Modern 'HTML Email Fatigue' and the True Value of Plain Text Emails

Hello, this is Takiguchi from Blastmail.

Today, I will introduce email delivery know-how that can be applied to B2B email marketing, while showing you the actual sales lead generation method using 'plain text emails' that Blastmail uses itself, and share some insights.

'Alright, this week's newsletter is the best one yet.'

An HTML email composed with a colorful layout, eye-catching banners created after repeated meetings with designers.

However, reality is cruel. Even if the open rate is decent, the click-through rate remains stagnant, and there are zero replies.

On the other hand, a simple, 'text-only' business-like email gets a surprising amount of response.

Why do we ignore the 'beautiful emails' that cost so much to create, and open our hearts to dry, 'plain text emails'?

Why do we reject HTML emails while 'at work'?

In yesterday's article, I showed you my newsletter inbox.

As mentioned in the article, since it is my personal inbox, most newsletters target me as an 'individual consumer'.

Naturally, the emails sent are HTML emails.

In fact, if a plain text email I didn't recognize suddenly arrived in my personal folder, I would definitely suspect it was spam first.

So, we (at least I) do not have an aversion or dislike for HTML emails themselves.

However, my behavior when I open my computer for work is completely different from what I talked about yesterday.

Far from HTML emails, any email with a promotional-sounding subject line is archived without even being opened.

While at work, our brains are constantly in 'processing mode.' Chats, tasks, and meetings come in one after another. In this packed schedule, the mailbox is a 'battlefield'.

Let's unravel the three major walls that HTML emails face there.

1. The mental 'ad filter' activates in 0.5 seconds

Through years of internet life, our brains have acquired the skill to instantly identify 'information irrelevant to oneself'.

The moment an HTML email image is displayed, the amygdala in the brain makes a judgment: 'Ah, this is not a letter addressed to me personally, but an 'advertisement' aimed at an unspecified number of people.'

Once this judgment is passed, the priority of that email drops to the very bottom.

Even if the content contains highly beneficial advice, because the visuals are 'too polished' it cannot break through the brain's defensive response.

2. The psychological cost of 'requiring energy to read'

HTML emails have multi-layered information, much like a magazine.

• Eye-catching large banners

• Emphasized pricing

• Multiple buttons

• Long scrolling

These are fun to look at when you have free time, but when you are busy, they look like 'puzzles that need to be decoded'.

'It looks like it will take time to understand this. Okay, I'll look at it later.'.

The moment you think that, the probability that the email will be opened again approaches zero.

3. The label of 'reading material for when you're free'

Beautifully designed emails inevitably carry the scent of 'entertainment' or 'shopping'. This works against you while you are working.

'I have a problem I need to solve urgently right now. I don't have the luxury of listening to stylish lifestyle suggestions.'

The 'hospitality' of design ends up creating distance from the reader instead.

In the business world, an ironic phenomenon is occurring where sophisticated design is being interpreted as 'aloofness'.

Let's dare to send a 'plain text email'

One day, I received a consultation from Mr. Yamada in the sales department.

'I want to send an email that is just one line of text.'

Honestly, I thought he was saying something foolish, but Mr. Yamada is a very studious person.

I learned from a certain book that 'plain text emails' are effective for re-engaging so-called 'dormant customers' with whom there has been past contact.

Indeed, plain text emails have the following advantages.

The ultimate weapon called 'a sense of being addressed personally'

The background of a plain text email is pure white. The text is black.

This is the exact same format as 'work emails' received from bosses, clients, and colleagues.

The moment the email is opened, the reader's brain lowers its guard, thinking, 'This might be a message related to work.'

This small step of 'I'll check what's written just in case' is a high wall that HTML emails cannot overcome.

A 'question' functions as an 'inquiry'

Buttons in HTML emails are just 'links'.

However, a single sentence placed alone in a plain text email, such as 'What do you think about this?', resonates as a clear 'inquiry'.

Without the armor of design, readers begin to perceive the sender not as a 'corporate system' but as 'a human being'.

As a result, there are many cases where reply rates and URL click-through rates improve dramatically.

Hmm... it's certainly worth a try...

I also love taking on new challenges, so I decided to give it a go.

I actually sent one out

After consulting on various things, we decided to send an email like the one below.

It's not quite just one line, but it's certainly quite bold.

The results of sending this email to approximately 5,000 past lost customers are as follows.

Delivery success: 5,010 emails
Link clicks: 78 clicks (1.6%)
Business meetings acquired: 7
Unsubscribes: 101 (2.02%)

It was truly terrifying.
Every time I reloaded, the number of unsubscribes kept increasing...

That said, it is rare to get seven business meetings from just one email, so I felt quite encouraged.

The Improvement Process

The problems I realized needed to be overcome after sending plain text emails can be broadly divided into the following two points.

1. Too many unsubscribes

2. Cannot track open rates

Conversely, I also realized that if these issues were solved, I could significantly increase the number of business meetings acquired through plain text emails.

The Problem of Too Many Unsubscribes

I formed two hypotheses regarding this.

1. Was the target audience too broad?

There was a theory that the distribution target itself, consisting of 5,000 past lost leads, was too broad.

In fact, most of the cases where I was able to get an appointment or receive a reply were cases that had been lost within the last six months.

Therefore, since sending to all past lost leads was too high-risk, I decided to reduce the frequency and focus on sending them at a higher frequency (though still only about once a month) to only the most recent lost leads.

2. Did people who 'weren't considering it' click unsubscribe as a way of expressing their intent?

This was also quite possible.

Of course, in accordance with the Act on Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail, I had included an 'unsubscribe URL' in this email as well.

The unsubscribe URL is basically something that is placed at the very end of an email, and many people don't notice it.
However, since this was a very short email as you can see, the unsubscribe link ended up in the first view.

If I imagine the user's perspective

'Click here if you are considering it' (30-minute meeting)

That means,I'm not considering it, so I'll click here (unsubscribe)right?

As a result of going through this thought process, I suspect that some people who usually receive our newsletters ended up being led to unsubscribe.

If that is the case, we just need a destination link for those who are 'not considering it yet'.

The problem of not being able to track open rates

The solution to this problem was simple.

Instead of using the plain text email format,
we should use an HTML email editor to send 'text-style' emails.

The only issue is whether or not it 'looks like a plain text email'.

*By the way, Gmail, which everyone uses normally, is also a 'rich text email' that utilizes HTML, so the distinction between text and HTML is actually more ambiguous than you might think.

Here is the improved email.

I made it look like this.

I created an escape route for those not considering it, and used an HTML email editor to create a 'pseudo-plain text email'.

It took about three months from the first attempt to reach this format, and here are the delivery results for this email.

Successful deliveries: 5,107
Opens: 1,985 (38.9%)
Link clicks: 150 (2.9%)
Business meetings acquired: 9
Unsubscribes: 46 (0.90%)

Just in case, let's re-post the results of the initial delivery.

[Initial delivery]
Successful deliveries: 5,010
Link clicks: 78 (1.6%)
Business meetings acquired: 7
Unsubscribes: 101 (2.02%)

The difference is obvious.

We are now able to track opens, and since then, we have also been able to start working on changing the subject lines.

The reason the link click-through rate has increased is that people who were 'not considering it' clicked the link I set up as an 'escape route' instead of unsubscribing.

And unsubscribes have been cut in half!

It is still about 10 times higher than a regular newsletter, so it is not a tactic that can be used frequently, but it has become a regular measure that we can use about once a quarter.

Why did the plain text email work so well?

This is just a hypothesis, but I believe there is value in regular contact via plain text for the following reasons.

Gemini taught me the first one.

The Click-Sir Effect (a variation of the principle of reciprocity)

While buttons in HTML emails encourage a 'click,' questions in plain text emails encourage a 'dialogue.'

By creating an option (an escape route) of 'not considering it' in the improved version, the psychological pressure to 'respond sincerely to a sincere question (or at least express an intention)' was mildly converted into a click rather than an unsubscribe.

Indeed, there are also a great many 'replies' to plain text emails.

Instead of clicking a button, I receive polite replies such as, 'I am not considering it right now, I will contact you again later.'

This is a phenomenon likely not seen with HTML email newsletters.

Avoiding 'Advertising Allergy'

Modern users' brains judge an email with beautiful images as 'Ah, this is an advertisement. It's something I don't need to read' in 0.5 seconds.

After all, plain text emails do not have that 'salesy' smell.

Because they look the same as the Outlook or Gmail used for work, they are unconsciously categorized as 'work communications that need to be processed,' which I believe is why they succeed in getting the content read.

The 'burden' on the reader is overwhelmingly low

HTML emails contain a lot of information, making it confusing to know where to look, but this email can be read in a few seconds.

It leaves no room for the reader to wonder, 'What are they trying to say, anyway?'

Short sentences of one or two lines are self-contained even in smartphone notification screens or previews, so it can be said that the ignition of the action of 'opening it for now and replying (clicking) for now' was fast.

Email is a 'conversation,' not a 'tool'

We tend to think of email as a 'tool for broadcasting information to everyone at once.'

However, on the other side of the inbox is 'one human being' who, just like you, works busily, gets tired at times, and is looking for information that is truly valuable to them.

You might also be experiencing HTML email fatigue.

Why not try sending plain text emails for a change?

Request for Information Exchange Regarding Email Newsletters

Thank you for reading this article so far.
As a sales representative for email marketing tools, I am eager to gather a lot of information, including know-how, case studies, and common challenges related to email newsletters.
So, why don't we talk directly?
Whether it's about your email concerns, recent successful strategies, or even a sales pitch, I'm open to it.
Through beneficial information exchange, I want to help popularize email marketing.
I am just a regular marketer, so let's exchange information from our real-world experiences.
Schedule a meeting here >>
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