Testing

A/B Testing

Not sure how to set up your email to maximise opens or clicks? A good way to test it out is by setting up an A/B test.

In an A/B test you set up two variations of the one campaign and send them to a small percentage of your total recipients. Half of the test group is sent Version A, while the other half gets Version B. The result, measured by the most opens or clicks, determines the winning version, which is then sent to the remaining subscribers. The advantage here is that you’re leveraging the data to determine what version performs best, taking some of the guesswork out of what your audience will respond best to.

You can use A/B testing to test for a variety of things like:

  • Different subject line
  • Different sender information
  • Different email content and length
  • Different designs, e.g.: with pictures or without images, headers, button placement, personalization, etc.

Setting up an A/B test in Campaign Monitor is easy. For more information on how to set one up, visit the Campaign Monitor website .

Sending Checklist

to make sure that the recipients will receive the email how it should look and with the intended information.

Before sending, you should double check the following:

Send Timing

Is it scheduled for the correct date, time, and time zone? Are there any conflicts?

Details

  • Subject Line and Preheader text: typos, length?
  • Footer
    • Includes sender address?
    • Includes unsubscribe link?
    • Includes social icons? Are they linked to the correct accounts?

Content

  • Body copy: typos and grammatical errors?
  • Images: Do they have ALT text? Are they linked properly (if linked)? Are they loading properly?
  • Background images (if using): have you added a fallback colour
  • Links: are they working properly? Is the correct text linked for text links?
  • CTA buttons: Are they properly linked?
  • Dynamic content: Working properly? Do you have a fallback?
  • Personalization: Working properly? Do you have a fallback?

Lists

  • Are you sending to the correct segments?
  • Do you need to exclude or remove any audience members
  • Does your list have all the required data (for personalization or other dynamic content)?

Inbox test

  • Have you sent yourself a test email? How does the live email look in your inbox
  • Full inbox and spam test (available on Campaign Monitor): is it passing the spam test? Is it loading properly across clients?
  • How does it look on mobile?

Notify

  • Send the test email to other team members - strongly recommended as another set of eyes on an email can help catch errors before sending.
  • (Campaign Monitor specific) Include other team members as required on the send notification

Send

Schedule your campaign

After sending

See how your campaign performed