As a marketing channel, email remains one of the few tried and true methods for generating new business and increasing the value of previous or existing customers. However, one of the main benefits to email marketing often goes overlooked and underutilized: testing.
Many small business marketers mistakenly assume that email split testing is too difficult for them to do, or only meant for the big companies with huge contact lists. Let’s take a look at a few ways small businesses can easily use testing to improve the effectiveness of their email marketing campaigns.
Subject Line
One of the most commonly tested email elements is the subject line. Of course, having the right subject line is critical because it often determines whether or not your email will be opened, bypassed, or even marked as spam.
During this test, you are trying to see how slight changes in your subject line impact the percentage of recipients who open the email. Common subject line tests compare short versus long subjects, transparent versus vague information, and even whether or not to use emojis or other symbols.
Of course, the results of these tests vary depending on the business you are in and the type of people you are emailing. Remember to be conscious of the exact variable you are testing, and not to send two totally different subject lines but rather two slight variations. This will help you get a better grasp on the exact impact certain elements have with your audience.
Time Of Day
There is much argument over the “perfect time” to send an email campaign, but here is the truth: there is no such thing. The perfect time for you to send an email to your list about your subject, is different than it is for me. This is why testing is so important.
When testing your emails for the optimal time of day, you want to consider whether or not your goal is to optimize for clicks or opens, as well as whether or not people respond to different types of emails differently at various points throughout the day.
This test can be as simple as taking the email you usually send at 9am each Monday and sending it at 1pm the next Monday. Compare the results to see which email performed better. Take this testing a few steps further by varying the times, days, and frequencies to find the “sweet spot” for your email campaigns.
Content/Design
When testing the body - or content - of your email, it is easy to get carried away and overwhelmed with all of the possibilities. Remember to be consistent, and only test one variable at a time. For example, does your email perform better when the image is first or the headline is first? What about a dark colored background or light? There are countless design choices made for every email, and testing over time will help you nail down the formatting that your recipients respond to best.
Aside from design, the type of content you use in your emails can also be tested. It is easy to assume that emails with huge discounts get more clicks, but what about emails with smaller promotions? Does a free shipping offer drive clicks? What about a 10% discount, or offer for free informational resources?
Email Length
Testing the optimal length of your email is an incredibly easy way to boost engagement rates. Most marketers agree that putting too much content into an email dilutes attention away from the main focus, and decreases success. The question then is: how long is too long?
Testing this is simple. Create an email that is as short and sweet as possible - perhaps 3 sentences and a link, and compare it to an email with multiple ancillary content elements. Does the short email drive more engagement to the intended action? Continue testing by adding and removing content elements until you find the optimal length for your emails.
Call To Action
Arguably the most important part of the email, the Call To Action (CTA) is the button, link, or text that serves as the ultimate reason for the email. The “Buy Now” or “Learn More” button may only take you so far, so testing different versions of it are essential to helping your business maximize the value of each and every recipient.
Different colors, words, and shapes affect readers and evoke emotion differently so it’s important to know the best to use in each scenario. Most email marketing providers should make it extremely simple for you to not only test two versions of your email with different CTA designs, but to break dig deeper into your results to see how individual buttons performed.
Plan, send, and analyze. These quick and easy tests will instantly put your business on the path to more effective email marketing, and the bottom-line boost that comes with it.