Ever came across an email that says the same thing but the layout (presentation of content) is different? If we recall deeply, we would discover that we interacted with one of the two emails. And if we observe very closely, subsequent emails have taken the same format as the one we opened. This is a/b testing simply at play at the background without our knowledge.

A/B testing, which is sometimes also known as split testing, is the comparison of two or more variations of an email marketing campaign, to determine which one will perform the best in terms of getting an action like opening the email and clicking a link on the email. When a/b testing an email marketing campaign, variations of the campaign should be sent to a very small percentage of the email list. After which the winning email variation will be used to carry out the email marketing campaign to all subscribers on the email list.

In creating variations, the different features of the email can be tested. Features like the title of the email (subject line), call to action, which is the activity that would be performed after reading the email. For instance, “buy now”, “see products selected for you”, “get your 50% on books” and so on. Also, the layout of the email (positioning of images, links, text and so on), reviews or testimonials, personalisation (Dear X, Mr X, Hi X or recipients full name), images, subheadings, email body (main text containing the central message of the email) and so on.

A combination of these well-planned features of the email marketing campaign would determine how effective it would be. And more focus needs to be placed on the title of the email which would determine whether or not the recipient would open it. In addition, the call to action must be convincing and catchy enough to spur recipients to click on it. These tap features will improve email opens and clicks. A/B testing an email marketing campaign comes with many benefits including;

The timing of emails sent

A/B testing helps with knowing when best to send out email marketing campaigns. Based on the reports from the a/b test, it becomes a lot easier to know which day and time (morning, afternoon or night) to send out email marketing campaigns.

Better email design

Doing an a/b test for email marketing campaign gives businesses or brands a better understanding of how to design the emails to get better results, opens and click (which invariably would generate leads, conversions and ultimately, sales).

Better campaign results

It helps with improving the email marketing results constantly. The more email marketing campaigns are tested before being sent out to all subscribers on the email list, the more good results will be gotten every time. And this will increase lead conversions, open rate and click rate. This will result in a significant increase in leads, sales and revenue.

It helps brands or businesses identify all the problems that exist in the planned email marketing campaign and gives them the opportunity to correct the errors that keep giving the email marketing campaign a bad result.

Better optimized content

For properly segmented email list, a/b testing allows for creating more optimised contents that will cater to the different segmented email list. For instance, if in an email list there is a segmented group called ‘expecting mothers’ and another called ‘breastfeeding mothers’. Different a/b tests can be created to understand how each segment would interact with the email sent as well as improve the kind of content put inside the email which must in a way meet the need of each recipient. Once the most successful one has been determined, that would be the template that would be used for the email marketing campaign for that segment until there is a need to carry out another test.

Improves relationship with recipients

It helps brands or businesses improve their email relationship with all recipients by curating contents relevant and appealing to them. It reduces the cost of looking for new customers. It is more expensive to get new customers than investing in tools to improve the relationship with the existing ones who have brought from the business or brand previously or those that simply signed up to get more information. A/B testing helps businesses and brands maximize the benefits of contacts of existing customers to drive their desired marketing or sales goals.

Better communication

It helps brands and businesses communicate better with their existing customers. And the more brands or businesses communicate better with their customers, the more encouraged they will be to check out the website or carry out the call to action in the email sent to them.

Better accuracy

It allows businesses or brands to stop doing guesswork about their email marketing campaigns. They can have a better understanding of what kind of content should be sent at what time and to whom.

Conclusion

Measuring the level of engagement of email subscribers to the content sent to them is important for improving the effectiveness of email marketing campaigns. Bearing in mind that the objective the email marketing campaign is to communicate effectively to persuade existing customers to engage with the brand or business. This can be to either give feedback, direct them to the website to see a product or service, take advantage of a discount and eventually make a purchase which would increase revenue for the brand or business (irrespective of whether it was a broadcast email campaign, one on one email campaign, event triggering email campaign or a recurring campaign).

The success of any a/b tested email marketing campaign would increase reach (more opened emails), be something that others can share with their friends, increase revenue for the brand or business while saving the cost of tools used for email marketing campaign sent that won’t get opens or clicks. With the help of a reputable email marketing agency this can easily be achieved.