A/B Testing is a great tool to determine which of your new designs or subject lines will really wow your audience.
It’s important to keep evolving your creative executions, but it’s not always clear which direction will resonate best with your customers. So next time you’re presented with several options, instead of going with your gut, select your favorite two or three and test them. A/B Testing is a great tool to determine which of your new designs or subject lines will really wow’ your audience. Our email marketing partner, OpenMoves offers a platform that automatically splits your mailing list into multiple segments, and sends your different creative options to each group. After the mailing, the system will show you the results of which version performed better. If testing subject lines, you should measure which line generated the best open rate. When testing creative, the click through rate will reveal which look got more people to visit your site.
Case Study
Our client Hanover Fire & Casualty Insurance Company recently tested new subject lines and creative layouts, in an effort to drive higher response rates and sign new policies. Starting with subject lines, they tried the following:
A: [Name], Do you care about protecting your Home or Apt. from fire?
B: [Name], affordable renters insurance
The first employed an emotional tone, while the second was based more on a value proposition; in this case, A was more successful.
The results of your split test results can easily be seen on the email marketing dashboard:
Hanover also tested two different visual designs. Both related to the company’s branding, but organized the space within the email differently:
The A layout performed best, and throughout the campaign, Hanover leveraged the same template but substituted in several different images to make each mailing feel fresh.
Conclusion
Throughout the testing phase, Hanover learned which combination of tone and style would get them the best results. As a result, they are more in tune with their customers’ preferences AND are able to drive more business.
