Why is "testing" my favorite word?

For many of us, the word "test" evokes all sorts of negative emotions. After all, tests are used throughout our school years to gauge how much we've learned. Now that we are in the professional stage of our careers, testing can be equally (if not more) important - especially in the world of email marketing. Testing can be a powerful tool to move your email marketing program forward. Testing can also help you move from “It depends” to “It works for us”.

Before beginning, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Am I testing for the sake of testing or testing to learn? This may seem like a dumb question, but all too often the plan for next steps post-test are not put in place, making testing moot.

2. Am I ready to implement results of the test? As a follow-up to the first question, you need to have a plan in place to implement and scale the result of the test. Whether that means a small tweak or a massive overhaul, you have to be ready.

3. How do I know when a result is conclusive? After testing, you should be taking a hard look at your metrics and determining what margin decisively proves the end result.

4. How many times will I test an element of the program/campaign before declaring a "winner?" Testing an element, like a subject line, one time is often not enough to draw conclusions, but how many times makes sense? The answer to this question will be based on your individual business model (and through testing).

After you have answered these questions, it's time to establish a plan for which elements you will test. It's important to only test one element at a time so the results do not get muddled. The most common tests are:

A) Time of day or day of week - Have you always sent Monday morning at 7AM? Maybe it's time to try 3PM or sending Tuesday instead if you're seeing low open and interaction rates.

B) Subject lines - Does a personalized subject line work for you?

C) Calls-to-action - Are strong or passive calls-to-action more persuasive to your audience to click-through?

D) Images/graphics - If you are using a large hero image, is it taking away from the main message of your emails or should you include many images to create an experience with your brand? Or does an "image-light" email work best?

E) Products/sales message - Would placing more emphasis around education and information increase your sales? Don't be afraid to mix up your emails once in awhile.

F) Landing pages - Does sending subscribers directly to product pages increase conversions?

At the conclusion of the test, implement what you've learned and move on to the next element to test. Never test once and be satisfied with the result as you can always improve on the status quo. Get out there and start testing! What are you waiting for?

Kelly Lorenz
Email Marketing Strategist at Bronto