Mastering Email Marketing with A/B Testing

Email campaigns offer a powerful channel for businesses to engage customers. Yet many fall short of reaching their revenue potential due to suboptimal content.

One great tool that could help optimize email campaigns is A/B testing. It presents a data-driven solution to optimize campaign elements like subject lines, headlines, calls-to-action, and more to boost clicks, open rates, and conversion performance.

In this article, we will dive deeper into what A/B testing is, what to test, and its benefits.

What Is A/B Testing?

A/B testing, also called bucket or split testing, compares two or more versions of a variable (email, webpage, app, etc.) to determine which one performs better.

In these tests, you define the conversion goals to be measured to determine which yields better results, including completed transactions, clicks, session time, page views, or conversion rates. Then, you use statistical analysis to determine which version performs better for the specified conversion goal.

In email marketing, two versions of an email are often sent to different subscribers randomly while measuring traffic and performance differences.

What to Test?

Your email campaign’s conversion rates determine your business’s fate. That said, you should optimize every content that reaches your target audience to its full potential, particularly for elements that could influence your visitor’s behavior and conversion.

Here’s a list of things that you should optimize and test for better results:

Headlines/Subheadlines

Your headlines and subheadlines are the first elements that capture your target audience’s attention. It also defines their lasting impression, helping them decide if they would become a paying customer. Hence, you should be extra cautious about your email’s headlines and subheadlines.

Ensure they are catchy, short, straightforward, and convey the right message. You can test different versions with different writing styles, fonts, designs, and layouts to assess which ones catch your audience’s attention better and compel them to be customers.

Subject Lines

Another element that affects conversion rates is the subject line. If a subscriber is not interested in the subject line, your email might go to the trash or spam folder.

A/B testing subject lines can help increase click rates. Here are a few ideas: you can try different versions with subject lines using and not using emojis, using different terms, or using questions versus statements for each variation.

Body

Your email’s body should resonate with your headline, subheadline, and subject line. Bear in mind that a well-written body can significantly increase conversion rates. In writing your email, you should look out for these two elements:

• Tone: Use the right based on your target audience. Your email should answer their questions or concerns. It should also contain keywords, phrases, or elements that emphasize important points and improve usability.

• Formatting: Use bullet points or lists, break down long paragraphs, and use relevant headlines and subheadlines to make your email more appealing.

Here are other elements that you might want to optimize and test in your campaigns:

• CTAs

• Product images

• Navigation

• Designs and layouts

• Opt-in forms

• Graphics

• Fonts and colors

Why Do I Need A/B Testing?

A/B testing gathers information that could help you identify your audience’s behaviors and how they interact with your email campaign, helping you determine your next goals.

You can better understand what resonates with your subscribers by testing which elements capture their attention and which don’t. Then, you can optimize your future campaigns, allowing you to create future emails centered on what you know works best to improve click rates, open rates, conversion rates, and sales.

Sources:

Wix. (2020, July). AB testing.

VWO. (n.d.). AB testing.

Optimizely. (n.d.). AB testing.

HubSpot. (n.d.). How to do A/B testing.

BigCommerce. (n.d.). What is A/B testing for email marketing?