Email marketing is all about optimising your emails so that you can generate the best results and conversions. But how exactly can we know what’s driving engagement and persuading subscribers to open our emails, click through to the website and purchase? Through A/B testing!

Now what exactly is A/B testing you may ask? Well, it’s the process of sending one variation of an email to a segment of subscribers, and a different variation to another segment with the goal of finding out which variation generates the best results (open rate, click rate, or placed order rate).

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Why is testing so important?

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A/B testing helps email marketers see what’s working and what’s not with our strategy. We can find out what effectively moves the needle with regards to email copy, CTAs, design, etc., and what pushes subscribers over the line when it comes to opening emails, clicking through to the website and making purchases.

Now that the boring bit is over, let’s discuss the different things you can test in your emails!

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Subject lines

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Subject lines are the most important factor in getting your subscribers to open emails as they’re the first thing of your email they see. According to research, 47% of email recipients open emails and 69% of recipients report them as spam based on subject lines alone! No pressure then, eh?

It may seem like there isn’t much to experiment with when it comes to subject lines, but there’s more you can test than you’d think - you can test everything from the length of your subject lines to the wording, to how personalised they are (e.g., using code to add in the recipient’s name), with and without emojis., etc. Then, you’ll be able to see what resonates with your subscribers and what convinces them to open your emails.

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Body copy

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Will a more salesy, FOMO-based approach encourage your customers to buy? Or do they resonate best with a more personal and friendly approach? Should you go for a few, punchy lines, or something more descriptive and detailed?

The only way to find out is by testing

Your headers and body copy play a HUGE part in persuading someone to check out a website and purchase. Test different approaches with copy and see how it affects conversions.

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Design

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The design of an email is one of the most important things about it. We are visual creatures after all, so naturally, we pay more attention to things we find visually appealing and engaging. Although copy no doubt conveys the purpose of an email, it’s the design that catches everyone’s eye. 

However, when it comes to emails, there’s more to it and there is a strategic element involved as well. Sometimes, emails that are less bold or designed in a strategic way will actually generate more conversions. It’s one thing for your email to be pretty, and another thing for it to convert well. That’s why it’s so important to test the designs of your emails.

The first thing you could test is the layout of your emails - for example, where you position your CTAs or your body copy. On the other hand, you could test a more bold and eccentric email vs one that’s more stripped back. You could also test images of certain products against others, as images of some products may draw more people in than others, or maybe lifestyle shots resonate with subscribers more than product images. Who knows! The possibilities are endless.

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CTAs

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Your CTAs are the difference between someone clicking through to the website and not, so they are a key thing to test. You could test the positioning of your CTAs, for example, test them against the middle of the emails vs aligned to the left or right as some research suggests that this can make a difference to your click-through rate.

You could also test the design of your CTAS - the colour of them, an eccentric one vs a more plain one, a hyperlink as a CTA vs a button, maybe a Klaviyo button vs a designed one And, don’t forget to test CTA copy! You never know whether a punchy/urgent or mysterious/intriguing approach will draw in subscribers the most For example, you could test CTAs like “CLAIM NOW”, “USE CODE NOW!”, vs something more vague like “TELL ME MORE..” or “ELEVATE YOUR GAME”.

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Send times

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Are your subscribers early birds or night owls? You could scour the internet all day trying to find the perfect day and time to send an email, but all you’ll find is a variety of sources telling you different things.

Wanna know why? Because different things work for different brands! Test sending emails at two different times of day or test sending emails on different days for a couple of months and see if there’s any pattern in terms of what works best!

And most importantly…

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Email topic and approach

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Testing the topic/approach of an email will without a doubt make the biggest difference to performance. So for example, you could have a Welcome Series email that promotes best-sellers, vs one that focuses more on social proof and reviews. 

When it comes to campaigns, the strategy should be slightly different - rather than A/B testing, send a variety of different kinds of campaigns, keep track of the performing ones each month, and then, you can analyse the data and see if there are any trends in terms of what kinds of emails generate the best results. 

For example, you may find that emails that are more directly sales-related such as top picks/best sellers, or emails promoting specific collections/products perfect best, or you may find that a more indirect selling approach works best - promoting UGC in emails, a how to style a certain product email, tutorial, etc. 

Now we’ve got the main bit over with, we need to go through some final tips and advice to help you run effective tests!

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How to run an A/B test

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Make a plan!

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Note down what you’re going to test and for how long - it’s best to test something for a long enough time so that you can get accurate and conclusive results. Understand why you’re doing the test too and what you’re wanting to find out and your plan somewhere so you can keep track.

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Prioritise 

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Naturally, some tests will move the needle more than others, so prioritise some ideas over others based on effectiveness, importance and what you’re trying to achieve. Are you wanting to prioritise increasing open, click or placed order rate? Obviously, different tests will affect different things.

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Test one thing at a time!

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If you test more than one thing at a time, this means that you will not be running a fair test so your results won’t be accurate. E.g., if you test your CTA colour as well as CTA text, you won’t know which one has actually affected your click through rate.

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Record your results

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Use a google doc or spreadsheet to record the results of each variation of email you’re testing. After a month or so, you may start to see a pattern of what’s working best to achieve your end goal of increasing open, click through or open rate. Then, you can use your results to make data-informed decisions with your emails going forward and think of something else to test!

So there you have it…

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And that’s everything you need to know to get started on your testing journey. Hopefully this has given you an idea of how important and effective A/B testing is, and just how many things you can put to the test. Why not try testing something for yourself and see how it turns out?

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