Simple Text vs. Designed Emails: Which One Drives More Sales?
Hey you.
Yes, you — the DTC eCom founder spending way too much time trying to make your emails "pretty."
Let me save you some time, money, and unnecessary therapy sessions:
Fancy emails are cute. But simple ones make you rich.
Let’s break this down.
Designed Emails Are the Burn Pile of the Inbox
You ever get home, check the mail, and immediately sort it into two piles?
Real letters — from grandma, your bank, maybe your cousin who still uses stamps.
Trash — coupons, flyers, glossy catalogs that feel like they were printed in 1999.
Guess which pile designed emails land in?
Yup. 🔥 The burn pile.
Your customer’s inbox works the same way.
If your email looks like a banner ad on ESPN.com — it’s not getting read. It’s getting filtered.
Wanna stay out of the Spam & Promotions folder? Wanna show up like a friend instead of a desperate business?
Write like a human. Not a brand.
Need help fixing your emails before your next launch? We do this every day in our Free 53-Point Retention Audit. Just saying.
But I Paid a Designer to Make My Emails Beautiful…
Cool.
But people don’t click on beauty. They click on what makes them feel something.
And nothing feels better than an email that reads like a real person took 5 minutes to write it — just for you.
No HTML. No fluff. No weird fonts. Just words.
Take a look at your own inbox. I’ll bet the emails you actually read don’t have graphics. They have soul.
(Soul can’t be Photoshopped, sorry.)
Deliverability 101: Design Is a Liability
Spam filters hate design. They hate links. They hate images.
They especially hate when you try to make your email look like a landing page.
You know what they love?
➡️ Plain text.
➡️ Personal tone.
➡️ Consistent sending habits.
We’ve seen it time and time again:
Strip the design. Keep the message.
📈 Opens double. Clicks triple. Revenue jumps.
We even show this data in our Free 53-Point Retention Audit. If you're wondering whether your emails are invisible, we’ll tell you straight.
But What About Branding?
You’re thinking:
“But Alin… my brand is clean and modern and premium and blah blah blah…”
Listen.
Simple ≠ sloppy.
A great email doesn’t need 4 font styles and a floating logo. It needs 1 clear thought, a good story, and a link that makes people money.
If you’re still not convinced? Cool. A/B test it. Let your audience decide.
Design half your list’s emails. Text the other half. Then watch what happens.
Spoiler alert: the text version wins. (It always does.)
Here’s What to Send Instead:
Wanna see the exact format we use for clients like Meepo Board, Wholier, and Hopewell Farms?
Steal it:
Subject Line – Feels personal. ("Quick heads up." or "You still want this?")
First Line – Hook ’em. Tell a joke. Ask a question. Get weird.
Short Story – Something relatable. Human. Scroll-stopping.
Lesson – Tie the story to something they care about.
CTA – One link. Not two. Not twelve. Just one.
Signed off like a real person. Not a committee.
Need examples? We share ‘em in the 53-point audit.
Designed Emails Do Have a Place… Sometimes
To be fair:
Yes, there are a few times when design works:
Big product launches
BFCM weekend
Highly visual offers
But even then — keep the message plain. Keep the layout simple. Keep the story strong.
Don’t let your design try to do the job your copy should already be doing.
Need help knowing when to design and when to keep it raw?
Yep — that audit covers it too. (Starting to see a pattern here?)
The Bottom Line: Readers Love Real
Here’s the crazy thing:
Some of the top-performing emails we’ve sent for clients looked like they were written in Gmail.
No header. No footer. No brand guide. Just personality and persuasion.
The kind of email you’d send your mom. Or your best customer.
That’s what people read.
That’s what people reply to.
And that’s what drives revenue.
Before You Redesign Your Next Campaign...
Do me a favor.
Send one plain text version. Send one beautiful branded version.
Compare open rates. Compare click-through. Compare revenue per recipient.
If the plain one wins?
Well...
Burn the Canva templates.
And hit us up for a Free 53-Point Retention Audit.
We’ll audit everything: Deliverability, Design, Copy, Flows, Timing, Offers, CTAs…
And we’ll tell you exactly what to fix so your emails start printing money instead of collecting dust in Promotions.
Let’s go.
— Alin Dragu Dragu, Fitterman & Co.
P.S. Yes, we write the emails ourselves. No bots. No shortcuts. Just killer copy that connects.
