Email Testing is Easy // 08.14.09

E-mail campaigns are an effective way to reach a large customer base on a low budget, and e-mail marketing has actually done well despite the economic recession. However, eROI claims that e-mail campaigns are failing due to lack of campaign testing, surveying that “37% of email marketers” are opting out. Why? The most common reason being "marketers don’t know how" says eMarketer.

To get you started, determine a finite set of goals. Define the campaign’s purpose. Is it an acquisition or retention e-mail? Does it drive customers to your website or prompt them to purchase a product? Only after these benchmarks are established can an e-mail campaign’s success be measured.

Two key metrics used in measuring success are open and click-through rates: the number of people that see your email message and the e-mails effectiveness in getting a response, respectively. These metrics can be easily accessed via your e-mail campaign manager.

Testing your e-mail campaign is certainly a worthwhile endeavor and not as complicated as it may seem. The items you should consider testing are subject lines, CTAs, and time of day; however, you should focus on testing one element at a time. One way is to split your email into two campaigns (known as the A/B test) with one variable and keep all else equal. This will enable you to track conversions and measure ROI. For example, tweak the subject line in length or what it says. Does one version generate more open rates? Keep your testing simple and make sure to test often.