TESTING TO IMPROVE THE SUCCESS OF EMAIL CAMPAIGNS
By Morgan Stewart, director, strategic services, ExactTarget

Selecting the right day to send a personalized, targeted email marketing campaign seems like a simple enough decision. Unfortunately, information on the topic changes frequently as new theories are presented suggesting why one day is better than another is for sending email.

Recently, ExactTarget researched the topic with its 2005 Response Rate Study. The most comprehensive study to date includes data collected during the 2005 calendar year from more than 4,000 organizations, 230,000 email campaigns and 2.7 billion email messages. According to the study, emails sent on Friday had the highest average open rate for 14 months straight - from October 2004 through November 2005. Surprisingly, Sunday had the highest average click-through rate, by a significant margin.

Despite the fact that emails sent on Sunday had higher average click through rates than messages sent during the middle of the week, the ExactTarget study suggests that people are reluctant to challenge the common belief that it is better to send email mid-week. Ninety-six percent of campaigns were sent Monday through Friday and 62 percent of campaigns were sent Tuesday through Thursday in 2005.

This research highlights the need to test, but more importantly, it emphasizes the need to test the right variables. Organizations tend to conduct tests that are "safe," intuitive and fit within their own experience: "Why would I want to send email out on Sunday? I never read my email on Sunday!" As a result, many organizations test relatively small changes that do not result in the big "ah-ha" moments.

What to Test?
The main factors that should be measured to improve email programs include:

Delivery Rates: Are you getting into the inbox? Do subscribers even have an opportunity to see your message? Compliance with CAN-SPAM is only a start. Fortunately, there are several good tools that can help you in this area, including a good email service provider or deliverability specialty firm, like Pivotal Veracity.

Open Rates: Are people opening the message? This doesn't necessarily mean they are reading the message, but it is a good first step. Sender lines, reputation, time delivered, frequency of contact, and subject line all play critical roles in getting the message opened.

Click-through rates: Did you really get the subscriber's attention? This is all about the content, copy and creative. Delivering relevant content is by far the most important aspect, but the sky is the limit in testing creative.

Conversion rates: Are people doing what you asked? To maximize conversions, it is critical that you are taking people to the right place and that it meets the expectations you set within your email.

Offers: Offers tend to drive significant differences in email performance, so consider multiple offers. For example, test the difference in 50 percent off versus a two-for-one offer. The two-for-one offer encourages the purchase of multiple items and may result in higher overall sales.

However, it does not stop there. The following is a list of additional items to consider testing:

  • Segmentation
  • Personalization
  • Landing Pages
  • Day / Time Sent
  • Length of Copy
  • Intro Text-Content
  • Intro Text-Style
  • Body Text-Content
  • Body Text-Style
  • Closing Text-Content
  • Closing Text-Style
  • Bullets or Numbering
  • View Above the Fold
  • Images
  • Pricing
  • Unsubscribe Wording
  • Taglines
  • Creative
  • Response Buttons
  • Color
  • Coupons / Discounts
  • Sense of Urgency
  • Press mentions
  • Store Locations
  • Conversion -- Online, Phone, or Both
  • Animations
  • Charts
  • Strikeouts
  • Signatures
  • Testimonials
  • Celebrities
  • Polls / Surveys
  • Sound
  • Discounts
  • Refer a Friend
  • Click to Talk

    • Fortunately, email is the easiest marketing channel to test quickly and with unparalleled detail and precision. Use small sample groups and try things that may not seem intuitive. The organizations that break the mold are the ones with the greatest success stories.



    Morgan Stewart is director, strategic services for ExactTarget, the market leader in on-demand email software solutions for permission-based email marketing, with more than 4,000 customers worldwide. For additional questions or information on testing and research, you may contact him via email at mstewart@exacttarget.com.

     

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