7 ms·

What you're saying makes sense, but I'd like to see the data. In a split test of that email and one without the guy, which would win? Sadly, I bet it would be

What you're saying makes sense, but I'd like to see the data. In a split test of that email and one without the guy, which would win? Sadly, I bet it would be the one with the guy.

SamAtt 17y ago
I remember a survey that said essentially that (I tried for a couple minutes to find the link but I can't). I forget the actual numbers in the study but my recollection was that the number of people who read an e-mail with a picture of a smiling person on it was significantly higher. They attributed this to a couple factors... 1. When you differentiate people tend to pause. So someone going through 20 e-mails of all text will pause on the one with a picture for no other reason than it's different. 2. People tend to reflect emotion from other people and a picture can trigger that to a lesser extent. This is a well established psychological tendency that people have. Imagine yourself walking up to a group of your friends who are all laughing at something. Even without knowing what they are laughing at you'll instinctively start to smile. Same concept. Hence the theory that people are more likely to read an e-mail with a smiling person's picture.
- RyanMcGreal 17y ago
  > So someone going through 20 e-mails of all text will pause on the one with a picture for no other reason than it's different. So when every other marketing email has a picture of a recently-laid soul patch guy, it will make sense to send plain text again?
  - SamAtt 17y ago
    The irony of my comment above is that I'm just the opposite. A picture of any kind embedded in the content is usually my cue to move along.
    - blhack 17y ago
      Mine too. In fact, I think that there is even a filter for spamassassin that marks emails with embedded images as "spammy".
ams6110 17y ago
I'm probably not in the majority, but I read email in a text-mode MUA and wouldn't see the picture either way. Here's a hint for marketing folks who want to send email to people like me: make sure your email looks reasonable in plain-text mode.
dschobel 17y ago
Precisely. I remember a psychology professor who did some consulting for marketing firms telling us: "No matter how sophisticated your tastes or your decision buying process are, there's a marketing profile targeting you". Don't ever under-estimate the marketing people just because you see them trying to sell beer with girls in bikinis (or server hardware with smiling guys in suits). When it's working best, you don't realize anything is going on at all.

What you're saying makes sense, but I'd like to see the data. In a split test of that email and one without the guy, which would win? Sadly, I bet it would be the one with the guy.

SamAtt 17y ago

I remember a survey that said essentially that (I tried for a couple minutes to find the link but I can't). I forget the actual numbers in the study but my recollection was that the number of people who read an e-mail with a picture of a smiling person on it was significantly higher. They attributed this to a couple factors... 1. When you differentiate people tend to pause. So someone going through 20 e-mails of all text will pause on the one with a picture for no other reason than it's different. 2. People tend to reflect emotion from other people and a picture can trigger that to a lesser extent. This is a well established psychological tendency that people have. Imagine yourself walking up to a group of your friends who are all laughing at something. Even without knowing what they are laughing at you'll instinctively start to smile. Same concept. Hence the theory that people are more likely to read an e-mail with a smiling person's picture.

RyanMcGreal 17y ago
> So someone going through 20 e-mails of all text will pause on the one with a picture for no other reason than it's different. So when every other marketing email has a picture of a recently-laid soul patch guy, it will make sense to send plain text again?
- SamAtt 17y ago
  The irony of my comment above is that I'm just the opposite. A picture of any kind embedded in the content is usually my cue to move along.
  - blhack 17y ago
    Mine too. In fact, I think that there is even a filter for spamassassin that marks emails with embedded images as "spammy".

ams6110 17y ago

I'm probably not in the majority, but I read email in a text-mode MUA and wouldn't see the picture either way. Here's a hint for marketing folks who want to send email to people like me: make sure your email looks reasonable in plain-text mode.

dschobel 17y ago

Precisely. I remember a psychology professor who did some consulting for marketing firms telling us: "No matter how sophisticated your tastes or your decision buying process are, there's a marketing profile targeting you". Don't ever under-estimate the marketing people just because you see them trying to sell beer with girls in bikinis (or server hardware with smiling guys in suits). When it's working best, you don't realize anything is going on at all.