email test is one of the surest ways to avoid mistakes in email marketing. However, proofreading is not a common habit among professionals in the sector.
Email KPIs allow an in-depth analysis of campaign performance. But what can be done before sending?
Those who think of A/B testing are right. However, email testing is applied to complement this method.
In this way, professionals are building increasingly logical processes in their lead generation and nurturing strategies.
Email marketing proofreading is not just about the text. Other factors that determine communication are analyzed, such as layout structure, sending configurations and other elements.
All of this must be part of a larger plan. With a view to generating insights for professionals in the sector, we have created a specific webinar on this subject. Check it out!
Once you’ve made a good plan, it’s time to learn the best email test tips and apply them to your campaigns. Check them out below!
Tabela de conteúdos
Campaign targeting
What type of email are you sending? Checking that the language of communication is appropriate to the persona is fundamental to the success of your strategies.
After all, the lead needs to identify with what is being said, right? If the user has subscribed to a newsletter and receives a sales email, you may receive an unsubscribe request.
To avoid this risk, take a look at the most commonly used types of email and their relevant communications:
- Information: also known as newsletters, these are longer pieces of content containing news and updates on a particular topic. This material is therefore only sent to people who have already shown an interest in your product or service.
- Conversion: when the intention is to get the user to perform a specific action, emails with this communication format are recommended. Clicking on a link to a sales page, for example,
- Sales: this is the email used by those who work with e-commerce. Here, the language is directed at offers and discounts, with the products displayed directly in the body of the message.
- Relationship: these are emails sent to a new contact, or to those who haven’t engaged for a while.
- Transactional: messages that confirm a transaction or business relationship. Notifications of order tracking or refunds, for example.
Email test and periodicity
Just as proofreading must be present in the suitability of language and frequency of sending, day and time must also receive special attention.
Careless checking can lead to an excessive number of emails in the recipient’s inbox, leading them to unsubscribe.
According to research by GetResponse, one of the biggest reasons for unsubscribing is receiving too many messages.
However, too many messages can lead users to take an even worse action: clicking on the “this is spam” button.
This action, also known as a complaint, damages the sender’s reputation with email providers.
No one deserves to be branded a spammer because of an oversight that could be solved with a simple email test, right?
So keep an eye on the number of emails you send each week. This tip applies even more to those who work with newsletters.
Day and time
When planning email marketing, every detail is important. If you create the content, draw up the step-by-step instructions and send the campaign on a day and at a time when users are absent, your objectives will decline.
As each audience has different habits, the best day and time to send should be in line with user behavior.
That’s why visualizing KPIs will also be an important tool at this point. In this case, the analysis of what happens after sending will be useful for your email test, which has the characteristic of being carried out before firing.
Contents
Now we come to one of the most important points of the email review: the content.
If you go through this phase well, open rates, clicks, conversions and other metrics will be positive.
Keep reading to see how to make an effective email test for every part of the message!
Copy email test
Pay attention to the length of the email subject line, which should not exceed 50 characters. The same goes for the preheader, which should be no longer than 55 characters.
This detail makes all the difference to the email open rate. A long subject line overwhelms the user’s line of sight.
And if the message is cut off, your persuasiveness drops, since the recipient can’t see the whole message.
It is important that this good practice is also included in the preheader, which has the function of complementing the subject line.
Effective copy should also be part of the email test. However, in this article, we’re not going to go into the details of how to create good copies. You can read about that here.
Layout email test
This is one of the most error-prone parts. This is because the layout of an email must follow certain rules.
If there are no good practices in organizing the elements, the risk of being classified as a spammer increases.
It’s important to remember that email providers’ anti-spam filters are always on the lookout, waiting for small oversights. So keep an eye on the tips below:
- The weight of the images should not exceed 500kb, and that goes for all the images together. To ensure a lightweight email, use Jpeg, Gif or PNG file compression.
- Proportion of text and images: the ideal composition of an email is 60% text to 40% images. This organization ensures that the message is not classified as spammer.
FAQ
These are two ways of reviewing emails before they are sent. The email test is a check of communication elements, sending frequency and content.
A/B testing aims to gather user preferences for specific items. This makes campaigns more assertive.
Whether the communication is in line with the lead’s expectations; frequency of sending, copy and layout.
There is no general rule. You have to observe consumer behavior and map it in order to reach a conclusion.
The main thing to consider is the length of the subject line and preheader. There is an ideal number of characters for each element. If you fail to comply with this good practice, the email may be classified as spammer by the providers’ anti-spam filters.
The weight of the images, which must not exceed 500kb in the entire message, and the proportion between texts and images, which must respect a greater quantity for the texts.