3 Common Email A/B Testing Pitfalls – And How To Avoid Them

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A/B Testing is an experimental marketing program where the website shows two web pages to different website visitors simultaneously to see which one holds more impact. We have found 3 common Pitfalls of A/B Testing and how to avoid them.

Since the past few years, A/B testing has become a standard practice within digital marketing. It is one of the easiest and convenient ways of improving conversion rates, but everything has a drawback too. Not all businesses can get the correct results. This is due to the fact that small mistakes during A/B testing can have a drastic effect on your test results.

Common Email A/B Testing Pitfalls

A/B testing is one of the best ways for conversion rate optimization testing, for marketers. If not used correctly, it can harm your conversion rates. Some of the common pitfalls that arise during A/B testing are as follows:

  1. Don’t stop when you get the first significant result:

While performing A/B testing, when you stop testing as soon as you get a significant result, you immediately start getting invalid results. Therefore, if you want to get good results from your emails, you need to stop practicing this habit.

The major cause behind these invalid results is the presence of false positives, which are very likely to appear if you keep on checking off and on. Consider it as a direct relation. The more likely you are to find a result that has been measured incorrectly, the more you check and stop your testing. Now, how should one avoid this?

According to an article published on LinkedIn, the practice of A/B testing should be a continuous and persistent effort. It's unwise to halt testing merely because a positive result was obtained in a single test. Email marketing is a dynamic field, with people's behaviors, needs, interests and motivations constantly evolving.

Tip to avoid this pitfall - Keep a minimum sample size in mind and fight the urge to check:

First of all, don’t stop testing as soon as you get a significant result, this could potentially cause problems for you. Also, keep a low sample size. Some of the tools that you can use are, VYO and Optimizely, in order to stick to a specific size and keep it at a considerable amount. However, it is recommended by GetResponse to use a sample size of 25%.

  1. Try segmenting your test based on new or old customers:

You might think that changing the slightest of thing in the design of your email might get you great results but that’s probably not the case. Each type of user has a specific requirement. Some might not like sudden changes, while others would appreciate them.

According to a HubSpot Blog article, it's important to recognize that new customers often have distinct needs and expectations compared to long-standing customers. For instance, new customers may tend to prioritize price sensitivity, whereas established customers may place a higher emphasis on features and benefits. When conducting tests that involve all your customers as a single group, it becomes challenging to discern whether the alterations you've implemented are positively or negatively affecting each of these customer segments.

Tip to avoid this pitfall - Look for radical changes:

In order to focus on improving this factor, learn to segment your test based on the users. You may keep the same layout for usual users but change it for the new ones.

  1. Stop considering conversions only:

Most people neglect long-term business results while performing A/B testing. You might think that getting more converted users will prove beneficial for you, but that is not the case. Sometimes, these converted users are of low-quality and harm your business. These types of metrics will distract you from authentic revenue-driving results.

Based on a report published on Towards Data Science, it is recommended to avoid participating in conversations during A/B testing since doing so can introduce bias into the findings. Engaging in discussions with users may result in responses that are influenced by their perception of your preferences or your own biases, which could potentially undermine the precision of A/B test results.

Therefore, you should focus on the leads produced on the page rather than the conversions.

Tip to avoid this pitfall - Outline a hypothesis:

To get rid of all other distractions, you need to set up a hypothesis on KPI based on your email marketing. This will help you drive authentic business results.

Hope you enjoy reading "3 Common Email A/B Testing Pitfalls – And How To Avoid Them" :)

One Innovative Email Subject Line Tip

Using the Listicle

The professional bloggers and SEO experts are aware of the power of using Listicles and even the strategy has added some bucks in the Vloggers’ wallets. Does this technique really work for the email subject line?

Yes, it does work as long as the subject matter is educational in nature, for instance, a brief guide, tips, or HOW-TOs. It also works well if you are offering a list of new products, solutions, or services.

The best thing that I like about the Listicle subject line is that we don't have to overdo anything. They are simple, direct, and effective at the same time. Remember, we all want to go through multiple options. We all want to know multiple ways of doing something. This is why the open-rate for Listicle subject lines is on the rise.

I’ll like to suggest the provision of between 5 to 7 alternatives. Less than 5 or more than 7 doesn’t work for one reason or the other. My experience with Listicle subject lines tells that from 5 to 7 is the ideal range.

1 Way To Build Your Business Online - Charity work

You could show how much you care about your community by contributing to charity events. If you have a product that can better people’s lives, even better. You have to be genuine in your pursuit though, otherwise, people may frown upon your actions if they ever figure out you only did it for money and marketing.

1 Hilarious Out of Office Message You Will Want to Copy

Tell Them What You’re Up To

This weekend some of our staff won’t be able to handle your emails.

So who will be handling your emails? Me, the autoresponder.

Then who will be off emails? Jerry, Ann, Mary and all of our communications officers.

But will they be partying all weekend? No, they will busy delivering lectures at a seminar this weekend on digital business.

For us, this is a special outing where will meet with clients and share our experiences. To know more, kindly visit our forum here (You may be able to get a ticket. For us, well, we’ve got work to do).

So when will the communications officers be back? They will be coming back home as from on Monday to handle takeover from where I stopped. Meanwhile, you can keep sending in your emails and I will be handling them.

Thank you for being there for us.

Your Friend

Digital Marketing auto-responder (on behalf of Digital Marketing communication officers).

What Are The Ways To Convert More Email Readers Into Buyers

Style

There is nothing more appealing than style. This can be a presence in masculinity, streamlined linguistics, elegance, grace, presence- any of these things. Every type of emotion and persona can be construed via email. It just depends on the type of language you try to use. Again, the thesaurus is a wonderful tool to expand your language. Words do not just have a meaning- they represent emotions. Words can also represent color or tone, and these also represent emotive disposition.

It does not hurt to imagine pitching to your audience using a vision board in your mind’s eye. It is surprising how the color that you imagine your audience to be surrounded by will have attached words or mood, and this almost always the right words to use to communicate with that demographic. Try to regularly change your style, do not get caught in the trap of always using the same persona, people do get bored. As we mentioned in ‘Evergreen’ it is important to stay with the times and the vibrant in what you are producing.

1 Way To Keep Coming Up With Better Blog Post

Socialize with your Peers

A great way to the source content is by socializing with your peers. By doing this, you will be able to learn their opinions, experiences, and positions on various topics and issues. This is a great material to write about in your blog. However, you need to filter their experiences and remain with those that appear interesting and would subsequently entice your audience to read. You can use this method to not only source for content but also gather their opinions about your blog. This method is highly effective and yet very easy to use. Its availability on demand is what makes it effective. For example, you can meet your friends at a local eatery or bar and discuss issues from social living to politics. This will consequently give you a lot of material for your blog. Use your everyday interactions with your peers to gather content that may go unnoticed.

Newsletter Content Idea for your Next Email

Testimonials

With numerous online businesses emerging every day, it is important to differentiate yours. First of all, write down your business’s USP (unique selling point) and create ideas around it. Add your regular customers’ testimonials in the newsletter. It is important to remind your audience that people are using your products regularly and giving positive feedback. Mentioning testimonials in the newsletter is a great way to gain your customers’ trust as they act as social proof.

It is great to show off your products and work to your customers now and then. You can play around with different techniques including sharing success stories. One of your customers can share his personal story of using the product and how it positively affected him/her. Other than that, you can share a list of top 10 reviews or short video testimonials to which people can relate.