If you frequent our blog, A/B testing is something you’ve likely heard us mention repeatedly. We know we’ve provided many examples, but are you 100% clear of just how many ways you can A/B test to maximise your email results?
To ensure you master A/B testing and you never miss a chance to optimise your email metrics, we’ve broken it all down below.
What is A/B testing?
If you’re new to email marketing, you may not be too familiar with the term A/B testing just yet, and that is okay!
A/B testing is essentially sending slightly varied content to a portion of your database to see which version performs better. It could be slightly altering your copy or changing the images in your emails. But that’s not all. It also involves testing different offers, phrases, colour schemes and even sending times to see what makes your customers more likely to purchase.
A/B testing your sign-up forms
Starting from the top, your sign-up forms can be A/B tested in many ways to track what works best to increase the opt in rate.
Design Elements: Using different colours, fonts shapes and design elements can show you which imagery potential customers respond best to. For example, some audiences may prefer bright colours and time urgency.
Copy: Test different language. Does more urgent copy work? Or do your customers prefer a more gentle nudge to sign up? What will they get if they sign up - don’t forget to mention the perks of being a subscriber - such as first access to new products and sales for example.
Offers and Promotions: Businesses often assume that the biggest offer is the best. But your customers don’t necessarily know what your biggest offer is. So, are you selling yourself short? Try various offers, such as 10% off, $5 off and even a free gift with purchase. Be sure to link these offers to the correct branch of your welcome series depending on which A/B test variant they were shown.
Delays and targeting: Often forgotten, you can also test your delay times and how sign-up forms show. See if a 15-second delay, for example, makes a difference compared to a pop-up on exit intent.
A/B testing your emails
Once you’ve finished testing your sign-up form, you can move over to your emails. Some ways you can test them include:
Subject Lines: Like the sign-up forms, test different urgency between the content. Also, make an effort to A/B test emojis vs no emojis and even use first names in the subject line content.
Images: Try different styles of images. Do lifestyle images perform better than product images? Do images with people in them do better than those without people?
Graphic Design: Like images, the smallest tweaks can surprise you. Do different colour buttons make a difference? How about using GIFs instead of static images? Perhaps your emails work better when they’re sleeker?
Send Times: Play around with sending on different days of the week and times of the day. Some businesses may have a database that responds no matter the time of day. Others may have a database that responds better when emails are sent at specific times of the day.
A/B Testing Email Flows
A/B testing flows are similar to A/B testing campaigns. So, you can take all of the above content into consideration. However, you can also A/B test your flow structure.
For example:
Delay times: Try leaving one day between emails in one instance and then a longer period in another. See if the urgency and ‘harder’ hitting approach changes the rate of purchase for customers.
Number of emails: Try one variation where you send minimal emails, such as 1-2 emails for an abandoned cart. Then, try another where there are 5+ emails in the same series. Does it impact your rate of purchase?
A/B Test With Email By Design
A/B testing may seem simple. But when you break it down, it can be a long and detailed process. Need help testing what truly is and is not working for your Klaviyo strategy?
Reach out to us to get started.
