Ever wish you could go back in time and tell yourself exactly which decision was the right one? Well, time travel aside, it’s possible to do that in your marketing! It doesn’t involve talking to your past self, but it does involve trying out more than one choice at the same time.
In fact, this is a pretty important step in paring down your content to be exactly what your audience wants to see.
With split testing you can send emails that hit the mark every time, boosting your business and making your customers feel like you can read their mind.
What Is Split Testing?
Split testing isn’t as complicated as it might sound. It just means testing out more than one thing – splitting your options and seeing what happens in each scenario.
The place where this is super effective? Email marketing. Emails need to be highly personalised, relevant and interesting. Which, let’s be honest, is hard! When you integrate split testing into your emails, you basically send the same message in two different versions.
This would usually be to a similar audience, so you can get a clear picture of what they like or dislike. Ultimately, the aim of the game is to send them and see which one gets better click and open rates.
You’ve probably experienced split testing yourself! This kind of testing is likely being done on you in the email and adverts you’ve seen from the brands you interact with most.
Why Use Split Testing?
I know, it might sound like you’re doubling your work. And you are. In fact, when done right, you more than double your work. In the short term that is, because you’ll create and send two different versions of the same email or campaign.
But in the long run, you make things much easier and….drum roll….profitable.
That’s because split testing allows you to hone your marketing to improve its performance.
Who can help you figure out what works best? The people you’re sending to. They can give the best indication of what’s compelling and interesting. You can use real life to finesse and tweak your messaging.
Split testing can be repeated to get to the best results faster, largely because of how much it relies on getting real-life data.
Data-driven results can lead you to improve conversion rates, enhance user engagement, identify the true needs of your customers and compound your efforts to create damn good email campaigns.
So, How Do You Split Test?
All sounds good in theory, right? Here’s how you actually put it into action in your own split testing. First off, decide what to test. Choose which elements may make a difference, and try out the things you’ve been uncertain about. Each tiny alteration can have an impact on your audience’s reaction.
Key elements to split test include…
- Headlines - bold or subtle, which headlines get the clicks?
- Subject lines - long or short, how much does your subject line matter?
- CTAs - are CTAs more effective in your copy or as buttons?
- Images - are stock images cutting it or do you need more graphics?
- Layout - should you have images at the top or bottom to better grab attention?
- Tone of voice - is the formal voice falling short or would casual work better?
- Personalising - does it really make a difference if you include their name?
Once you’ve put the different versions into motion, it’s time to define how you’ll measure your success. In other words, how will you decide which option worked best? The easiest ways to do this are by measuring your open rates, the sales that can be sourced back to the specific email version, and how many clicks you get on your links and buttons.
Finally, it’s time to analyse your results! You’ll see which versions perform better, and then you can test again, narrowing every element down until you have the perfect email marketing formula for your highly specific audience.
Mistakes To Avoid When Split Testing
Too many variables
Changing too many things in one test makes it hard to see what’s having an effect. When in doubt, keep it simple and change one thing at a time.
Not planning
Not planning your split test is like flying blind. You need strategy behind your test for it to deliver, and to know what you’re looking for in the first place.
Not segmenting your list properly
This can muddy the waters when it comes to your results, because if you send to very different audiences, the response will be different anyway.
Not having a control version
Having a version 0 means that you can see a clearer picture of the evolution of your campaign. It also gives you an original template of ‘what not to do’ once you have the ideal version tested out.
Working With A Pro
Or instead of hashing about with variables, you can work with a pro who knows what works. Save yourself the split testing mental gymnastics and get the finicky bits figured out for you. Think of it as a fast track to your best emails.
I send over a million emails a year – there’s not much I don’t know about email marketing. If you’re trying to level up your emails and take advantage of one of the most effective marketing strategies to exist, I’m here to help. Get in touch and I’ll help you skip the split testing headache.
