Getting the Right Message Out – As Easy As A/B

With the amount of networks out there today competing for your traffic, it makes sense to test offers that have been proven to be successful. How do they get to that point is the question? If you are an emailer, in an effort to increase your click-through and open rates, consider implementing an A/B test.

Email marketers often shy away from using techniques like A/B testing because of the misconception that such tests are “scientific” and therefore complex and only accessible to organizations with huge budgets. Indeed there is some “science” behind the technique but there is no reason why any marketer cannot enjoy the same great benefits.

A/B tests are an easy and highly effective way for all marketers to increase their open and click-through rates above a pre-defined benchmark. What is required is that the marketer be willing and able to devote time, to be patient and to have a keen eye for detail-and what marketer among us isn’t willing and able when the result is improved performance on key email campaign metrics?

A Science and an Art

A/B split testing with email marketing is as much a science as an art – requiring patience and a scientific touch in order to optimize the message mixture gradually and effectively over time. Effective testing requires diligent analysis, modification, experimentation and re-analysis to maximize the efficiency of the message over time. Marketers expecting to send two versions of a campaign to two subsets of their list – and see a marked difference in the results immediately – will be disappointed. Why? Because achieving significant improvements will require several small iterations over time in order to ensure that changes in results can be directly attributed to a particular change in the campaign.

While there are the obvious and easily changeable variables apparent in an email marketing campaign such as subject lines and “from” fields, the numbers of variables that can be changed in an email message are endless. A/B split tests primarily fall under two main categories – changing the offer and changing the creative. There was a great webinar sponsored by Mark Roth of Offer Vault on Media Buying last week and it was very evident that testing your creatives is a crucial element to succeeding in online marketing.

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2 Responses to “Getting the Right Message Out – As Easy As A/B”

1. Tweets that mention Getting the Right Message Out says:

   October 2, 2009 at 6:29 AM

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Ricky Ahuja. Ricky Ahuja said: RT @tweetmeme Getting the Right Message Out
2. Evan says:

   October 2, 2009 at 6:56 AM

   Very nice article…I agree completely that split testing is a must!
3. Ricky says:

   October 2, 2009 at 6:59 AM

   Thanks Evan, appreciate the sentiment. How is life treating you?