A/B tests and design best practices! What’s not to love? Silverpop Platinum Partner, Whereoware will walk you through real-life A/B tests, share before and after results, and use them to illustrate design best practices. Plus, you’ll take home a best practice checklist to use for your own emails.

1. Email creative that works
The Big 3 C’s
Capture, Convince, Close

2. @whereoware
Who we are
Create engaging emails, websites, + mobile
applications
The stats:
• 12 years in the business
• Partnered with Silverpop for 7+ years
• Over 50 Silverpop clients
• 14 certified Silverpop specialists
• 3 fulltime email designers
• 2011 Silverpop agency partner of the year
Bill Haskitt,
Partner + heads
marketing dept.
Faith Albers,
Senior Online
Mktg Manager
Caitlin Kelly,
Senior Account
Manager
@whereoware

3. @whereoware
A few of our clients…

4. @whereoware
Agenda
• Why creative matters
• What you should be looking at
– The big three S’s
– Body
• Real life examples with test results
• Key takeaways

5. @whereoware
Capture: why creative matters
• Affects open + click through:
– You have very little real estate to capture your reader’s attention
– Getting users to enable images affects open rates
– Creative best practices can help click through rates
• Looks matter:
– Often times you are judged by your looks
– Even if an email is all text, the copy can make the difference
– With the amount of clutter out there, your email needs to pop

6. @whereoware
Convince: value proposition
• Why should your customers
purchase from you instead of
from a competitor?
• Some common value props:
– Newness
– Price
– Quality
• Does it have appeal + exclusivity?
• Be clear and concise: what are
the benefits to your customers?
@whereoware

7. @whereoware
Convince: the big three “S”s
Subject line
Snippet text
Sender
 Sender: recognizable + trustworthy?
 Subject line: 50 characters or less, contains the value prop, front-loaded
 Snippet text: move housekeeping items, contains the value prop, front-loaded,
include CTA

8. @whereoware
15.2%
17.1%
15.6%
13.5%
A/B testing subject lines
Subject line
☞ Save Big with Free Freight on Easter
Free Freight on Easter
✄ Cut Freight Costs with Free Freight
Spring Special: Free Freight on Easter
Open rate
A
B
C
D
27% lift
Which subject line won?

9. @whereoware
13.8%
12.5%
12.6%
14.8%
A/B testing subject lines
18% lift
Subject line
It’s National Fragrance Day! Free Shipping on your favorite scents!
Celebrate National Fragrance Day with FREE SHIPPING!
Happy National Fragrance Day! Free Shipping on us!
FREE SHIPPING for National Fragrance Day!
A
B
C
D
Open rate
Which subject line won?

10. @whereoware
10%
14%
A/B testing subject lines
Subject line
Naturally Show How Much You Appreciate Mom
Beautiful Gifts for Mom + Free Shipping for You
Open rate
A
B
40% lift
Which subject line won?

11. @whereoware
Convince: the preview pane Preview pane
 Top left 300x400
pixels most
important
 Does it contain
your value
proposition?
 Can you include
your CTA?
 Does the copy
support the
subject line?

12. @whereoware
Convince: the layout
Layout
S-curve
450 px
 Create a good eye path
 Email should be less
than 600 pixels wide
 Combat image blocking

13. @whereoware
Convince: the layout
Layout
 Create a good eye path
 Email should be less
than 600 pixels wide
 Combat image blocking
poor use of
alt-text

14. @whereoware
Close: CTA
Call-to-action
 Single prominent CTA
 Tells the user what it will
accomplish
 Includes the value prop
 Looks clickable

15. @whereoware
A/B test streamlining calls-to-action
A B
Email
Multiple CTA
Simple CTA
4.83%
5.61%
A
B
16% lift
Which CTA won?
Click rate

16. @whereoware
22.2%
18.6%
Adding value prop to the call-to-action
Click rate
A
B
-11%
A
BEmail
Shop Now
Shop W/Free Shipping
Which CTA won?

17. @whereoware
Scalable vs. responsive design*
• Scalable
– One version of the email
– Email renders well regardless
of the device used to read it
– Single column design
– Larger fonts
– Touch-friendly buttons
• Responsive
– Multiple version of the
email
– CSS media queries auto-
adjust email depending on
the device used to read it
*pulled from litmus.com

18. @whereoware
Scalable vs. responsive design*
*pulled from litmus.com
SCALABLE
RESPONSIVE

19. @whereoware
A/B test scalable design
Click rate
A
B
22% lift
A B
Email
Two column
Scalable
Which layout won?
4.83%
5.61%

20. @whereoware
47%
56%
A/B test responsive design
Mobile engagement
A
B
Email
Scalable
Responsive
19% lift
A
B
Which layout won?

21. @whereoware
Key takeaways
• Your value proposition
– Be clear
– Support it in the email
• Know your audience’s
email client
• Test,Test,Test

22. @whereoware
Questions?
Bill Haskitt
bhaskitt@whereoware.com
703-889-1212
GET INTOUCH
Website: www.whereoware.com
Twitter: @whereoware
Facebook: www.facebook.com/whereoware
Blog: www.whereoware.com/blog
Create engaging emails,
websites, + mobile
applications
The stats:
• 12 years in the business
• Partnered with Silverpop for 7+
years
• Over 50 Silverpop clients
• 14 certified Silverpop specialists
• 3 fulltime email designers
• 2011 Silverpop partner of the year