Suffering from Low Open Rates? Discover 5 Must Do Email Tests Inside

When you send an email marketing campaign, you don't know in advance how effective it will be. But you can expect a higher response if you determine what works best for your recipients and what does not work at all. I'm talking about newsletter styles, designs, sending time and other parameters that do have impact on the recipient's response.

Here are 5 simple tests you can try to discover what works better for your audience:

• Direct selling subject line vs. soft selling subject line. As the Subject line is one of the first elements of the email the recipient sees, you can start experimenting with the Subject line.If the purpose of your email is sell a product or service, it is reasonable that you tell about it in the Subject line.Direct selling Subject line sometimes works and sometimes not. In some cases the Subject line only hinting about what is inside the email works better and generates more email opens. That's why the email Subject is what you can start your email testing with.
• HTML format vs. plain text format. It's believed that beautiful HTML emails attract the better recipients' response. In fact, HTML emails work well if they load fast and display well. When designing an HTML email, make sure the email is readable even with the images turned off. And don't forget about the plain text version of the HTML email. Ensure it can be read and understood by the subscriber too. For example, if you create and send emails with G-Lock EasyMail – bulk email sender and newsletter software, you can edit the plain text part of the HTML email separately. G-Lock EasyMail sends both HTML and text versions of your email what is very convenient if the recipient can access email only in the plain text format.
• Call-to-action at the top vs. call-to-action at the bottom. The "call-to-action" button is the 3rd element in the email worth testing. You can try different call-to-action text ["Buy Now", "Add to Cart", "Order Now", "Get Your Copy Now", Grab Your Copy for Only $$" etc.]. You can try with and without the price and you can try different call-to-action button locations [at the top, at the bottom, in the middle and all of them at once].
• Short copy vs. long copy. It's also worth testing to see what your subscribers like best. If you have much news for your subscribers, you can try to post an article on your site and link to it from the email. Then monitor link clicks to see how many recipients went to read the full article. To track your email opens and clicks, you can try this real time email tracking service. If you see link click rate is very low, write the in-depth copy for the next email campaign and see how it performs.
• Morning newsletter vs. afternoon newsletter. Sending time does matter too. You should find your best sending time experimentally. You can split your email list into 3-5 smaller groups and send the same email copy to each group at a different time and day. Monitor email opens for each group using the realtime stats provided by G-Lock Analytics. You will clearly see which copy and at which time and day generated more opens and clicks. Plan your future email campaigns with regards to your tracking results.

After you test each of the element I've just described, you won't send your email marketing campaigns blindly anymore. You will deliver to your recipients the information they want and at the time they expect it. This will help you improve your open rates and thus, increase your sales. Testing is one of the aspects of email marketing that can't be ignored and that is worth to spend time for.