If you’re not A/B testing your emails to customers, one might assume you’re simply not interested in maximizing sales or reaping the full capabilities of email marketing.
Ecommerce retailers are doing themselves a disservice by not testing elements of email communications. Data driven email marketing campaigns consistently rank higher in open and click through rates, as well as outperform in sales and revenue. Remarkety allows you to perform A/B tests on all of your outbound emails to customers to help perfect your message, drives sales, and renew interest from the market.
7 A/B Tests for Ecommerce Emails that Will Generate Engagement
- Subject Lines
Should you instill urgency or take a passive approach? Do longer or shorter subject lines garner more open rates? Does a benefits-oriented message raise interest, or will a more general message resonate with your audience? To emoji or not to emoji? The subject line is your first impression. That quick, decision-making glance that results in either an open or a quick trip to the recycle bin. You’d be a fool not to want to know what your target market is thinking the minute they get your email. - CTAs
The lifeblood of your email marketing (and ultimately sales) are those powerful and impactful calls-to-action. For ecomm customers a Buy Now button may outperform a Shop Now one (Sounds strange right? But it’s true). Do you use Add to Cart or Add to Bag? An Apply Savings CTA may prove more valuable than a Start Saving. And VIP specials may be driven by the proverbial Get Your Offer as opposed to the impersonal Learn More. The point is, you’ve got options, and now you can have the data to back it up. - Visuals
We’ll just skip over the part about testing highly visual emails versus text (but you can do that too in order to see what is getting through an inbox) and we’ll go straight to the hero image. With so many product images to choose from, testing your visuals can provide more effective email marketing communications, as well as a more personalized shopping experience. Are consumers getting past the main image? Do the smaller graphics of equal size produce more click-throughs and ultimately revenue? It would behoove you to test emails, and then test again, to determine what your database wants to see. In retail it’s all about the eye candy. - Personalization
And speaking of a more personalized shopping experience, got <NAME> in those emails anywhere? By easily inserting personalization tags, your emails can speak directly to the customer. But beware…some love it, some don’t buy it. Here’s your chance to figure out who wants what. Whether it’s in the subject line or within the opening of your email personalization can stand out to the shopper. It’s not limited to just name. Using browsing and purchase history to send tailored emails may result in a spike in sales. Let’s find out, shall we? - Timing
Do you have the time to figure out when the best hour of the day is to garner a response from your target market. The answer is YES, yes you do. It sounds cliché, but timing really is everything (in email marketing that is.) You don’t just want eyeballs on your message, you want an immediate response. Ecommerce retailers are encouraged to A/B test the send times of your emails to determine what gets the higher open and click through rates to maximize the likelihood of cha-ching. - Incentives
Big Sales are all well and good, but do your customers respond better to a percentage off of merchandise or a set dollar amount? (Some people would rather not do the math.) Do you use a coupon code or does the automatic discount at checkout resonate better with your consumers? Studies may show that coupon codes are more likely to get a positive response, but this is your study, and your opportunity to determine what buyers want from you. - Sender
You’ve got mail…but from who? We’re all victims of the screening process (whether automated blacklisting via email providers or simply not wanting to “be bothered” by whomever is trying to sell you something. However, by A/B testing the Sender Name, your emails may improve performance. Will Joe Schmo make the cut, or do customers want to see the store’s name in the From box (or, is it both?) Should you try the sneaky VIP Member Services from Your Store ploy to make it stand out from the rest, or are they wise to that and simply prefer the typical Store Name. You may find that the generic works better if they have “whitelisted” the store through their service providers, as opposed to not recognizing the sender and having it considered spam. Testing this theory will help you better understand how the all-important Sender’s Name can affect your email marketing.
A/B testing email campaigns is not meant to create more work for the retailer or marketer. In fact, other than changing up a few details within the email itself, the setup should be intuitive with point and click functionality. Make sure you are only testing one aspect of your email at a time, as to not taint the results. See our Guide to Split A/B Testing.
Remarkety makes it easy for ecommerce retailers to run multiple tests and ongoing A/B tests of email campaigns. Having email market insights helps you improve marketing to your consumer base, and have a positive impact on your brand. Learn more about getting A/B testing done right, visit our next article here.
Get started and get strategic. Set goals for your ecommerce email communication and benchmark progress through A/B testing.
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As the leading email partner for online retailers, Remarkety lets you create a more personalized shopping experience for buyers and promotes brand awareness to grow your database. Contact us for a customized demo and to learn how Remarkety can support your ecommerce store and family of brands.
