A tale of two APBs
Earlier today, we announced a new feature to the Emma community, letting our customers know they now have a bit more flexibility when they upgrade and downgrade their monthly email sending plans. As a part of the release, we wanted to include a screenshot of the new feature in action (people *love* action, right?). But to actually quantify the screenshot’s impact, we decided to create two versions of the campaign – one with the image, and one without it – and divide our audience list randomly between the two versions.
The twist: at the bottom of each email, we let people know that they were receiving one of two versions of the campaign, with a link to compare the two (it points to this blog post). So take a look at the two campaigns, let us know what your predictions are, and check back in a few days for the exciting conclusion.
Update: the RESULTS are in, and they surprised us. Read all about it, won’t you?
Version 1, without the screenshot (click the image to see the full campaign):
Version 2, with the screenshot (click the image to see the full campaign):
[tags] a/b test, a/b split, email marketing, myemma.com, emma apb[/tags]
5 Responses to “A tale of two APBs”
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« You’re so vain. You probably think this email is about you. If I use the phrase ‘animated GIF,’ will you keep reading? »
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About the Author
Suzanne Norman
Suzanne directs the Emma brand. She loves cooking and camping but not, oddly enough, cooking while camping.
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Emma is a member of the Email Sender & Provider Coalition and the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group.
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I received the version with the screen shot and feel it’s stronger: it instantly let me know what it did and why, and that I could file it for review later. Saved me time (which I guess I’m spending – not wasting! – on this page) which makes you guys seem like you respect my time.
Very smart to tease with the tag of “two versions, wanna see?” You’re teaching us while learning off us — that’s a good two-fer!
Love the billiing change, needed it last year, but will aim to take advantage of it in the coming months — smart update, thanks!
I would really like to see a 500/month plan as the base plan. I rarely send out more than that, so in effect I am paying twice what I need to pay.
And while I have your ear (or eye as the case may be), I would also like to be able to stay logged in for longer periods of time. Say, three or four hours. It gets annoying having to re-log in again and again.
One more thing: it would be great to be able to arrange my contacts by LAST name first, as that is how they are recorded in all other aspects of my business.
Okay, ONE more thing. Thanks!
Hi Palmo, thanks for your comment! I’m going to send you a quick email with some thoughts. Look for that shortly!
Suzanne
From a design standpoint, I think it would be better to place the screen shot after the introductory paragraph(s) in the second version. Getting hit with it at the very beginning takes away from your normally friendly and humorous approach. Seems like it would be better to say “this is what we are doing and this is what it will look like” rather than “here’s a billing chart and here’s why we are sending it to you.” Also, we are on a different billing plan than the one illustrated which makes the whole thing just a wee bit confusing.
Thanks for the feedback, Joan. And sorry for the confusion – that announcement was sent to our Emma Pro customers. As an agency partner, I’m not sure why you were included in that list. Let me make sure you’re a part of our agency partners groups so you’ll get more relevant emails going forward!