HE-LLO!!! š
Letās start with a warm welcome to all new subscribers.
This issue is about A/B Testing.
I first need to tell you why I decided to write about this topic today š
On average, the open rate of They Call Me Fabee is around 50%, which is quite good in my opinion for such a free newsletter.
Until last week, my poorest score was 35%. My best open rate remains 72%.
Last week, the open rate of my newsletter about how to implement a feedback loop to improve your value proposition was only 26% š±š„šš¤
I was very disappointed because I had the feeling that this last issue was a great piece of content, maybe the best since I started this newsletter.
Editorās note: Iāve just put twice the link to it so read it (3) please and let me know š
We almost all know that the subject line of an email has a HUGE impact on its open rate. It can even be more important than the content itself.
Thatās why I used a subject line that looks a bit more like a clickbait this week.
Donāt miss the next issue. Iāll reveal the open rate of this one. š
I have to admit that I had hesitated a lot about the subject line.
I obviously made the wrong choice. š¤¦āāļø
How could I get it right?
The answer isā¦ A/B Testing! š± Surprise!!!
What is A/B Testing? Why should I use it?
A/B testing can also be called āsplit testingā.
A/B testing is a marketing method used to determine which variation of the same content performs better.
The core principle is to split an audience into two groups (A and B) and to show a different version of the same content to each group.
Then you can compare the results and select a winner (usually the best performer) that will be shown to a larger audience.
A/B Testing landing pages
Thatās the most common usage of A/B Testing.
If youāre an early stage startup, youāre in search of a profitable business model.
One of the most important part of this business model is your value proposition.
Using A/B tests is a great way to compare different variations of your value proposition and see which one resonates best with your audience.
My advise is to limit yourself to variate one element at a time: the slogan, the benefits you describeā¦
How?
Set an A/B test up
Send trafic to your landing page
See which version generates more engagement (email signups, clicks on pre-order button, clicks on buy button, ā¦)
If youāre more advanced in your journey, youāll want to optimize conversions, e.g. the CTR (click-through-rate) on your CTA (call-to-action).
Thatās something Iām busy doing these days at Flora. I am testing two variations of our CTA: āCalculate my priceā vs āCalculate my price nowā
I want to see if the latter generates more clicks. Can I go from 29.4% CTR to more than 30%?
Once Iāll have had enough trafic, at least 1,000 visitors, I should be able to select a winner. Iāll keep the best performing version and will do another micro optimization test.
To run these test I use Instapage (affiliation link).
Instapage has a very intuitive user interface including a WYSIWYG page builder. You can publish professional landing pages and start A/B experiments in a couple of minutes.
Other tools you can use are Google Optimize or Optimizely.
Thanks to A/B testing, I got to improve the conversion rate of a marketing campaign landing page by 400%! š±
During the 4 first days of the campaign, only 0.8% of visitors were clicking on the CTA.
I optimized the performance by testing the slogan, then the blocks presented on the page, then the CTA copy, then by adding a emphasis on the CTAās, ā¦
During the 4 last days of the campaign, 3.2% of visitors were clicking on one of the CTAās. šŖ
A/B Testing Ads, emails and moreā¦
You can run A/B tests on almost any digital content like landing pages, ad copies and email subject lines.
You can also test different UIās for the same feature in a mobile app for example, to see which one is better understood and/or has a higher usage rate. š
Split testing ads is a really underused optimization tactic, although a nice feature is available in Facebook Ads Manager that makes it easy to do. Itās also possible in Google Ads.
Ads are a great place to test your value proposition or USP, especially if youāre in a red ocean or commoditized market.
Which version generates more trafic to your website?
Once again, with Flora, we noticed that the Google Search ads including messages like āfully online subscriptionā or ā100% digital insuranceā had better CTR than other ads.
I would also like to share a best practice for testing email subject lines:
Create your email
Create 2 variations of your subject line
Put 80% of your subscribers aside
Send the email with subject line A to 10% of your audience and the same email with subject line B to the other 10%
Wait for 24 hours and look at the open rates
(If no variation performs well enough, run another test with 20% of your audience)
Send the email to the remaining subscribers
Conclusion
Letās get back to my frustration regarding last weekās issue open rate.
If Substack, the platform I use to manage this newsletter, offered an A/B testing feature for subject line, I could have tested 2 variations on 20% of subscribers, see which subject line performed the best, and send the issue with the winning subject line to the other 80%.
Last weekās issue would certainly had a better open rate!
Because it deserved it, itās a great post. Read it! š¤Ŗ
See you next week š
Fabee
PS: Invite a least a friend to subscribe to They Call Me Fabee š