Split testing in email marketing has been around as long as the channel itself. But what are the benefits of using split tests for your campaigns?
Reuse the Results
The best split tests are the ones where the results can be re-used over future emails to continue to provide you with incremental uplifts in performance. When planning your test priorities, make sure you take this into consideration so that you don’t spend too much time on simple tests which give you limited future learning potential. For example, subject line tests often can’t be reused as the subject will always change from email to email, whereas testing the positioning of your call to actions, provides you with results that can be used across all of your campaigns.
Overrule Hippos
The highest paid person’s opinion can be downplayed using a split test. Data cannot be argued with and it takes gut feel and opinions out of decision making, allowing you to stop management blocks getting in the way of progress.
Speed of Results
A good subject line test may take several hours to provide you with a reliable result. However, other tests of greater importance can take less than an hour to see significant differences in performance. Unlike traditional direct marketing, email gives the immediate feedback you want, so even if your hypothesis is wrong it can be quickly corrected.
Learn Things you Didn’t Expect
You might be conducting tests to understand one specific area, but actually, split tests are great for telling you things that you did not expect. This is why it’s pointless to do a test plan of any length as immediately upon running your first test you change your mind on what you want to test next!
Countless Possibilities
So I’ve talked about some of the benefits of conducting a split test, but you may still be sitting there trying to conjure up some ideas of what you’d like to test for your next campaign. Well, the list of different elements of what you can test is huge and here are 150+ ideas if you are struggling for some inspiration.
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