Truth 28. Test, test, test
Of all the available marketing approaches, none could possibly give you the benefit of testing the way email does. I'm not surprised that most email marketers aren't taking full advantage of the benefits that frequent email testing can provide. They think it takes up too much time to truly pay off. However, even making a small investment to test improves results.
In a study by JupiterResearch, marketers who tested email campaigns were almost twice as likely to attain conversion rates of 3% or better. Email marketers who utilized testing also achieved a 68% improvement in return on investment (ROI) over those who didn't test.1
So, you're probably wondering what to test. There are as many ways to test an email message as there are benefits. To put it simply, if testing can impact response rates and improve your recipients’ experience, you could and should test.
Most testing works by taking a small sample of your list and dividing that sample into two segments, called A/B Split testing. For example, if your list was made up of 9,000 recipients, you would take a random sample of 900 recipients from the overall list and divide it into two groups. You would then send different versions of your email to each list to find out which performed the best. Knowing this, you would send the most effective one to the remainder of your list. There is no mathematical equation for figuring out how much of a list you should use for testing, but a good rule of thumb is to pick a sample of at least 1,000 recipients but, of course, the sample should vary based on your list size.
Consider testing some of these elements.
Subject lines—I've already mentioned that Subject lines have a big impact on email metrics. However, random testing won't give you game-changing insight that you may be looking for. To get the big picture, test Subject lines regularly, especially if you want to improve open rates. Whether testing broad Subject line techniques (such as short versus long Subject lines) or two specific Subject lines against each other, you should test Subject lines in every campaign, if possible.
Email creative/design—Trying to keep up with all the latest email clients and their filtering rules can make implementing new creative, or your email design, challenging. When you have a new creative concept, you want to test it to ensure it displays properly and is well received by your audience. Testing new templates and creative concepts is a cost-effective method of gauging interest before going live with a campaign. Giving marketing creative a trial run in email doesn't just apply to online marketing campaigns but can also be applied to traditional advertising campaigns. I learned this while working at Cox when our head of marketing had the novel idea to test all creative messaging, from billboards to display ads, within our email campaigns before launching them. While it isn't necessarily an apples-to-apples comparison, you can use email to test responses to different creative and then apply the lessons learned to other channels before it is too late. (Have you ever had to get a billboard ad taken down in 12 hours? It's not an easy task.)
Viral calls to action—Most email marketers woefully underutilize the power of viral email marketing and use the generic “tell a friend” button provided by their email tool. Consider comparing that with more compelling copy that provides a call to action such as, “Share what you want for Christmas with your family.”
Frequency—Afraid you may be sending too many emails? Compare high- and low-frequency recipient groups to find out which frequency helps or hurts response rates.
Day of week/time of day—Studies on the best day of the week or time to email vary by industry and are often irrelevant, so why not conduct your own mini-study to determine the time and day of the week that generates the most responses for your campaigns?
Type of recipient—If the subscribers on your list vary in type, you may want to consider segmenting based on their demographic information. For example, one easy way is to differentiate the “at home” addresses (such as Aol.com) from the “at work” addresses (such as @company.com).
Subscription process/full email subscriber process—Anyone with an email sign-up form should conduct a monthly test to ensure all Subscribe, Unsubscribe, and Contact Us links or forms work. Take the time (or have the summer intern do this task!) to act as an email subscriber and make sure everything is working properly.
Complement your paid search efforts—Utilizing Google Ad Words is a quick and easy way to test Subject lines. For an email campaign promoting widgets, two search ad groups featuring widget-related keywords should be tested with different ad copy that mirrors the proposed Subject lines. Whichever one gets more clicks on Google is a safe bet to gain a higher open rate. It can work both ways, where strong Subject lines often make compelling search ads.
What's stopping you?
Like I said before, marketers sometimes fail to test simple but important elements of a message, such as Subject lines. Usually, this is because of poor timing or lack of resources. If you have time to test but not time to implement your findings, don't worry. If your list is too small to run a test to different groups, at least look for patterns across time. Bumps in performances might be associated with particular offers or types of Subject lines. Testing is the first step. The knowledge you gain can help you maximize future email messages.