Kelly Linhares

How smart design boosted email click rates by 13%

Something was wrong with Shoelace’s email click rates

  • Despite achieving open rates significantly above the industry benchmarks, Shoelace’s click rates were falling short at an average 4.5%.
  • High reader engagement was evident, but the content and design wasn’t compelling enough to drive action.

First up, revamp one of our most popular campaigns, Fun Friday

  • Fun Friday offers teachers free access to Shoelace’s Class Missions, where students work together, playing in unison to tackle a big challenge.
  • The existing email format failed to capture the excitement of these events. A redesign was necessary to better reflect the energy felt in the classroom.
  • Our first redesigned Fun Friday email saw an immediate uptick in engagement, and over time, we observed a steady increase in click rates.
  • Engagement led to a notable rise in Class Mission assignments.
  • Our final Fun Friday email of the 2023-24 school year achieved a remarkable 21.1% click rate.

Rakesh Kamath,  Director of Engineering

Julia Rivard-Dexter, Founder & CEO

We saw additional success in both our new season, and new product feature announcements

  • Announcements for new seasons in Shoelace games, previously underwhelming, were revitalized with a fresh design and corresponding landing pages.
    • This update led to an increase from 1.57% for Season 12 to 13.09% for Season 16, and season 17 saw an incredible 21% click rate.
    • Our first email of the 2024-25 school year reached a 17.7% click rate. Future testing will determine if a slight tweak in layout contributed to the dip.
  • Feature announcements, generally less engaging, saw improved results with a more brand-aligned layout and visually appealing dashboard visuals.
    • Click rates for new feature announcements averaged 19.4% in my first year at Shoelace.

Through targeted redesigns and strategic updates, we enhanced user engagement and achieved an average boost of 13% in email click rates, demonstrating the power of dynamic and visually compelling content in driving action.