Email Template (Letter vs. Newsletter)

Experiment No. 006

What type of email should we use? 

This is a loaded question and the answer depends on different variables. 

Two Types of Templates

For the purposes of this test, we will look at two different email templates, the letter and the newsletter. 

Letter: The letter template is a plain text looking email (though it may contain HTML coding which allows for tracking). 

For the most part, letter templates have no images and no styling.  It looks as if someone wrote it from their computer, providing a more personal experience. 

Newsletter: This template allows for multiple sections, stories and calls to action. It is often stylized with images, colors, headlines, and buttons. 

Each template has advantages. Knowing and choosing the right template is a challenge. The first question to ask is: What’s the purpose of this email? 

Purpose of Email 

The reason behind sending an email is to communicate with your audience. Some common purposes to send an email include:

• Raise funds

• Ask for volunteers

• Share impact stories

• Thank donors

• Promote an event

• Share what is happening at your organization

• Watch a video

• Provide a resource

• Ask questions

If you have multiple purposes, like watch a video, read a story and get a book, then use a newsletter. 

The newsletter is like a buffet, it allows the audience many options to choose what they most want.  

Because it has differing calls to action, you may not get the response you wanted on certain sections. 

More to the Story

This email also had a mailing component to it. The print mailing included 4 different stories and pictures to accompany them.  

The same audience received a letter that contained the same stories which appeared in the mailing. The mailing went out 2 weeks before sending the email. 

We want to know what the best template to use. Should we choose one story and focus on it? Or should we use a newsletter template to include all the stories from the mailing. The email would then look more like the mailing.

So we decided to test.  

Research Question: Will using a newsletter style email template provide more context about the cause and generate more donations?

Hypothesis: An email template that allows for more stories will increase donations.

Test Element: Email template

Control- Letter (plain text style)

Test- Newsletter (multiple images and stories)

Key Metric: Number of donations

Other Metrics: Number of clicks on donate button and total donation amount.

Sample Size: Used a 50/50 split

Control- 131,078

Test- 130,832

Results: The email letter style template had more

• Donations - 45%

• Button clicks - 50%

• Opens - 9%

Application: When the purpose of the email is to raise funds keep the email template simple. Remove images and multiple calls to action. Focus on one story then one call to action.

Future Tests: A good test will often lead to more questions. This test raised a few. New test ideas include:

• Would reducing the number of story sections on the newsletter template produce better results?

• What type of content on the letter email works better? A letter or a story?

Final Thoughts: Knowing the right type of email template to use is a challenge. Template design depends on the purpose of the email. A simple letter type design is best used when you have a goal, like fundraising. A newsletter template is great when you want to offer a variety of options and the goal is to drive people to your website.

Adding a donation section to a newsletter is fine, but it will not bring in the same amount if you were to send a letter style email.