MailChimp is a widely known marketing platform used to provide marketing services and help people communicate with others. But how can people use MailChimp to split test email campaigns the right way? Read ahead if you would like to find out.
Email users should increase to 2.9 billion by the end of 2019. 254.7 million Email users will be available in the United States alone by 2020. However, sending emails to clients will not help you, unless having a plan to improve your email marketing campaign.
What Is Email Split Testing?
The principle of split testing or A/B testing is simple. It consists of creating several versions of the same campaign and sending different independent samples. You can determine the most effective version at random based on the earlier specified opening rate, clickthrough rate, conversion rate, etc. When you are able to identify the most effective version, you can easily send to the rest of the recipients the best one.
According to the study published by Campaign Monitor, Email split testing, also known as A/B testing, is a method used in email marketing to compare two different versions of an email to determine which one performs better. Marketers send both versions to a portion of their email list and measure various metrics like open rates, click-through rates, or conversion rates to identify which version is more effective.
Advantages of Split Test:
A/B Testing is an excellent way to compare online marketing tools and strategies. This is a cost-effective way to test websites and e-mail campaigns. It helps you make the best profit. You can decide to change, adjust or drop your business plan with A/B test figures and stats.
According to the study published by Mailer Lite, A/B testing, also known as split testing, offers several advantages for marketers, like it provides data-driven insights, allowing them to make informed decisions and refine their strategies. It helps identify what resonates most with their audience, leading to improved email open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
There are numerous great advantages:
- You will find a large number of free A/B testing tools on the Internet.
- A/B testing is one of the cheapest testing methods available on the internet.
- You can easily generate page variations and set up tools for testing.
- You don’t need to do any complicated analysis to fix the best variations of your site. The measuring tool will usually recommend the best results for you.
What to Test
As a proprietor, you can choose from a lot of alternatives from simple to complicated:
- Headings, subheadings, and texts
- Testimonials and user reviews
- CTA or Call to Action texts and buttons
- Text links
- Pictures and videos
- Forms
- Awards and badges
- Page layout
- Product optimization for SEO
- Navigation and elements
- Interactions, animations, and processes
- Innovation and functionality and many more.
The principle of split testing or A/B testing is simple. There are only three steps:
- Select the percentage of the recipients that are on your list
- Write two types of emails with different elements and/or contents
- Automatically, the campaign with the best results will be sent to the rest of your database.
How to Split Test Email Campaigns step by step
We usually use Email Marketing Software for Split Test or A/B Testing. It helps to test bulk emails. The software makes email testing easier. Most software contains four different test areas. Below I will detail the steps to follow to create an A/B test campaign with different issues of the message using popular Email Marketing Software- MailChimp.
Step 1: Access your account with MailChimp
To begin sending bulk messages, create a new account in the MailChimp platform.
Step 2: Create a new campaign
You must press the “Create Campaign” button to access the primary panel of the platform. It is in the top right corner.
Step 3: Choose the type of campaign
You will see various kinds of campaigns to send on the following screen. Here, you must select the A/B Split Campaign box.
Step 4: Define the test parameters
This is the most significant step because the variable you want to test in your campaign must be specified. The MailChimp tool offers these three options:
Subject Lines
The primary part of an email is the subject line. Based on the subject line the client decides to attract or avoid reading their email. Using e-mail marketing software you must select up to five appropriate subject variations for A/B testing.
Sender’s name (From names)
Then you have to determine the percentage of the recipients with whom you want to perform this test. It is advisable to choose between 5-20% depends on the number of people you have on your list.
Date and Time of delivery
Finally, you must indicate the metric and the time you want to use to send the most successful campaign.
According to a study published by Optin Monster, when performing split testing for a campaign, one important step is to consider the date and time of email delivery. It is essential to pinpoint the precise timing for sending out emails, as this greatly influences the overall effectiveness of the campaign.
Step 5: Select the list
You will have to select the campaign list. Press the Next button to continue the process.
Step 6: Complete the campaign information
In this step, you must fill the mandatory fields such as the name of the campaign, subject of message A, message B, and sender.
Step 7: Select and edit the template
Edit and create an original and attractive design. Make sure to add content relevant to your audience.
Step 8: Schedule the time for the campaign
Here a window will appear with a checklist of the campaign before it is sent. If you do not want to send the campaign at that moment, the tool offers you the possibility of programming the day.
Step 9: Send the test campaign to your subscribers
Finally, if you want to send it at that moment, you just have to press Send.
Step 10: Analyze the results obtained
It is the analysis of the results achieved. It is vital to measure all the data in any digital marketing strategy.
Conclusion
A/B Testing is an essential part of any email marketing campaign. It is better to test for a particular campaign, rather fewer elements. Thus you can monitor the challenges and try to overcome them in the future.
