Split Testing

Split testing your email sends can be a great way of determining which campaign will work best with your audience, also known as a/b split testing.

Do you have a campaign that you want to test which imagery or content works best? Are you unsure of what the title should be or when to send?

Mailchimp’s split testing functionality is here to make things simple.

Variables

There are multiple different variants that you can use to test within an a/b split test.

Subject line-

This is a great way to trial whether or not to include the offer of the email in your subject line or whether a softer approach will perform better.

From name-

Whether you want to add a personal touch and send it from yourself or trial it being sent from the CEO of the company. This is a great way to see which is opened more by your audience.

Content-

Design is huge and seeing how your audience interpret the message can be a great learning for future sends. You could also try different offers with the content. The trick here is to either do one or the other. Make sure the artwork is the same if the offer is different otherwise it is an unfair test.

Send time-

Send time is a tricky one. Whether you use Mailchimp’s ‘optimal send time’ or send at a specific time, testing will become your best friend. If you send a regular communication I would strongly advise testing what day and time you send it to find the perfect sweet spot.

Combinations

Once you have selected your variant to test, you then go into the combination set up. You can test a maximum of 3 combinations. For example, 3 different designs or 3 different subject lines. Mailchimp will then ask you what split you would like with the data on the combinations. That could be a 30/70 split meaning 30% of the database will receive the test combinations and the remaining 70% will receive the highest performing combination. There are various ways you can determine a winning combination, whether that is open rate, click rate, revenue or a manual selection.

Results

Once your campaign is set up to run, Mailchimp will then do all the hard work for you. It will send the campaigns, perform the combinations and determine the winner. You can then go into the campaign for a full breakdown and report.

If you would like help with your Email Marketing and to maximise your email marketing strategy, then please do contact me.

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