There’s much more to email marketing than you may think.
Depending on your audience, your products and your brand, you have a plethora of options to consider when it comes to each aspect of your email.
The subject line, the greeting, the copy, the visuals….
Even the day and time you send your email matters.
Email split testing allows you to try out several ideas and gauge what works best. In this article, we’ll give you the ideas to kickstart your email marketing campaign.
Email Marketing A/B Testing Ideas
There are dozens of ways to do email split testing, which can be applied to basically every industry. Here are some of the most popular tests to run.
1. Subject Line Question or No Question?
Questions provoke thought. If your question is good enough, it can grab the attention of the recipient and encourage them to respond to your email.
2. Using “RE:” in Follow-up Emails
Whenever people receive an email with “re:” at the start of the subject line, it tends to get noticed. Brands have been doing it for years but be careful you don’t annoy people.
3. Yes or No to Emoji’s?
Millennials love emojis. If they make up a big segment of your target audience, then A/B split testing with and without emojis may be a worthwhile experiment.
4. Cold Email Greeting
The first cold email is about getting a conversation started. Your first line needs to set the tone of the email, whether it’s friendly or formal. Will it be ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’? Do you use their name or a title?
5. Images v No Images
Visuals in emails can be hit-or-miss. You don’t want to come across as spam, but if it helps to include an image of your webinar graphic, or if you think your recipient will enjoy a hilarious, yet relevant meme, then test it out.
6. Email Split Testing with Video
There’s no hiding from the fact that video content is taking over. But is it good for email marketing? It could work for your company, but there’s only one way to find out.
7. Hyperlinks v Naked Links
To test this out, send an email that includes the full title of your product or service, and hyperlink on the text. In a second email, simply name your resource, then follow up with a call-to-action, such as “Download it here.”
8. Including Social Links in Your Signature
It’s important you keep reader focus on what matters – the offer. So, you need to cut the fluff. In other instances, you may want to promote your social channels if it could add to the credibility of the products or services.
9. P.S. or None?
Believe it or not, but P.S. sections in marketing emails have a read rate close to 100%. Quite often, they’re the first thing people read in an email. You can use it to add weight to your previous CTA.
10. Sending Day
Studies indicate that the best day to send a B2B marketing email is midweek, between Tuesday and Thursday. However, this may vary depending on your brand and industry. Email split testing on different days will let you know which is best.
Obey the Two Rules of Email Marketing A/B Testing
Remember this - Always and Never.
#1 - You should ALWAYS be doing email split testing on something.
#2 - NEVER test multiple aspects at the same time.
Focus on one aspect at a time, and you can continually improve your emails through A/B split testing.
