Creating A/B Tests For Email Marketing
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Last week I received the most interesting email providing a plethora of information about recent email testing on planned giving topics. Crescendo Interactive, Inc., a well-known planned giving marketing vendor, just published a white paper titled “Experiments in Email Marketing: Principles of Effective Emails Based on A/B Testing”.
A/B testing is the foundation of discovering how two alternatives perform against each other. To learn more than you might want to know about A/B testing you can read Mal Warwick’s book, “Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3: Raise More Money with Direct Mail Tests”. Though I warn you, there’s much more information in the book than most organizations can consume or attempt to implement. So consider my recommendation one of learning about testing and not necessarily about trying all of the tests he describes in the book.
Crescendo developed an initial email (called a control or “A”) and then made modifications (called a test or “B”) to test the impact on email open rates and click-through rates (CTR). Their online marketing team’s conclusions for each A/B test are based on principles of marketing as well as a comparison of data from other A/B tests.
Here is some of what they found:
In all, Crescendo created 12 A/B tests for planned giving emails. You can read the full description of each test and the results by requesting a copy of the report from them online.
If you need email addresses for your constituent database, Target Analytics offers several options. Check out our Data Enrichment Service – Multichannel Contact Information to append email addresses where you do not already have them, as well as our Contact Preferences services to understand who in your database is most likely to be digitally responsive.
Remember, the measure of success for any email or campaign will vary significantly depending on specific goals. Common goals for planned gifts marketing include:
Crescendo developed an initial email (called a control or “A”) and then made modifications (called a test or “B”) to test the impact on email open rates and click-through rates (CTR). Their online marketing team’s conclusions for each A/B test are based on principles of marketing as well as a comparison of data from other A/B tests.
Here is some of what they found:
- Focused emails = higher CTR - You can lose your supporters by giving them too many options. The study confirmed what other marketing research has shown. Presenting your supporters with too many options in a single email results in lower response rates.
- A quality email list’s open rates tend to be higher than a larger more generic subscriber list. Emails to active supporters and those who have a personal relationship with the organization such as board members and trustees, volunteers, alumni and parents of alumni and current and former staff members produces better results.
- Emails with planned giving offers of information follow the rule that focused – one-topic – emails = higher CTR.
- The day and time of the email matters. The beginning of the week has a higher CRT rate with two Monday emails – one evening, one morning - generating by far the highest CTR rates as other days and times tested.
- Certain calls to action in the subject line produce higher CTR rates. The urgent subject line tested said: “Act now: Impact Michigan Tech through your estate plan.”
In all, Crescendo created 12 A/B tests for planned giving emails. You can read the full description of each test and the results by requesting a copy of the report from them online.
If you need email addresses for your constituent database, Target Analytics offers several options. Check out our Data Enrichment Service – Multichannel Contact Information to append email addresses where you do not already have them, as well as our Contact Preferences services to understand who in your database is most likely to be digitally responsive.
Remember, the measure of success for any email or campaign will vary significantly depending on specific goals. Common goals for planned gifts marketing include:
- Building relationships by serving donors,
- Growing a heritage or legacy society,
- Executing a campaign such as a bequest campaign,
- Encouraging major and deferred gifts as part of a broader campaign, and/ or
- Generating an increase in current giving.
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10/04/2016 6:00am EDT
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