Do your email campaigns feel like they’re falling flat? Are your open rates and click-throughs leaving you underwhelmed? You’re not alone. In today’s crowded inboxes, it takes more than just hitting “send” to capture people’s attention.
As a business marketer, how do you increase your website visitors and sales through emails? Remember, there are 4.481 billion active email users worldwide in 2024. So, you must employ effective strategies to supercharge your emails. And yes, that’s where email A/B testing comes in.
In this article, we’ll take you through the best practices for optimizing subject lines, creating content that truly connects, and crafting CTAs that compel action. But before then, what exactly is A/B Testing?
Table of Contents:
What is A/B Testing?
A/B Testing is an email marketing technique that allows you to experiment with different variables and optimize for maximum impact. More specifically, A/B testing involves two different versions of emails targeted towards helping you achieve your email marketing goals—to boost your open rates or click-through rates.
From the subject lines that pique curiosity to the content that captivates readers and the calls to action that spur them, A/B testing allows you to fine-tune every aspect of your emails. With A/B testing, you create two slightly or substantially different emails to different target customers. Each email is designed to test variables such as subject lines, send times, or even calls to action.
Now, let’s say you run an e-commerce store selling eco-friendly products. You craft an email to promote your new bamboo toothbrush line and hit send, but the response is underwhelming. What went wrong? With A/B testing, you can discover the answer.
Perhaps a tweak to the subject line or preheader text could have boosted your open rates. Or maybe a different content approach, like highlighting the product’s sustainable benefits or including emojis, would have resonated better. And what about that CTA? A simple change in wording or button color might have driven more clicks. The possibilities are endless with email A/B testing.
Now that you understand what A/B testing means, you must understand why you need it for an effective email campaign.
Subject Lines
Your subject lines are the most prominent element of your email marketing success. On all devices, it’s the first (and sometimes only) thing your subscribers see before deciding whether to open or ignore your message. If you’re able to nail the subject line, you’re definitely one step closer to more engagement and conversions. If you get it wrong, your email might as well have been swallowed by a black hole.
How Do You Craft Subject Lines That Demand To Be Opened?
The answer lies in A/B testing. As mentioned earlier, you’ll have to pit different subject line variations against each other. That will help you uncover what really resonates with your audience.
Pit Different Subject Lines
First, think about it – would “Free Shipping This Weekend” or “Exclusive Discount: 25% Off” pique your interest more as an online shopper? The difference could be as simple as sprinkling in a dash of FOMO (fear of missing out) or explicitly stating the discount percentage. These are the kinds of subtle tweaks you can test.
Or maybe your subscribers prefer a more personal touch. “John, Check Out These New Arrivals” could outperform “New Product Line Now Available.” The key is to experiment and let the data guide you.
Length of Your Subject Lines
Also, the length of your subject line is another key factor. First, you must understand that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to the length of your email subject lines. This is because you have to consider the device your email is being read on and the performance of past email subject lines.
While some argue that brevity is best, others believe a longer, more descriptive subject line sets better expectations. You might test “50% Off Sitewide” versus “Don’t Miss Our Biggest Sale: 50% Off Everything This Week Only!” Ideally, your email subject lines should be catchy and not more than 50 characters, according to Forbes. This is because longer subject lines will likely get cut off on mobile devices, as 41.6% of emails are opened on mobile devices.
Use of Emojis and Punctuations
And you shouldn’t forget the use of emojis and punctuation! A few well-placed symbols can add emphasis to your emails and grab the attention of your subscribers, ultimately influencing your open rates.
The possibilities for subject line A/B tests are endless. Perhaps you’ll discover that posing a question outperforms making a statement. Or maybe using a subscriber’s name or location will give you an edge. The only way to know for sure is to test, analyze, and iterate.
Remember that subject lines are the first step of a successful email campaign. Once you’ve hooked your audience, you’ll need to deliver on the promise with killer content and captivating calls to action.
Email Content
You’ve managed to get your subscribers to open your email through your killer subject line- that’s a win. Now, you have to focus on optimizing the content of your email. First, you must understand that the battle to achieve a successful email campaign is only half won with the optimization of the subject line. You need to keep those subscribers engaged and motivated to take your desired action. That’s where email content optimization comes into play.
Remember the last marketing email that truly grabbed your attention from start to finish? What made it so captivating? Was it the conversational and authoritative tone? Were you drawn by the clever use of storytelling? Or was it probably the perfect blend of texts and visuals? Or was it the way it spoke directly to your pain points and aspirations?
Crafting content that resonates on such a deep level is both an art and a science. And A/B testing is a statistical and data-driven method for cracking the code.
For instance, you could test a more formal, educational style against a casual, humorous approach for your next product launch email. Will your audience prefer to be informed or entertained? Or maybe a healthy mix of both styles is the sweet spot?
Single-column vs. multi-column layout
While some argue that a single column is cleaner and more mobile-friendly, others believe multiple columns allow for better content segmentation. That’s why A/B testing allows you to test it out and let your subscribers decide!
Personalize Your Body Texts
Generic, one-size-fits-all emails are so 2010.
Think about the number of generic emails you receive on a daily basis. How did you feel? Happy? Or frustrated like 76% of customers say they are frustrated when they do not get a personalized email from a brand. Generic emails simply lack personalization and fail to connect with you as a reader.
Statements and cliches that start with “Dear valued customers” and end with “Best regards.” As an entrepreneur looking to boost your email success, you must segment your list of email subscribers and tailor your email content based on subscriber interests or behaviors.
Sounds interesting, right? You can create emails that feel like they are meant for each individual. Industry stats have shown tremendous lifts in engagement just from adding a person’s name to the subject line and body copy. Specifically, personalized email campaigns can increase an email open rate by 26%.
Use GIFs, Videos, and Images
In addition to the body content of your email, you must also not overlook the strategic use of images, GIFs, and videos. The human brain processes visuals faster than text, so striking the right visual-verbal balance could be key to holding the attention of your email subscribers. For instance, your audience would be wowed by an attention-grabbing product video, or perhaps less is more with a few crisp and high-quality images.
Look. You do not have to take our word for it. Let the results speak for themselves. With each test and iteration, you’ll be able to craft emails that are infinitely more clickable, readable, and actionable.
Call to Action
You’ve captivated your audience with a carefully crafted subject line and engaging email content. But now comes the make-or-break moment: the call-to-action (CTA). Your CTA is where the rubber meets the road, and you need to roll out the gateway to conversions.
Think about the last time you felt utterly compelled to click a CTA button or link. Was it the copy that spoke directly to your desires? Or was it the strategic placement that caught your eye at just the right moment? The contrasting color or design that made it virtually impossible to ignore? Chances are, it was a magical combination of multiple factors working in seamless harmony.
And that’s exactly what you need to uncover through A/B testing your CTAs. You might be surprised at how something as simple as changing the wording from “Buy Now” to “Add to Cart” could impact conversion rates. Or how emboldening and enlarging the CTA could give it that extra oomph.
Placement and Context of Your CTA
Placement and context are also very key when it comes to your CTA. Does your CTA pop more when placed above the fold or further down in the email? Should it be a standalone button or embedded within a section of text? These are the types of calculated tweaks you can test and iterate.
The Design of Your CTA
Then, there’s the design of the CTA, which is also highly important. A vibrant orange button might catch the eye better than a muted gray one. Or maybe outlining the CTA in a thicker border could give it more presence. You won’t know until you compare different variations head-to-head.
More so, you shouldn’t only test the CTA itself. If you want to achieve success in your email campaign, you must experiment with the surrounding elements as well. Perhaps removing extraneous content or images near the CTA could help minimize distractions. Or adding reinforcing value statements or urgency phrases (“Only 3 Days Left!”) could compel more clicks.
The key is to approach your CTA optimization with the same level of scrutiny and iteration as the rest of your email campaign. Remember, even the most stunning subject line and engaging content won’t matter if you can’t inspire action with your CTA.
Best Practices and Tips for Successful Email A/B Testing
Now, you understand that testing the variables in your email marketing is essential, but it could seem overwhelming. So, how do you figure out where to start? Do you begin with A/B testing the color of your call-to-action button? Or should you start by testing the sender’s name in the email subject line? Or should you begin with optimizing your email text? Each of these will make a significant impact on your email conversion rates. Here are the A/B Testing Best Practices to start with:
- Set clear goals and hypotheses for each A/B test to measure success accurately: In email A/B testing, having clear goals and hypotheses helps define what you’re trying to achieve and allows accurate measurement of success. From your current performance level to your desired outcome and improvement, you must set clear benchmarks for your email A/B testing. For example, your goal could be to improve subject line optimization and open rates. Therefore, your hypothesis could be that “Including the subscribers or brand in the subject line will lead to a significant increase in our open rates.” or “Including a text link will make the call to action stand out in the email, thus getting more people to click-through.”
- Test one variable at a time (subject line, content section, CTA, etc.) for clean data analysis:When A/B testing email marketing content like subject lines or calls-to-action, only test one variable at a time. This provides clean, focused data to analyze the impact of that specific change.
- Allow sufficient time for each test to gather statistically significant results: Email A/B tests require running long enough to accumulate a statistically significant sample size. Rushing tests without enough data can lead to inaccurate conclusions.
- Use email marketing platforms with built-in A/B testing capabilities for efficient execution: Top email platforms have built-in A/B testing tools, making it efficient to set up, run, and analyze tests for subject line optimization, email content testing, and more.
- Continuously test and optimize based on findings – it’s an ongoing process: Email A/B testing should be an ongoing process of optimization based on test results. Continuously identify new elements to test to further improve performance.
- Segment lists and test variations across different audience groups: Segmenting your email lists allows you to test different variations across diverse audience groups for more relevant, personalized A/B test best practices.
Wrap Up
There you go! Perhaps everything you need to know about email A/B testing. If you want to achieve an increased open rate and increase your conversions, you must truly master email A/B testing.
When you continuously optimize your subject lines, email marketing content, and calls-to-action through data-driven experimentation, you’ll be able to craft emails that truly resonate, engage, and drive action from your subscribers.
Implement these A/B test best practices and watch as your marketing email effectiveness soars to new heights through finely-tuned subject line optimization, captivating content testing, and irresistible CTA improvements. With email A/B testing, you can achieve remarkable growth in your business.
