Cold email AB test is a method of sending one variant of your message to a group of your subscribers and another version to a different subset of subscribers, with the ultimate objective of determining which version of the campaign generates the best results.
A/B testing may range in complexity, from simple tests such as sending several subject lines to determine which one produces the most opens to more complicated tests such as comparing totally different email templates to determine which one produces the most click-throughs.
Any data analyst or clever marketer will tell you that you need a big sample size to obtain accurate data.
However, what is your options if you’re conducting poor cold email campaigns? Ignore the evidence and continue speculating?
Certainly not. There are still intelligent methods to test your advertising — and you definitely should.
Is Cold Email AB test Important?
We all wish to improve things. However, how can you know whether your efforts are truly effective? How do you determine whether the improvements you make to a system are beneficial?
Acting on a hunch, relying on guessing, or leaving triumph to chance all have a random probability of succeeding in the end. However, it can also go nowhere or even bring everything tumbling down in utter disaster.
Well, the answer is statistics – a lot of it. It will provide the desired results. Cold email A/B testing, particularly, is necessary to eliminate guessing and definitively determine what performs and what does not.
A/B testing is a randomized study used to assess the superiority of two variations. It may be used to compare a wide variety of items, from site navigation to advertisements. A/B testing helps to compare subject lines, opening statements, and even email content.
Cold email AB test is so powerful that it enables organizations to make decisions based on actual behavioral data from customers rather than on deeply ingrained and generally held business preconceptions that may be correct, wrong, or just outdated.
What to AB Test in a Cold Email
Which components of your cold email marketing should be split tested?
The answer is contingent upon the outcome you seek: whether you wish to increase your message’s open rate or to increase the number of prospects who respond favorably to your message. Here are the things that should be A/B tested in your cold email.
1 Subject line
It is recommended that you personalize your email subject line as a method of capturing your prospect’s interest.
A subject line that gives the idea that the message is all about the reader will provide a huge motivation for the prospects to open and read. However, just rely on this. Conduct an experiment. A cold email AB test would do.
Customization does not have to mean just putting your prospect’s name in the subject line of your email. Consider including their firm name, their position, or a specific occasion in their geographic location.
Subject lines customization factors:
- Including and excluding the first name
- Including and excluding the role/position
- Including and excluding the corporate name
You must be able to determine which type of customization works best for your prospects using these various A/B testing.
2 Sender name
There’s one thing to keep in mind in your cold email AB test. It’s the fact that tiny adjustments may have a significant impact.
For instance, when Hubspot conducted a study to determine the effect of utilizing a customized sender name vs. a generic business name, they discovered some rather intriguing findings. The email with the sender’s identification had a 0.53 percent higher open rate and a 0.23 percent higher click-through rate. While these may appear to be modest numbers, this slight improvement resulted in the acquisition of 131 leads.
While no two emails or email marketing are identical, it is reasonable to assume that a stronger version of your cold email will result in substantial increases in connection and income.
3 Email content
Create many variations of your content to determine which receives the best reaction. Utilize this variable to evaluate minor modifications to the text or totally new templates.
When you do content testing, you may like to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of CTA, links, and buttons.
Keep in mind, though, that incorporating an insufficient number of links or an excessive number of links might have a detrimental influence on your email marketing. Experiment with multiple versions of your emails that include more and fewer links to determine the optimal link ratio for your marketing campaign,
Too many links may significantly increase the size of your email. When your emails surpass 102kb, they may be snipped by ESPssuch as Yahoo and Gmail.
4 Follow up emails
Because your prospects are busy individuals, they may be unable to respond immediately or may just forget to do so. Occasionally, people require further “nurturing” to fully appreciate the benefits of your offering. That is why it is critical to constantly send follow-up emails.
You may also A/B test alternative versions of a follow-up. The underlying concept stays the same.
4 Steps to Accelerate Your Cold Email Outreach
1 Automate your list building with Fuzebot
Before A/B testing your cold emails, you should first have a list of the leads to who you should send them. It’s a hard task, we know. That’s why LeadFuze and Fuzebot are created to help.
Salespeople enjoy LeadFuze because it enables hyper-targeted lead searches and generates high-quality leads.
Additionally, you’ll receive total list-building automation, which means you’ll spend more time speaking with prospects rather than looking for them.
Sales teams integrate LeadFuze with their CRM and workflow tools, as well as de-duplicating leads.
LeadFuze’s restricted architecture automates the process of generating high-quality leads.
There is no strong need to employ a third-party verification product now that LeadFuze does it automatically.
You may even utilize the Ignore List to eliminate the need to go through your list and worry about adding existing clients or competitors.
You also may set your list creation on auto. Just sit and watch as Fuzebot, LeadFuze’s artificial intelligence assistant, automatically adds fresh sales leads that meet your criteria.
He may also trickle data into your CRM or work process tools, triggering outreach efforts in the process.
As a result, your marketing activities are enhanced and elevated to a new level.
2 Segment your list and personalize email content
Let us get straight to the point. You may be failing at cold email marketing because you’re overlooking two critical factors:
Personalization and Segmentation.
They are two distinct concepts that cannot exist without the other.
The reality is that we live in an era of incredible customization.
As a result, we’re left puzzled and wondering why businesses continue to struggle with effective segmentation and customization in their online marketing efforts.
Allow me to be clear. Personalization extends further than the subject line and email body containing the receiver’s name.
We’re discussing the process of producing personalized content for meticulously categorized lists.
In a word, sending short, segmented email campaigns is preferable to blasting generic emails to a big, untargeted list of contacts.
Because each business is unique, the methods you use to categorize your email list will vary from those used by others.
Nevertheless, there are a few fundamentals that you would need to correctly and efficiently segment your list:
To begin, you’ll need to have an email service provider that supports list segmentation.
Following that, you’ll want a platform that enables you to generate customized email sign-up forms for individual website visitors and then include them in the relevant email segments.
Finally, you’ll want to develop some lead magnets that enable your site visitors to identify as members of one of your segments.
3 Write interactive subject lines
Many receivers open emails purely based on the subject line. You’d be wise to employ a variety of successful strategies to assist your emails in breaking the ice, engaging your subscribers, pique their curiosity, and encouraging them to read your emails.
Here are some interactive email subject lines:
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Let the Numbers do the Talking
The human brain is sensitive to statistics because they aid in the organization of information. Additionally, numbers are more credible and hence more compelling to individuals. By including them in your subject lines, you’ll not only capture consumers’ attention but will also convey the impression that the information contained in the email is distinctive and will serve as a true lifehack for them.
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Create some sense of Urgency
This method is not new, yet it continues to perform flawlessly, increasing open rates by up to 22%. Simply use terms that imply exclusivity or urgency into the subject line to entice them to read your email and close the deal.
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Show the Benefits
If your proposal has numerous benefits, highlight them in the email’s subject line. Additionally, you may employ this strategy with introductory emails, in which you highlight the benefits of becoming a client or a member.
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Focus on the Pain Points
If you have a clear image of your intended audience, you may be able to identify the issues they face. Customize your subject line by addressing the recipient’s concerns and attempting to alleviate them with appropriate material.
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Make use of Allusions.
A literary allusion is a reference to a historical, mythical, political, or another well-known event that is significant in a specific culture or language. Marketers frequently employ this figure of speech when naming products, but it may also be used successfully in email headers and subject lines.
4 Send follow up emails
The majority of the best sales or agreements require more than a few “touches” before a reply is received to close the transaction.
What is the issue? Nobody seemed to be following up with follow-up emails. They write one email to a prospect and then stop communicating with them.
Indeed, 70% of sales emails never make it through the first try.
The reason you haven’t received a response to your original emails is that they are only a small portion of a much broader picture.
And the image will only be finished if you send an adequate number of the appropriate follow-up emails.
Everyone who sends cold emails should not only send follow-up emails, and they should also understand how to compose one that will get a response.
Additional emails will compel prospects to pay attention to you. And you’ll communicate to them that you’re interested in their reaction to what you’re saying.
Additionally, if you structure your follow-ups appropriately, people will not feel as though you are sending bulk emails to a large list.
Your prospective clients will feel more human, which will increase their likelihood of getting more involved in what you have to offer.
Conclusion
In order to get a better understanding of what cold email your audience responds best to, it’s important that your cold email AB test the various contents. What have been some successful cold email pitches from other companies? The more information we can gather on how people react differently to certain words or phrases, the easier it will be for us to create an effective marketing strategy. Which of these 4 components of cold email AB test do you think needs more optimizing next time you send out a cold email campaign?