Email AB Test: Its Benefits and How to Conduct It

Email marketing is a powerful tool. But it’s not as simple as others might think. There’s a lot you need to know before launching an email test. In this article, we’ll show you how you can use email ab testing to level up your email game.

We’ll also discuss what benefits come with performing an email ab test. And how these can impact your business.

Let’s get right into it!

What Is an Email AB Test?

An Email AB Test is done by creating multiple variations of an email and sending them to a list of contacts. The goal is to identify the most effective email for that list.

For example, say you want to upgrade the copy of your long-form lead capture page. You’d send nine variations targeting email lists with a different number of subscribers. This way, you can find the email that converts the most consumers.

Email AB Tests help you become more informed about your email goals and can help you make better campaigns. It’s a great way to identify what will and won’t work for your audience.

The Benefits of Testing Email Marketing Campaigns

The benefits of email ab test include higher open rates and conversion. It can also result in improved engagement.

Higher Open Rates

The most secure way to increase the likelihood of a customer opening your email is by testing it first. By testing your email, you can better understand how your customers want to be communicated.

The main factors influencing open rates are preview texts and subject lines. Experimenting with these factors will help you optimize your campaigns.

Higher Conversions

Whenever you get your customers to open your email, you increase the chances of getting a sale. According to a report by HubSpot, when customers open your emails and land on your site, your conversion rate can be up to 50%. That can go even higher if your site has been AB tested too.

With an email AB test, you also get to optimize the content of your email. This helps customers easily know what you have to offer. And this then leads to a higher conversion rate.

Improved Engagement

Improving engagement is very similar to improving open rates. You can improve engagement and get more clicks by understanding what type of content your customers respond to. Another great way to increase customer engagement is by including an optimized call to action at the end of your email.

What Should I Test?

Trying to figure out where to begin can seem overwhelming. As an email marketer, you can test virtually any variable. But some factors can affect your conversion rate more than others.

Here are some key elements to focus on when doing an email AB test:

1. Subject Line

Testing subject lines is a sure-fire way to optimize emails. It can make or break your email marketing campaign because it’s what customers first see. There are many ways to phrase the subject line.

Different studies have shown that asking questions can significantly impact open rates. It compels customers to open your email in search of answers.

You can also include emojis or random symbols to help your email stand out. Adding phrases that indicate a sense of urgency to your emails can also encourage your customers open them faster. Try adding time-sensitive phrases like “Today Only” or “Don’t miss out!”.

2. Sender Name

When you get an email from a stranger, you will most likely ignore it. This is why choosing an excellent sender name is vital for higher open rates.

Try different names and monitor which sender name customers respond to the most. You can use your company name, personal name, or brand name just as long as it can establish familiarity or a connection.

3. Call to Action (CTA)

CTAs are crucial to securing clicks. It’s the final gateway before the reader converts. Be careful not to add too many links in your call to action because it may overwhelm your customer. You can also test different font sizes or button colors to optimize your CTA further.

4. Message

According to a study, human attention span has dropped from 12 seconds to eight seconds today. This study was done in 2000, around the time the mobile revolution began. This decrease in attention span calls for a change in how you should write messages.

Shorter emails have now become a popular trend amongst email marketers. People don’t have the time to read through a long email. So instead of rambling on about the many benefits of your product, use calls to action and make them more concise.

The decision to shorten your message will ultimately depend on your audience and your product. Try long and short scripts and see which performs better.

5. Personalization

Studies have shown that using personalization in your emails can increase click-through rates by over 14%. If you have stored information about the customer, try including it in your email. You can mention details like their name, company, or location. This makes them feel valued and shows that you really care.

How to Conduct an AB Test

There is a list of steps that you should follow to conduct a successful AB test on your emails. These steps include:

Identify the Problem

Before conducting a test, cite what problems you’ll be working on. Study your current email statistics and find areas for improvement. It’s also useful to look at the landing pages that you include in your email CTA. Make sure that these are also optimized.

Define Your Hypothesis

When you’re testing two different variables, you must identify the relationship between them. For example, you may want to see if adding a call to action increases the open rate of your email.

The first step toward finding the correct hypothesis is to get the data you need. This is where you’ll identify a few variables that are related to each other. You’ll need to have the stats and landing pages of the emails that you’re testing as a reference. This will help ensure that you’ve selected the correct hypotheses.

Test Your Hypothesis

Set up your AB split test based on the hypothesis you made. You can create a variation test using several online tools.

Analyze Your Results and Draw a Conclusion

Send out your test emails and monitor the results. Look at factors like open rates and conversion rates.

If one version is performing than the other, you can implement it. But if there’s no significant difference between the two samples, you can always go back and rework your hypothesis.

To Wrap Up

An email AB test can do wonders for your email marketing campaigns. It helps you optimize your emails to ensure higher open rates and user engagements. Try it out and see for yourself.