Image vs no image in email marketing tests

When possible, show, don't tell in your cold email campaigns. Quick story. We were working with a company that sold an e‑commerce plug‑in that helps brands showcase real‑time progress toward a sustainability goal at checkout. The main trigger was of course brands that had sustainablility goals. We ran 3 campaigns that showed how much research and ramping up the automation with Clay increased the reply rates. Version A - generic messaging • Same message to everyone. Not even sure if they have sustainability goals. • No visual proof → 1 positive reply for every 650 contacts. Version B: We used Claygent to find if they have sustainability goals and then commented on them. We used that in the first line of our email. → 1 reply per 250 contacts. Version C had visual evidence • Claygent finds an actual “Impact” page or something similar • Sent an api to screenshot that page • Email embeds that image under the first sentence (“Spotted this on your site…”) → 1 reply per 120 contacts. Same list source, same offer, same sender. The only difference was the embedded proof. This goes back to something we talk about all the time. Yes best practices say sending images in an email is not great. But if it increases your response rates, take the deliverability hit and send away!

This might feel counterintuitive, but the better-formatted your cold email, the fewer replies you're going to get.  There's one big exception: Images. Cold emails with an image embedded see a 17% increase in replies. Reason: A picture is worth 1000 words and frankly quicker & easier for prospects to process than text-based communications. -- Other recommendations: 1. Cut all formatting from your email. Italics, Bolds, Underlines, etc. 2. Same goes for bulleted lists. These just scream "feature dump" 3. Links & other large attachments generally kill your deliverability. 4. Remove the word "AI" from your subject lines (17% decrease in opens). This data comes from an analysis of 85M+ cold emails as part of the new 30 Minutes to President's Club Cold Email Course in collaboration with Jason Bay and Gong. You can get the full report for free here: https://lnkd.in/gW_PAnf5

Email is projected to continue being a key touchpoint for almost every business. Essentially, everything is run through emails: Selling Onboarding Or even resetting a password. It’s the best way to communicate online because it’s direct, straight from you to one person. The second your email hits their inbox, you've got their full attention, even if just for a moment. So, does that mean you don’t really need a super polished or aesthetically perfect email design? Well, yes and no. See, plain emails often mimic personal correspondence, making them feel more intimate and less like marketing material. But there's less room to showcase your brand's visual identity through colors, logos, and design elements. On the other hand, visually rich emails can strengthen brand recognition by consistently using logos, colors, and styles. Yet, heavy use of images and links can trigger spam filters, reducing deliverability. The only real answer is to experiment with both formats to see which yields better open rates, click-through rates, and conversions. Test plain vs. designed emails and track open rates, click-throughs, and conversions. Align your style with your brand identity and what your audience responds to. Sometimes, a simple, stripped-down email gets through the noise, while other times, a bold, visually appealing design can grab attention. Keep adapting based on what works, and let your metrics guide your strategy.