Hello Reader! I’m Ishita, Co-Founder at The Drip Story. A/B testing and intricacies of email marketing is our day to day routine. From an outside perspective, email marketing can seem like a breeze. However, it is not all breeze and sending messages to a list. It is so much more. There are so many strategies to implicate and understand. Knowing where to start can be overwhelming, worry not. That’s where The Drip Story comes in.
Let’s breakdown the Ins and Outs of A/B testing so you can breeze through email marketing in no time.
What is A/B testing in Email Marketing?
Put simply, A/B testing is another way of saying a split test. It’s the process of sending two different versions of your email to other groups. The email, which then receives the highest open rate and click through rate, aka “the winner”. The winner is then sent out to the rest of your subscribers or email list.
More often than not, the importance of A/B testing gets overlooked by marketers, mainly because they’re unsure of what actually to test. If you execute it correctly, you can drastically improve your metrics, increase conversations, understand the needs of your audience, find out what helps to drive sales and winding up a spam email.
What should you be A/B testing?
Not sure where to start? Stuck at what exactly should you be A/B testing? Here are few things you should be considering while A/B testing or comparing data:
Subject Lines
Subject lines are essentially the bait to every email. It decides whether or not the person will ever open your email or not. They are formatted with darker, heavier text, making it stand out in your inbox you won’t get an effective open rate without a catchy subject line. In short, they’re crucial in an email marketing campaign.
When it comes to email subject lines, clickbait is key – it’s a fine line to navigate. How do you create compelling subject lines without appearing too spammy? I’ve picked out a few ways you can test on your subject lines:
- Length: For mobile/desktop, it is important to strike a balance. The golden character count for any email is between 41-50 characters or 5-6 words long. Specifically, anything over 35 characters can sometimes get cropped away in mobile.
- Word Order: Every copywriter knows that word order can make or break an email. The order of words in a subject line can make a difference in how your audience will read, interpret and perceive your email.
For example: ”50% OFF on your next purchase” ”Order your next purchase now and get 70% OFF”
In the first example, the promotion is the first thing the recipient will see, compared to the second where the promotion is not at all clear. The key is – front loading the subject line with information that is important. It will help improve the click-through rate. - Personalisation: Lastly, another way to A/B test your email subject lines is to add a touch of personalisation with syntax. Using a default message to include the recipients name is really impactful. It can help immensely with increasing open rates.
Tone of Voice
In email marketing, aside from A/B testing subject lines, another element always worth looking into is the overall tone of email. According to a study, no matter what your brand is, recipients respond better to positive emails with motivational messaging. This messaging can increase your conversion rates by 22% (and if it’s the Drip Story you are working with its gonna go up way higher!)
Call to Action(s)
Including a concrete call to action within an email is crucial for the email’s performance. By A/B testing your CTAs, you can find the most effective result. The best practices for email CTAs are:
- Keep it short: The ideal CTA is 3 words, using any more than this could result in your recipient losing interest, especially on a mobile device.
- Use the right language: To hold the consumer’s attention using correct language is important. It would be beneficial to A/B test various actionable verbs such as, “Buy Now”, “Get it today” and “Shop Now”, etc. After knowing which one’s more effective at increasing click through rates. You know what to use!
- Add a pop of colour: Changing the colour of the CTA button can make a huge difference. Few points to note on the colour of the button for effective user experience: – Keep it contrasting to the background of the email.
– Avoid yellow-blue/ green-red/ colour combinations. These tend to be most difficult for the human to process.
And that is all! Now, that you know what A/B testing is and what elements you can A/B test for more effectiveness in your email campaigns and flows. It is your time to shine! Let me know in the comments below which is your go-to CTA for emails in general or that has worked for you, always.
You can always write to me at – [email protected] or @ishitasayswhat on Instagram!
Until next time!
Ishita Joglekar,
Co-founder,
The Drip Story
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