A/B Testing for Email Campaigns - What is It and Why Does it Matter?

As marketers, we all want increased opens and click-through rates. The bigger the numbers, the more visitors and potential customers, which is a dream of everyone running a business. But how do we pull off the numbers and get more conversions?

One effective way to improve click-throughs and boost conversions is running an A/B test. The principle behind A/B testing is simple: draft and send two versions of an email campaign and discover how ‘simple tweaks’—like content style, font type, size, subject line, or even sending time—can affect the marketing results.

According to Harvard Business Review, A/B testing is almost 100 years old and traces its origins to research and the scientific community. This method was first used by a statistician and biologist, Ronald Fisher, who discovered the principles of A/B testing and the value of randomized and controlled experiments. But we’re not talking about the scientific nitty-gritty of A/B testing.

In this article, we’ll cover the principle of testing two groups in the context of email sending and how it can help improve your open and click-through rates.

What is A/B testing for email sending?

A/B or split testing is a marketing experiment in which two versions of a campaign or content are tested on an audience to determine which performs better. In email marketing, A/B testing is the process of two variations of emails to your targeted customers or recipients, aiming to find the best version that can deliver results. In short, version A is shown to some of your recipients, and version B is shown to others.

In other A/B testing email campaigns, you’ll have two versions of the email sent to the same list of subscribers. One of the best things about A/B testing is that it’s a marketing tactic that works for different businesses. It doesn’t matter whether you’re in healthcare or consumer electronics, a start-up, or even an established company— you can use A/B testing to finetune your messaging and learn more about your target customers.

There are different ways of doing the A/B testing, and the complexity of the campaign depends on your objectives or the nature of the business. If you’re using commercial email tools, A/B testing your campaign is fairly straightforward since you can use an email builder to create two versions of the email and send it to two different subsets or just a single list of recipients. Once your test has concluded and a better version has been found, it will be sent to the rest of your subscriber list.

Although these tests can vary in style and complexity, most A/B testing strategies often integrate the following:

Email titles

A common tweak is changing the email’s title. Marketing experts say slightly changing the title's wording can improve your open rates.

Content / Messaging

Did you know how you write your message, its tone, and how you choose words can impact how customers view your business? You may not be aware of it, but some messages may appear direct and bossy, while others seem passive and nonchalant. It pays to know your audience so you can draft the best content that speaks to them directly.

Also, you must translate your business’ branding into the email message. The challenge here is to share the company’s branding through email while respecting the sensibilities of your readers.

Colors and font style

Changing your email's colors and font style is another approach that can impact the customers’ attitudes and behavior. Experts say that understanding your readers visually can also affect the success of your sending campaign. If your traditional emails are not getting clicks, you may want to adjust the colors, font size, and style. You may be surprised to know that the reason for low click-throughs is your email's poor styling and layout.

Voice

As a marketer, it’s best to understand your business and customers and find a voice for your messages. For example, using a casual and playful voice is fine if you're selling sneakers and sporting gear. But if you’re in real estate selling high-end condominiums or office spaces, it’s best to sound formal and helpful while respecting customers' needs to find value.

Deciding on the right voice for your small business matters if you’re working on earning your customers' trust. By doing A/B testing, you regularly test what voice to use to respond to an ever-changing market landscape and customer demographics.

So, why should you run A/B testing?

If you’re still unsure whether A/B testing is helpful, read on to discover its main benefits for your business.

1. Better content engagement

By doing A/B testing, you can gain insights into what works for your customers. You can use these insights to tweak the messaging or even design your future messages. For example, a company, A/B tested the graphics for an Instagram ad for a high-end residential property in the city. The results showed the team which image style, font, and color combination were most effective on the subscribers. Version B of the advertisement earned 4,000 more clicks and had 20% more engagement.

Based on the result of this A/B testing focusing on graphics and visuals, the company switched the style of images to reflect version B and soon enjoyed increased engagement with their Instagram ads.

2. Reduced bounce rates

As email marketers, we crunch numbers like opens and bounce rates. If you see customers leaving or bouncing quickly after checking out your website, you can also use A/B testing to determine what’s wrong with your content, headlines, images, or even font choices.

Regularly testing your website lets you find what works (and distracts) your readers and potential customers. You can also use this approach to address the high bounce rates for your email marketing campaigns.

3. Better conversion rates

A/B testing can help you decide which type of content or messaging converts more subscribers into buyers. This strategy can help you identify what works and should be discarded in your next campaign.

A/B testing is a integral component of your email marketing campaign. Whatever your market or size of business, A/B testing your campaign can help you find interesting information about your target audience. Through testing the email's content, layout and overall messaging, you can optimize your marketing efforts and campaigns, letting you save time and resources.

Furthermore, using A/B tests can provide insights on how your target customers interacts and engages with the different kinds of campaigns you design and launch. If you're looking to target a specific set of customers and want to keep advertising costs down, then A/B testing is the way to go.