Branded vs Unbranded: 6 Case Studies

I’m often asked, “Is it better to send plain text or ‘HTML’ emails?”.

The answer is, there is no simple answer.

If you look at the most successful internet marketers, very few use branded emails. They are using HTML, however it’s formatted to look like plain text.

Why? Who knows?

And who cares?  The point is, something about it is working for them, otherwise they probably wouldn’t be doing it.  However, the only real way to know for your business is to test, test, test.

That being said, theoretically what’s so great about non-branded emails?

Well, they come across as being very personal.

Maybe that’s the key. It’s so easy to forget: There’s a real human being reading that email you just pushed a button to blast out to the forty thousand contacts on your list…

There’s a tendency to just see the technology. We forget, it’s really all about relationship.

Ironically, social media is literally making people crazy. The Today show recently surveyed 7,000 American mothers and found that 42 percent “suffer from Pinterest stress — the worry that they’re not crafty or creative enough.”

The more technology we are surrounded by, the more we seem to crave a personal touch. Authentic sharing. Genuine concern.

Passion.

So, branded, or unbranded? Whichever one serves that personal connection best, in your particular niche, with your particular personality, might be the answer.

Bottom line: You guessed it… Test!