test

The test:

Comparing CTAs and external links delivered as buttons, and delivered as text links

The hypothesis:

Everyone loves hitting a button! Buttons will win, 100%

Do you think hyperlinks or button CTAs performed better?

Buttons
Hyperlinks