The Split Testing Problem...

Hey, it’s Emiel from The Email Standard.

Today, I want to talk about split testing emails for eCommerce brands. This is something I often see mishandled when auditing Klaviyo accounts.

Ecommerce brands are either 1) not split testing or 2) split testing the wrong things.

Let’s dive into what you should be split testing and why. There's some real actionable advice here!

Why Should You Be Split Testing?

Many eCommerce brands think email marketing is a “set it and forget it” deal. They build their flows, and once it's done, they move on.

Sure, you’ll get results, but they won’t be optimized.

Why?

Your initial flows won’t be the best-performing ones.

Even the top agencies need to do split testing to improve email results over time.

You start with an idea, but it’s the data that shows what truly works.

With this data, you can optimize your initial email.

Build a second version, split test it against the original, and see which one performs better.

Consistent optimization of every flow, email, and campaign is key. This approach can boost your attributed revenue from 20% to 35-40%+.

What Emails Should You Be Split Testing?

As mentioned before, you should be split-testing every flow, every email, and every campaign.

But if you are limited in your time, there are some preferred flows and emails you want to focus on.

Often times I see eCommerce brands split test the wrong things. They start split-testing the color of their CTA button in a random flow that gets 50 recipients per month.

Why is this wrong?

Well, it might be that you got a performance boost for this email, but since this flow has such low volume, it won’t make a big difference on your overall revenue.

So you should always dive into your Klaviyo account and look for the flows with the most amount of traffic.

Take a look at the top 3 email flows that receive the highest amount of traffic and focus on optimizing these flows.

My guess?

It will be your Welcome Series flow, your Abandoned Cart & Checkout flow, and your Browse Abandonment flow.

The next step is to look at which emails inside those flows are generating the most amount of revenue.

This will probably be the first email of each flow.

So these are the emails you want to focus on and start running split tests on.

Why?

Because any positive changes to these emails will lead to a big jump in revenue.

They are simply the biggest levers for your business and it will give you the highest ROI.

Okay, so now you know what you should be split testing. But you might wonder…

What Specifically Should You Be Split Testing?

This is a great question, because this is also something that I often see go wrong.

Often times I see eCommerce brands test the wrong things. Things like the colors of their CTA buttons.

Don’t get me wrong. Testing the color of your CTA button could lead to a conversion boost. But it’s not the biggest lever. It’s not the game-changer for your email.

But what is?

We like to focus on these things with our split testing:

1) Subject Lines

Split testing subject lines is a great way to boost your open rate. It’s not the most important metric for your email marketing. But if you can get more eyes on your email content, it could already lead to a nice boost in revenue.

2) Above The Fold Section

The Above The Fold section is the first thing people see when opening your emails. And based on this section people will decide if they want to take action (aka scrolling or clicking) or if they want to leave your email.

So you can imagine why it’s so important to optimize this section.

So think of:

• Different headlines

• Different CTA button texts/placements/sizes/colors)

• Angle of your email

3) Angles

This is probably one of the most valuable things to split test.

So especially with your Welcome Series and Abandonment Series you should be split testing:

• Different USPs of your brand. What USP resonates the most?

• Different objections that stop people from buying. Which objection should you be handling?

• Product Category blocks vs Product Blocks: what converts better? Some audiences convert better with product category blocks, some with best seller blocks or new arrivals.

And the beauty of split testing all these things is: you can use this information for your campaigns as well!

If a certain angle is working really well for you, you can make an email campaign around it. And almost guaranteed that it will work as well.

DON’T Make This Mistake

Don’t pick the winner of your split test based solely on Open Rate.

Your key metrics should be generated revenue, Placed Order Rate, and Click Rate.

It’s great to have more people opening your emails, but if they’re not converting, it’s better to focus on high-converting opens.

There’s More to It

Split testing isn’t just for flows.

You should also test your campaigns and sign-up forms to get the best email results possible.

To discuss all of this, I’m coming up with a BANGER of a video soon—a full course on email marketing. It's totally free!

It will discuss sign-up forms, flows, campaigns, segmentation, email design, email copywriting, and of course split testing.

So make sure to check the announcement email soon and subscribe to my YouTube channel if you haven’t done so yet so you don’t miss out on this super valuable course video.

How I Can Help

1. Check out my tweets, which goes in-depth on email marketing on a daily basis (link)

2. Check out my free YouTube videos, with in-depth videos on Klaviyo, specific flows, and much more (link)

3. Are you looking for ways to increase the revenue of your eCommerce brand? Book a call with me now and let’s discuss our Email & SMS Marketing services (link)

or, you can just reply to this email.

See you next time!

Emiel from The Email Standard