Return On Subscriber - Email Marketing Blog

Let me start by saying I hate tests.  I hate taking them, and I hate making them. But testing in email doesn’t have to be painful, it can actually be fun. Why?  Because of the immediate results and feedback! What I have put together for you today are four email elements you can test through an A/B split to learn more about your subscribers and what they react and gravitate to in your messaging.

Short & Vague Subject Line vs. Long & Detailed Subject Line
A: Short and to-the-point, but has intrigue - “New Specials for the Fall
B: Longer with more detail - “New Specials on Bikes, Kayaks, and Rainbows”
Tip: Analyze your open vs. clicks vs. conversions. You may find that a longer, more descriptive subject line has a lower open rate but a higher conversion rate.
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As the holidays approach, the email marketing messages we all receive doubles and for some, triples.  With consumer spending grinding to a halt, marketers are going to have to get more creative.  A lot of times, with email especially, it not the deal per say, but how you phrase it and how quickly you can get you offer understood.

This email from Details Magazine contains a great offer, but I’m not sure they reached the full potential of the email.  While “Buy 1 Get 1 Free” is easily understood, the fact you could buy yourself a subscription and get a free X-mas gift for somebody else is a much better incentive for a subscriber.

This type of offer would be a perfect chance to A/B split your list and test phrasing of the offer.  For the B list on this email, I would try “Give your friend a Free Subscription to Details Magazine this X-Mas” or something similar.  Analyze both the click through and conversions, then launch the campaign.

When you come up with an offer for an email campaign, always create at least 2 versions.  It’s not always what you say, but how you say it.

How would you have phrased this offer?

One cardinal rule of email marketing: If you think everything has been checked…..check again.

This email from Heineken, “a frosty glass of beer from Holland” as Duck from Mad Men called it, most likely wasn’t meant for me:

The obvious error here is the “(TEST with Espanol link)” in the email subject line (Don’t get me started on the noreply@ email address). While these types of gaffes amuse people like me and Dylan Boyd from The Email Wars, they have to leave Joe Consumer very confused.

As I went to check my preferences….

Apparently I opted in to the “small_test” list. I am assuming they also think I may speak Spanish.

My goal here is not to beat up on Heineken, everyone I know in email marketing has made mistakes. The takeaway here is to be very careful with your test groups. Double check every aspect that a subscriber sees so it is seemless from their normal experience with your messaging.

If they know it is a test, it’s not a test anymore.