Most businesses are fully aware that email marketing is crucial to their marketing success. However, many companies don’t put enough thought into the matter and simply throw campaigns at the wall and hope for the best. Thanks to technology advancements like A/B testing as well as the proliferation of mobile email clients, it’s now possible to craft an effective email strategy and design a custom campaign that will drive sign-ups, generate leads, and increase conversion.
The Importance of Testing
Whether you’re in the early stages of building a brand new business or you’re just looking to grow your existing business, testing is a crucial step. Launching a new product or service and seeing how consumers respond is important for any business. However, when it comes to email marketing, testing can be more crucial than ever before. Why? It’s mostly due to the fact that consumers have longer attention spans and are more likely to unsubscribe if a campaign isn’t meeting their needs. This is why it’s important to test different subject lines, from, image sizes, and call-to-actions.
The Difference between Testing and Experimenting
Just because a business has a product or service to offer, it doesn’t mean that every email they’ll send will be effective. Like with many other forms of marketing, marketing via email is a combination of art and science. Much like someone running a marketing experiment, a marketer can test various elements of an email campaign to determine the best combination that will yield the most results.
However, there’s a crucial difference between experimenting with email marketing and testing it. When a business is experimenting with email marketing, they are simply trying different tactics and measuring their results to see what works best. When a business decides to test email marketing, they are placing a consistent effort toward refining their approach and expanding their reach to see if they can boost their results.
Why Test?
Thanks to the endless possibilities of digital marketing, businesses can design campaigns and experiments to fit virtually any niche. This is great for those seeking inspiration, but it can also make things a little more complicated when trying to decide what elements to test and how to test them. When a business decides to test a certain campaign element, what they’re really doing is eliminating one variable (i.e. A/B testing) and subjecting their campaign to the experiment. This can help businesses gain a better understanding of which elements work together to get the desired results.
What Are the Different Types of Testing?
Depending on your resources and how much you want to spend on experimentation, there are various different types of testing that you can carry out. For example, you can test a single-variable tweak (e.g. changing the subject line) or you can test an entire campaign simultaneously by changing a few variables (e.g. the image attached to the email, the content of the email, and the call-to-action). In most cases, it’s preferable to test a few different things rather than try to make sweeping changes all at once. By taking it step-by-step, you can gradually improve the results of your campaign.
Single Variable Testing
This type of testing entails changing just one element of the email (e.g. the subject line) and comparing the results to a control group that hasn’t changed anything.
What you want to look for here is any noticeable differences in open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. The reason for this is that when you’re looking at the results of a single variable test, you can determine which element had the most significant impact on the results. You can then build upon that finding by changing another variable and testing again to see if the results have changed.
Two Variable Testing
When you’re looking to test two different variables (e.g. the subject line and the image attached to the email), you’re essentially doing a two-variable test. Comparing the results of this test to a control group is the same as in the previous type of testing, but it’s even more crucial here because you’re trying to determine the effect that each variable has on the results independently. For example, if you’re testing the effect that the subject line has on the click-through rate, you would want to compare the results of that test to a group that also had a different image attached to the email.
What you’re looking for here is any noticeable differences in open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates for each variable. If one element has a significant impact on each of these numbers, then you can be sure that it had a meaningful effect on the results of your experiment. You can then build upon that finding by changing another element and doing it all over again.
Three Variable Testing
When you’re looking to test three different variables (e.g. the subject line, the image attached to the email, and the call-to-action), you’re doing a three-variable test. Comparing the results of this test to a control group is the same as in the previous types of testing, but it’s even more crucial here because you’re trying to determine the effect that each variable has on the results independently. For example, if you’re testing the effect that the subject line has on the click-through rate, you would want to compare the results of that test to a group that also had a different image attached to the email as well as a different call-to-action.
What you’re looking for here is any noticeable differences in open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates for each variable. If one element has a significant impact on each of these numbers, then you can be sure that it had a meaningful effect on the results of your experiment. You can then build upon that finding by changing another element and doing it all over again.
Four Variable Testing
When you’re looking to test four different variables (e.g. the subject line, the image attached to the email, the call-to-action, and the type of content), you’re doing a four-variable test. Comparing the results of this test to a control group is the same as in the previous types of testing, but it’s even more crucial here because you’re trying to determine the effect that each variable has on the results independently. For example, if you’re testing the effect that the subject line has on the click-through rate, you would want to compare the results of that test to a group that also had a different image attached to the email, a different call-to-action, and different content.
What you’re looking for here is any noticeable differences in open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates for each variable. If one element has a significant impact on each of these numbers, then you can be sure that it had a meaningful effect on the results of your experiment. You can then build upon that finding by changing another element and doing it all over again.
Five Variable Testing
When you’re looking to test five different variables (e.g. the subject line, the image attached to the email, the call-to-action, the content, and the type of email), you’re doing a five-variable test. Comparing the results of this test to a control group is the same as in the previous types of testing, but it’s even more crucial here because you’re trying to determine the effect that each variable has on the results independently. For example, if you’re testing the effect that the subject line has on the click-through rate, you would want to compare the results of that test to a group that also had a different image attached to the email, a different call-to-action, and different content.
What you’re looking for here is any noticeable differences in open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates for each variable. If one element has a significant impact on each of these numbers, then you can be sure that it had a meaningful effect on the results of your experiment. You can then build upon that finding by changing another element and doing it all over again.
The Final Step
After you’ve tested the various elements of your campaign and identified the ones that worked best, the last step is to apply everything you’ve learned to your existing or future campaigns. You don’t want to leave any stone unturned, so to speak. Once you have a clear understanding of how each element contributed to the results of your experiment, you can use that knowledge to inform your next decision regarding your marketing strategy. Ultimately, whether you’re just starting out or you’re already a seasoned marketer, setting up automated email campaigns is a great way to connect with customers and boost sales.