An email marketer sent a campaign to 200 contacts split evenly between two versions of an email with varying subject lines. Email A had a longer, more specific subject line while Email B had a short, direct subject line. Email A performed significantly better with an open rate of 32% compared to 24.5% for Email B. The click-through rate for Email A was also much higher at 18.8% versus 4.2% for Email B, demonstrating that the more specific subject line was more effective at engaging recipients. The goal of driving traffic to the marketer's website and engaging audiences was achieved, though there is still room for improvement to increase engagement further.

2. EMAIL TEXT
Hi, Friend!
I hope you and your family are well during these uncertain times.
This is a one-time email to share some digital marketing content.
As we get accustomed to staying home for an extended period of time, we are relying heavily on digital platforms to stay connected.
I asked five marketing experts about the importance of a brand's tone when maintaining personal connections and their opinions shed light on some great
insights.
Click the button below to find out what they said.
(BUTTON: READ MORE HERE)
Thanks for reading! Feel free to reach out to me for any questions. I hope you found the article useful to apply to either your
personal brand or your professional one.
Stay safe,
Paola Leon

3. HUBSPOT CONTACTS

4. Title
Intro (Personalized, “Friend” will be
replaced by “First Name”)
Appeal
Hero Image
CTA
Links to Social/Contact Info
Closing

5. A/B VARIATION: SUBJECT LINE
EMAIL A: MARKETING INSIGHT: SHOULD BRANDS THINK TWICE BEFORE SENDING A MESSAGE?
EMAIL B: MARKETING INSIGHT: IS BRAND TONE IMPORTANT?
WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?
The subject line is being tested by varying the length of each between EMAIL A and EMAIL B.
EMAIL A is more specific and has a more driven approach to the email message.
EMAIL B is short and to the point.
Both email variations are in “question form”, therefore leading the recipient to hopefully be intrigued
to open the email and find out why.

6. 1
2
3
4
WHAT WAS VARIED AND WHY?
WHAT WAS YOUR CALL TO ACTION?
My Call to Action was right after my introduction and explaining
the topic of my article. I included a button “Read More Here” to
make sure the recipient was clear on where they could find my
article. I also included another Call to Action when linking to my
LinkedIn ”Learn More on LinkedIn.”
HOW DID YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND
YOUR CONTENT?
I began my email by addressing the current global situation lightly.
Then, I transitioned into staying digitally connected while still
maintaining a friendly tone. This led me to mention my article and
describe what to expect when they click on my CTA.
WHICH VERSION DO YOU THINK WOULD
PERFORM BETTER AND WHY?
Subject lines are an essential part of email opening strategies. It is
one of the first things the recipients see. I think that EMAIL A will
perform better because it is more specific. I want to measure
which subject line version will have a higher CTR rate.
I varied the subject line from both email versions (A & B). I wanted
to test whether a longer, more specific subject line would appeal to
the recipients compared to a short and direct subject line.

7. 5
6
SUMMARY OF EMAIL DISTRIBUTION
KPI RESULTS BY EMAIL A AND EMAIL B
The total number of emails sent was 200. Then, Contacts were
split into two groups. EMAIL A was sent to 100 recipients and
EMAIL B was sent to the remaining 100 recipients.
Sent 100 100
Open Rate 32% 24.5%
Click Rate 6% 1%
CTR 18.8% 4.2%
Delivered Rate 100% 98%
Hard Bounce Rate 0% 2%
Unsubscribe Rate 1% 5.1%
Spam Report Rate 0% 0%
KPI EMAIL A EMAIL B

8. 7
OPEN RATES:
EMAIL A: 32%
EMAIL B: 24.5%
CLICK THROUGH RATES:
EMAIL A: 18.8 %
EMAIL B: 4.2%
INTERPRETATION OF RESULTS:
After calculating the open rate between EMAIL A and EMAIL B, there is no
doubt that there is a statistically significant difference between both email
versions. Additionally, the CTR for EMAIL A was almost 5 times higher than
the percentage of CTR for EMAIL B. It is evident that EMAIL A is in the lead.

9. 9
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WHAT WAS YOUR END GOAL? DID YOU
ACHIEVE IT? WHY OR WHY NOT
WHO IS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE?
My end goal was for my audience to engage with my
article/website and to feel connected with me as someone they
could potentially trust with their business in the future.
Additionally, I wanted to increase my website traffic and expose
the recipients to my writing/blog posts. Since I generated a 23%
CTR in total between the two ads, I achieved my goal of engaging
my audience with my website. However, it is not as high as I
wanted it to be. I am confident that with some more website
editing and content re-writing, I know I can increase the
percentage.
My target audience is business owners and business professionals
who are searching for marketing consultations. For the most part, I
selected people who had a marketing background or are in the
industry that I want to specialize in. The rest of the contacts I
selected were chosen for being small business owners who may
need some marketing insights to boost their business.

10. 11
10
WHAT MAKES A COMPELLING EMAIL FROM A
DIGITAL MARKETER?
WHAT WAS YOUR UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION
TO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE?
In today’s digital world, email is the leading tool in maintaining
personal connections between brands and their customers. People
check their emails every day. They receive hundreds of offers
throughout the day and it takes a unique and well thought out
message to influence them to open it. Email recipients are
searching for value and they won’t ”open” or “click” on emails that
will not benefit them. As HubSpot confirms, businesses that blog
obtain twice as much website traffic from email compared to those
who don’t. This supports the notion that customers are more
likely to engage with content that brings value to them. Customers
want to learn something, and if you are able to solve your
customers’ problems and know what they need, you are well on
your way to long-term success.
My unique selling proposition was to acknowledge the current
global situation in a soft tone. I wanted my audience to feel
relatable to me and to trust my next words. By speaking about the
current challenging situation, it gives the opportunity to have
something in common with the recipient. My introduction served
as “one on one” with my recipient and once I had engaged them
with reading the first few sentences, it was only adequate to
include my CTA to continue the conversation.

11. IN A FEW SENTENCES, WHAT DO EMAIL MARKETERS DO WELL?
WHAT DO THEY DO POORLY?
EMAIL REFLECTION
Successful email marketers are relevant, personal, and interesting. An
example of a good email is one from Banfield. Pictured to the right, they
use a personal subject line (my dog’s name: Nilo). Whenever I see an email
about my dog or anything pertaining to my personal life, I instantly open it.
Banfield uses personalization when sending emails and it is a great eye-
catcher. They are also relevant by including the new year “in 2020” since
that email was sent at the beginning of January. A successful email marketer
uses a unique call to action. “Ways for Nilo to wiggle” is creative while still
personal to the recipient.
Email marketers that do not perform well are those who are flashy and use
very general words when sending messages. An example of this is Coach
Outlet. They send constant messages about sales and promotions and
stating “70% off everything” loses the recipient’s interest when opening
emails. It loses the uniqueness of the brand by stating that everything is on
sale. There is a key difference in mentioning specific items but not the
entire store. In order to connect to your audience, you must be personal
and specific. Additionally, the subject line did not mention my name or any
previous purchases.

12. IF YOU WERE IN CHARGE OF AN EMAIL MARKETING PROGRAM, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR
STRATEGY FOR SEGMENTATION, PERSONALIZATION (OFFERS, MESSAGES, ETC.)?
EMAIL REFLECTION
An effective email marketer has a deep understanding of their customers. If I was in charge of an email
marketing program, my segmentation strategy would be to group customers who are at different stages in
their purchasing journey. For example, by tracking who just visited a beauty brand’s website for the first time,
we would be able to send emails that are about “Getting Started” and “Signing Up.” On the other hand, for
current loyal customers, we would specialize in sending email messages that start with “Running Low On
Your Dior Fragrance?” Segmenting customers is an essential part of email marketing because it allows us to
understand our customers’ behaviors. Consequently, the next step after segmentation is personalization.
My strategy for personalization is to keep track of life events such as birthdays, anniversaries, pregnancies,
retirements, etc. Emails sent to customers should highlight what is happening in their life at this exact
moment. Once an email marketer is able to connect with each person, then they will be heard by their
recipients. Otherwise, it will “just be another email” that has nothing to do with that person. Additionally,
offers and recommendations sent to customers should tie to purchasing behaviors. Offers sent should be
consistent and timely. Ultimately, it is essential to know when and why to send a message. When a message
is written with detail, it shows, and customers will appreciate this.