Get Better Email Results with A/B Testing

February 9, 2022 Stan

Most email marketing teams, whether you’re big or small, share a common goal – to drive positive open rates and click-through rates within email campaigns. The trick is determining solutions to reach those positive numbers. Luckily, there’s one solution that’s already within most teams’ reach. That solution is email A/B testing.

Brands that A/B test every email see email marketing ROIs that are 37% higher than those of brands that never include A/B tests. – Litmus (https://www.litmus.com/blog/how-the-worlds-best-email-brands-run-a-b-tests/)

What is email A/B testing?

So, what is email A/B testing? Email A/B testing is the method of sending one version of an email to a subset of your audience (email A), while another subset receives a different version (email B). Email performance is then measured over a period of time (or at a pre-determined threshold) to determine which version produces the most positive results. Once identified, the winning email version is deployed to the rest of the audience members.

Email A/B testing starter tips

Now that we’ve got an overview of what email A/B testing is, here are a few tips that can help when starting your A/B testing journey.

Know your baseline email campaign metrics.

Before you begin any A/B testing, your team should have knowledge of your email campaign’s baseline metrics, such as open-rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, etc. This is the information that your team will compare your A/B testing results against. Without knowing this information there’s no way to determine if the testing was a success.

Make sure that you’re measuring the right data.

There are many options for A/B testing, such as send times, subject lines, and actual email content. It’s important that the right data results are being measured. If your team is trying to determine which CTA button works best in emails, click-through rates would be a better winning metric to measure against than an open-rate metric. Make sure you know what you’re testing and what it’s being compared to.

Email A/B test frequently, but with minimal differences.

The advice here is to A/B test frequently but keep the number of differences between each email version minimal. This helps determine which email element is causing a change in performance. Too many differences between email versions makes it difficult to see what is having an impact.

Analyze and implement your results.

At the end of the day, all the metrics and results won’t matter if your team does not analyze your test findings and implement your results. This also helps ensure your measuring metrics are up to date and ready for any future email A/B testing.

Common email areas for A/B testing

The truth of email A/B testing is that if something is being created and implemented by your team, you can likely do some type of email A/B testing. However, there are some common areas teams can easily focus on to kickoff email A/B testing.

From name

The from name might be one of the most important parts of your email, letting your audience members know immediately who you are. Test whether you audience is more responsive to emails coming from a person’s name or from a company or organization.

Subject line and preheader text

One of the easiest areas your team can start focusing on is the subject line and preheader text. Along with the from name, this is the first bit if information your audience sees. It’s THE chance to convey your email’s message and determines whether your email gets opened, so make it a priority.

Here are some subject line and preheader A/B testing items to consider:

Length: Are you using so many words that it’s become a bedtime read? What if the preview window in an email client is small, like on a mobile device? Will it appear in the small space? Test shorter vs. lengthier combinations to determine that word count sweet spot.
Tone: Tone can play a huge part in determining if your emails get opened. A more serious email may require a more serious tone, but that does not mean it has to. Could some of your more negative tone sounding emails be reviewed to make them a bit more positive?

Consider the following situation: an email promoting an upcoming sale is accidently sent early by a retailer to their subscribers.

Accidental emails are frequently followed up with an apology email. Which email subject may entice an audience member to open the email:

We sincerely apologize for the mistake email we sent early.

Vs.

In our excitement, we sent our email out early!

Personalization: There are many sites and stats that talk about email personalization. The consensus is that those that use personalization in emails see better results. It makes sense to test using personalization in subject lines and preheaders as well!

This can range from one of the most commonly used personalization options, such as using a first name in the subject line, to a personalized preheader message to an audience member. Let’s not forget about emojis, they might be the extra piece of flair your email needs to stand out in an inbox!

Send time and frequency

There’s not a perfect answer as to when and how frequently emails should be sent, but A/B testing can greatly increase your team’s chances for positive results. Frequent A/B testing different combinations of times, days of the week and frequency will provide critical feedback for your team’s particular campaigns.

Don’t forget – there’s a good chance that if you’ve been sending emails, you already have a wealth of information to assist in determining the best times and frequency to send emails. Make sure to gather that historical data and use that information to set some baseline standards for A/B testing send times and frequencies.

Email content

One of the biggest areas a team can focus on during A/B testing is the actual email content.

Length, tone, and personalization: Like subject lines and preheaders, email content length, tone and personalization play the same important roles during A/B testing. Is the email so long that the main point of the email is lost? Does the tone of the content entice the audience to continue viewing? Does your email sound like an automated system generated email or does it use personalization to better engage the audience?

Visuals: Visuals are a great way to engage your audience, so consider adding some type of visual to your emails. A/B test text-heavy emails to see if adding images increases engagement. For those emails that already contain images, try testing different banners and other article images, or maybe even animated gifs or videos!

Visual A/B testing does not just stop with adding images. Consider the overall email layout. Emails with multiple sections may benefit from A/B testing various layouts within the email to see what produces the best results.

Call-to-action (CTA): Another important component in any marketing email is the call-to-action. This is what drives your audience members to perform an action that hopefully leads towards a conversion. CTAs provide critical metrics, such as click-through rates and conversion rates, so make sure CTAs are on your list of email components to A/B test.

There are a few common types of CTAs, which include buttons, text links, and images. It important that teams consider how each of these CTAs work for audience members in various environment. Regardless of the type of CTA chosen, it’s important that your CTA is clearly visible and actionable.

Testing one type of CTA against another is just the beginning. Make sure to test various CTA options, such as colors, sizes, placement within the email, and CTA text to find the ones that provide the best results.

Wrapping up

The bottom line is that email A/B testing is a great way for your team to increase your email marketing results. A/B testing provides an opportunity for your team to learn more about your audience and their habits, better preparing everyone for future email campaigns. Don’t waste any more time, get A/B testing today!

Don’t forget, whether you’re just jumping into email A/B testing or looking for advanced guidance, Relationship One is here to help!