Captaris (www.captaris.com) is a leading developer of Business Information Delivery products and solutions. As part of an ongoing series of e-mail campaigns for Captaris, we recently executed a creative test that pitted a standard HTML design (a design that had performed well in past campaigns for the same client) against a more streamlined design devoid of most HTML graphics.

The test was intended to gauge to what extent HTML graphics have a positive or negative impact on e-mail response.

Below are links to creative for the two campaigns. First the standard HTML version:

http://www.connectdirect.com/casestudies/captaris/email/control/

and the streamlined version:

http://www.connectdirect.com/casestudies/captaris/email/test/

The results were startling. Both performed at above-average rates, but the test (streamlined) design generated an average response 16% higher than the control, across an array of different subject line tests. (The reason, we hypothesize, is that HTML graphics prevent our message being seen at first glance in the recipient's e-mail preview window. File size may also play a role.)

A note for the direct marketing purists reading this: yes, it's true that the copy in the test e-mail is shorter than the control version, and therefore this wasn't a true test in the scientific sense. The reason for this decision on our part was the copy length in the control - if we had attempted to fit every word within the streamlined design, the result would have been awkward at best.

In the end, we opted for what we thought was a more appropriate copy length for the new design, even though we knew the test results would be compromised. Since we changed two variables (copy and design) versus just one, it's therefore possible that the shorter copy also contributed to the higher response rate. Future campaigns will test this theory.

Do these results mean we're abandoning HTML graphics entirely for all e-mail campaigns? No, and neither should it suggest the same for you and your e-marketing efforts. As ever, these results were specific to one list and one campaign, and so the numbers could conceivably vary in different circumstances.

However, they certainly should give you reason to at least consider cutting back on the amount of HTML graphics in your e-mails, particularly to in-house lists when you have more flexibility to test creative without the cost penalties inherent with rented files.