Split Test your Email Message Campaign to Secure Stronger Results
Split Test your Email Message Campaign to Secure Stronger Results
We all understand the pressure of delivering a great email campaign. You have to be careful not to inundate your customers with too many emails or they’ll drop your company like a hot potato. They’ll also opt out of your list if you’re not providing them with relevant, insightful, or beneficial information.
For these reasons, many companies wish they could test-market their message before presenting it to the masses—a confirmation of sorts that what they’re saying is worth hearing to the people they’re trying to reach.
Welcome to the world of Split Testing. A Split Test allows you to queue multiple messages and select only a portion of your database to receive them. Our Online Outbox program will automatically split your messaging to different groups and then track your results. Next, we’ll help you determine which message received the better response rate through an easy-to-understand, comprehensive reporting grid.
Once you recognize which of your messages is being received more favorably, you send that message out to your mass client base.
While it’s easy to do a Split Test, there are more ways to use this tool than meet the eye. For instance, you may find that emails you send that contain the recipient’s name in the subject line constantly fair better than others. Perhaps subject lines that indicate instruction such as “How to…” rate better than those that ask a question. Use what you learn from Split Tests to understand what captivates your readers and move your messaging into that direction.
Split Testing is a great way to test the waters before you pull the trigger on a massive email blast. Online Outbox makes conducting this internal poll as easy as the click of a button.
Take advantage of our tools to refine your email messages today, and if you have an e-mail marketing story to share with us, please send us your thoughts. We look forward to partnering with you to help your business succeed!
Four Tips on How to Avoid the Spam Folder and Opt-Outs
When you run an email campaign, you want to maximize the return on your investment. They key to a strong email campaign is in more than just the delivery. Here are four things to consider before you send your message out the proverbial door.
1. Send your Messages to a Qualified Readership. Secret™ antiperspirant has established that it is exclusively a woman’s product. How effective would it be to for them to advertise to men? Knowing who is interested in your product and pointing your advertising campaign in their direction is a wiser use of advertising dollars. Of course on the Internet, it is hard to derive statistics from an email address or know exactly who’s receiving your marketing efforts. Start by locating yourself next to product and services on the net that are related to yours. Next, create an “opt-in” feature on your website and blogs so people who are already interested in something you’ve communicated will have an opportunity to learn more through your future mailings.
2. Establish Value in your Message. Sending messages that are useful to your readership helps you establish likeability and trust. People tend buy from companies they know, and repetition and value are cornerstones of that formula.
3. Create Repetition. Who doesn’t know what Coca-Cola™ is? Exactly. So why does Coke continue to advertise so heavily? They want to remain top-of-mind and remind people to buy their products. While repetition is key, over-repetition with email is a ticket to demise. A grocery store may send an email circular once a week and that’s acceptable to most people because the specials change each week and it’s a place they visit frequently. An air-duct cleaning service, on the other hand, might appropriately send emails with the change of each season to offer valuable tips to their client base without risking the boot.
4. Abide by the Rules of Timing. You may be up until the stroke of midnight crafting your message, but that doesn’t mean you should send it then. The best times for messaging? Mid-week, mid-morning, or mid-afternoon, when people are naturally inclined to take a break. The worst times? Late Friday afternoon or Sunday morning.
Think of your own inbox and the messages you like to receive along with their frequency. Then consider the fine line between pushing your product and reaching out to educate and inform your customer base. Stay within the established parameters and you will increase your chances of keeping with the inbox crowd.
Up next? Watch for Getting the most out of your Online Outbox account.