You have a brilliant idea that will secure you an increase in completions. You have confidence that it will be something of a revolution but as you’ve been in email marketing for more than a few months you accept that you need to split test your next campaign to prove how good it is.

Split testing is, after all, an easy enough process. The clue to the method is in the title. Split your email marketing list 90:10 and the returns will, many suggest, prove whether the idea will run or not. However, it is not always that simple.

Change is not an easy process for most people. There is reassurance with familiarity, one than should be exploited, but not all the time. It’s like the familiar décor in an office. If left unchanged for too long it can give the impression of being staid. Following on from that, a redesign of your marketing emails might produce more positive responses. 

If you’ve been inspired when searching through your free email marketing templates, you might want to show how progressive you are. You might be wary as a significant change to the appearance of your emails can come as a shock to your regulars. They may well become diverted by the appearance and fail to concentrate on completion. How can you tell?

If the returns from your email marketing software are disappointing, it is possible to calculate, with a reasonable likelihood, whether being side-tracked was the cause. Just check the results to see if there are better responses using one criterion, and worse for another.

For instance, you might find that the completion rate for those who have recently subscribed to your email marketing lists is higher than the norm for both groups in the split tests. This difference tends to indicate that the change is worth continuing with. Your regulars will soon accept the new appearance and slicker procedures. 

Don’t fall into the trap of accepting the data returns without trying to work out why the returns were different. Email marketing is not just a case of following without thinking.