eMedia Daily

eMail Testing: Its Not Just for Marketers Anymore

Hardly a day goes by when a member of our constantly-connected community is not checking, writing, responding to or forwarding email. eMail was a communication medium before the web picked up steam, and its not likely to be leaving from our online marketplace anytime soon.

In my work with various industries, many have decided to use email as a way to communicate with their audience. It can be used to announce sales, remind people of appointments or updates, and simply provide news and information.

Many email newsletters that I receive, however, even those which write about email deliverability and best practices, who do not practice what they preach. Thus - today’s headline: eMail Testing: Its Not Just for Marketers Anymore.

Traditional email newsletters can utilize the following testing mechanisms to help reach their audiences:
- Test subject lines
- Try out different formats. If your email is very HTML heavy, you may want to try doing a version with less HTML or plain text.
- Full articles versus article teasers with links to the full article on a website. (This will not work if you do not host content as part of your website)
-Time of mailing. Depending on your audience, different times of day, days of the week, and even times of the month may work better for them.
-Use of colors and graphics.

Using simple calculations like open rates (only available for HTML emails), click-thru rates, and conversions (if asking for a registration or purchase) can help you improve the results of your email newsletters.