Everyone reacts differently to email marketing. Some people love it and can't wait to see what your brand shows them next, they'll open no matter what. Others are more avoidant and need convincing, requiring time, testing and patience. So how do you learn what makes them open and engage?

The answer is in the split test. And fortunately, everything can be split tested.

First, what is a split test?

It's as simple as it sounds: send multiple versions of an email and analyse which performs better. It's a great way to understand which elements are most (and least) effective:

Here are four of our favourites to try.

The subject line is the first thing customers see, so testing it should be top of your list. For a 50% off sale, here are five very different angles on the same message:

Playing with these teaches you which tone and communication style your audience reacts to, so you can replicate it in future campaigns.

Your hero banner is like a secondary subject line. It's the first thing customers read on opening, and often the part of your email with the highest click rate. Want more clicks? Start here:

Some audiences absorb every word. Others skip your copy entirely. Testing it tells you whether your audience is more into the written or visual side of your emails. The simplest place to start:

Beyond length, test different tones and attitudes, sentence and paragraph lengths, first person versus third person, and even the placement of your copy, moving it among your blocks rather than stacking it all at the top.

Just like copy, some customers respond better to heavily designed emails and others to a plainer style. Keeping it on-brand, try a maximalist version against a clean one and see what catches the eye:

Other design tests: background colours, block sizes, mobile variations, and images with or without supporting copy.

You don't have to guess what your audience wants. You can just ask them, one test at a time.