You may call it A/B testing or split testing, but whatever you call it, you need to be doing it. Email testing is essential to honing your email communication to reach and exceed conversion goals, and it’s super easy in SharpSpring.
The email reports show the results of our email campaigns in regards to performance and delivery. But before we send our email, if we need to help understanding where to place a call-to-action, or perhaps if we should use different color schemes or tones, we can use a SharpSpring email test.
What is an Email Test?
Email Tests are comparative assessments of emails against one another, effectively A/B testing emails. You will use the Email Testing feature when you have a few emails that have the same conversion goal, formatted in slightly (or heavily different) ways, to understand which is getting the highest conversion result.
NOTE: In order to setup an Email Test, you will need to have multiple existing emails. If you help creating emails in SharpSpring, click to review the article Creating and Editing Emails.
The following User Roles have access to create A/B Testing for emails:
- Administrator
- Marketing Manager
Step-by-Step Guide
Use these steps to create an email test. Scroll down or click for instructions on Reviewing Email Test Results.
Creating the Email Test
Step One: On the toolbar, hover over Analytics, then on the drop-down, click Email Tests.
Step Two: On the right-side, click the Create Email Test button, then in the Test Name field, type the title for the test. Choose a title that is clear so it will be easier to find in the future.
Step Three: Under Schedule a Time, you can click the circle before As Soon as Possible or select a specific date and time to run the test.
Step Four: On Select a List, click the drop-down arrow and select the list. You can also select multiple lists or a List Tag.
NOTE: SharpSpring will evenly distribute the emails across the list, lists or list tags. Keep in mind that you can create a specific list for an Email Test, that contains list members with similar characteristics. This will help reduce inaccurate reporting. If you need help creating this type of list, click to review the article Segmenting Leads With A Dynamic List.
Step Five: Hover over the emails and click to select which ones you want to test.
TIP! On the far right you can type in the Filter Emails field to find specific emails in your platform.
Step Six: As soon as you select one email, next to Select a List, you will see the Use Baseline? checkbox display.
If you want to choose to use a baseline, click the checkbox, then click Select Baseline Email arrow for a drop-down containing all of the emails you have tested so far.
Choose one to compare the results of the test against (should be an established email). If not, calculations will be based on variations above or below the average of the emails sent in the test.
Step Seven: Once you have all the details selected for the email test, go to the bottom right corner and click the Create Test button.
Reviewing Email Test Results
When you are ready to review the test, go to the Email Tests feature and search for the test you have previously created.
Click the test title to view the statistics.
NOTE: SharpSpring will identify both an overall Content Winner and Call-to-Action Winner. Once you review the information and make a decision which email to use, whenever you are ready to send that specific email to the larger list, simply go into the Automation Lists feature and schedule the email.
If you need help scheduling the email, click to review the article Scheduling and Sending Emails.
TIP! In the Options drop-down, you can export the data from the email test to a CSV or a PDF file.