You’ve heard of a/b split testing, now make room for multivariate testing. This game-changing technique allows you to test multiple areas of your email marketing campaigns to find the best results — not just the two options you’re limited to with a/b split testing.
At its core, multivariate testing does share the same intention as a/b split testing: comparing the impact of changes and moving contacts towards the one that performs better. However, multivariate testing allows you to expand to comparing as many differences and variations as you want. Essentially, it allows you to measure the effectiveness of different combinations instead of just options being compared directly.
With this in mind, here are the top three things you can test using multivariate testing.
Email design
We all know that with email design, the possibilities are endless as are the combination of things you can add. A lot of times, users want to test header image and headline text combinations but are limited by A/B split testing.
When it comes to email design multivariate testing allows you to take a few of the same elements and try them in different combinations to find the one that is most engaging for your readers. For example, let’s say you’re launching a new product and want to send out an email announcement to your contacts, however, you can’t decide between two header images and two titles, so you want to test all four combinations.
Combo #1
Combo #2
Combo #3
Combo #4
With multivariate testing, you can pit all four of these options against each other and have the best one remain automatically for the remainder of your launch campaign.
Call to actions
Multivariate testing can be used for much more than image-based designs — you can also use it for call to actions. Going back to the example of the product launch email, you next have to decide what you want your contacts to do after reading the email. Should they reserve their product? Read a blog post about the launch? Email you to learn more?
This is another example of something to use multivariate testing for. Let’s say you’ve narrowed it down to three actions: Reserve a Product, Read More, Contact Us. But, you also have two color options: blue or green. This means you now have six possible combinations:
It’s important to note that although multivariate testing would be able to handle all of these options, you also don’t want to spread your testing group too thin. If you have a large enough pool, then, by all means, try all six combinations. If your pool is smaller, maybe try four, max.
Subject lines
Consider subject lines the first impression a reader has of your email, and first impressions matter. If you want to maximize your results, you may consider using multivariate testing for your subject lines. For the product launch, let’s say you have three ideas:
- Get a sneak peek — new product launching soon!
- Reserve your PRODUCT NAME early!
- We’re launching! Be the first to know!
A simple test will show you which subject line gets the highest open rate, which would translate to the most effective subject line.
Want to try multivariate testing for yourself? Click the button below and sign up for a free 14-day trial of SimplyCast’s software and see how multivariate testing can improve your email marketing.
