4 Essential Disciplines of Email Testing

It’s easy for marketers to take for granted the inherent value of email as a research tool. Much of this has to do with the relative speed with which it can be executed. Some marketers move so fast they short-change the discipline necessary to think about what they want to learn. Many times this isn’t uncovered until after the campaign period and it’s too late to go back.

Successful email marketing campaigns all have one thing in common. They continuously improve by implementing properly structured tests that yield actionable results. The following blog examines 4 essential disciplines of successful email testing and uncovers how marketers can ensure the success of future communications.

1. Form Your Testing Objectives Early
Clients often ask, “When is the best time to develop a testing plan?” The answer is almost always, “Immediately.” Successful email marketers waste no time in formulating a game plan. It’s something that should always begin up front when campaign strategy is in development. Delaying the process can be extremely problematic. Wait too long and there’s a good chance funding won’t be available to construct a proper testing plan.

We recently conducted an offer test with varying monetary values across segments. Had the testing plan been neglected in the strategy development phase, there would’ve been little flexibility in the budget to accommodate the testing dynamic. Since multiple offers were built as part of the overall budget, we were able to correctly size the testing plan to pinpoint the most cost-effective incentive for each segment.

Another benefit of forming an early testing plan is having the ability to more efficiently direct the creative product. Earlier this year we developed a campaign that looked to prove whether or not industry-specific messaging provided a notable lift. Since the testing objective was established up front, there was no need to retrofit the creative to accommodate industry-specific versioning. Successful email marketing campaigns always have an eye on the future and it starts during the planning phase.

2. Properly Set Up Your Testing Matrix
While upfront planning dictates the direction of a successful email marketing campaign, the testing matrix dictates its proper implementation. That’s not to say most marketers overlook the test matrix; it’s that most don’t always construct it in a way that provides definitive answers.

In a recent campaign we looked for ways to better break through the target’s inbox. To be more specific, we were looking to boost the campaign’s open rate. To do this properly, the testing matrix needed to be built in a way that didn’t compromise potential outcomes. Essentially, we needed to curb our enthusiasm by recognizing the available universe size would allow for only 3 meaningful tests. As a general rule, it’s important to forgo any testing scenario that won’t yield at least 100 respondents per cell. If cells are divided too thinly, the test runs the risk of not achieving statistically valid results.

Successful email marketing campaign test matrices always consider:

• Ensuring audience segments are properly defined and accounted for
• Ensuring the audience size will yield valid outcomes based on the campaign’s projected response or conversion rate
• Including a testing objective for each cell; be sure the objective ties to an outcome
• Defining the right metrics to measure and validate the expected results
• Including email deployment codes to easily differentiate one test from another

3.Continually Invest in Campaign Refinement
Email refinement is an ongoing process. Just when you think you’ve captured the world’s greatest insight, customer behavior changes. That’s why successful email marketing campaigns include testing as a fixed line item in their ongoing campaign budgets.

Far too often marketers underestimate what it takes to strengthen communications. That’s why it’s important to develop strict testing discipline that creates a catalog of insights that can be applied. While the options are endless, successful email marketing campaigns almost always look to refine:

• Subject lines
• Personalization
• Messaging
• Offers
• Cadence
• Frequency

4. Ensure You’re Measuring the Right Criteria
Another question clients often ask is, “How do I know which email performed better?” The answer to this question resides in having clearly established testing objectives that tie to the right performance metrics. This sounds like a no-brainer, but many marketers sometimes lose focus by not establishing these in advance.

We recently conducted a creative test where simplified numeric steps were pitted against a creative version with comprehensive steps. On the surface, the campaigns performed similarly, with the simplified numeric steps creative version narrowly outperforming the more comprehensive approach in terms of click-through. However, it wasn’t until we examined campaign conversion that we learned the simplified creative provided a 6% greater lift.

In measuring this test it was important to evaluate the metrics holistically. Higher conversion demonstrated that responders of the simplified creative were significantly more prepared to take action. The testing results proved that creative with fewer quality steps is more helpful than creative featuring a comprehensive laundry list.

When it comes to testing, successful email marketing campaigns always look beyond baseline metrics.