Want to know what your audience likes? Run an A/B split test.
In the world of marketing, A/B split tests are essential. They help you discover what resonates with your audience by sending two identical emails with one variable that is different. The variable could be time sent, the title, or even the day you sent the email campaign. MailChimp goes into a greater depth in this article.
You’ve probably participated in hundreds without even knowing it. We run one every week using MailChimp. If you get our weekly newsletter, you’ve been a test participant. We test the headlines every week.
We’re going to show you how to run your own headline A/B split test with MailChimp.
And we’re going to make it incredibly easy.
1. Log into MailChimp
2. Click on “Campaigns” in the navigation bar.
3. On the left side of the screen will be another menu. Click “create campaign” and when a drop-down menu appears, click on “A/B Split Campaign.”
4. Decide what to test.
For this tutorial, we will test on “Subject Lines”.
Tweetables –
- How to Do an A/B Split Test with MailChimp. Click to Tweet
- I knew it! @AuthorMedia has been running tests on us all along. Click to Tweet
- I can’t wait to try this! / How to Do an A/B Split Test with MailChimp. Click to Tweet
- Want to know what your audience likes? Run an A/B split test. Click to Tweet
- We’re going to show you how to run your own headline A/B split test with MailChimp. Click to Tweet
5. Figure out the split.
MailChimp’s default is that 20% of your audience is a test group. We often expand our to 40%, a much greater split. To change the ratios, move the slider at the bottom of the image.
6. Decide how to pick the winner.
We like to decide via open rate. It makes sense, right? A good title will make someone open the email.
7. Decide when the rest of the emails will be sent.
This will vary with the original time you sent the email. For this illustration, we chose “After the first 16 hours”, although you can change that as well.
8. Click through to the next page.
This is where you will decide who will receive the email. Click on the appropriate list recipient group.
9. Click to the next page, which is Campaign Info.
This is where you will do the heavy work.
10. Name your campaign.
This is internal and will not be seen by readers. It is just for your reference.
11. Create your headlines.
We recommend using the Emotional Marketing Value Headline Optimizer to create highly clickable headlines.
12. Fill in the “from” name.
If you have a company, use the company’s name instead of your own. Make sure that people will recognize who the email is coming from. If they don’t, they are less likely to open the email.
13. Fill in the “reply-to” email address.
Where do you want the feedback to go? People will write back after a newsletter goes back and you need to make sure that it goes to the right email address.
14. Don’t ignore the rest of the page.
On this page you will want to select:
-
Track opens
-
Track clicks
-
Add Google Analytics
-
Allow FB comments
You’ve completed the A/B Split Test portion. The rest of the process is standard with MailChimp.
Additional resources on A/B tests beyond email marketing:
- The Ultimate Guide to A/B Testing – Smashing Magazine.
- How Not to Run an A/B Test – Evan Miller.
- The Sticky Goodness of Testing Book Titles with Google AdWords – Future Perfect Publishing.
It’s your turn. Have you ever run a split test? What lessons did you learn?
