Postal mail isn’t doing so hot these days. Handwritten letters are becoming a thing of the past. But does that mean features of a physical letter should be discarded as well? For example, the Johnson Box that Frank Johnson created in 1941, which is a brief synopsis of what to expect in the letter. And [...]

If you’ve been doing email marketing for over a week, you’ve probably heard all about split testing: why you should, easy split tests you can implement today, split testing your web forms and calls to action, and so on. If people liked email as much as they like cats, “test it!” would be our “I [...]

You may have heard about the Unbounce app, which was introduced some time ago. For those that were already using Unbounce, this was great news. But for those that were not familiar with Unbounce, and perhaps maybe still not, it may not be as obvious why this is so awesome. How do real people use [...]

When is it a good idea to use images to promote what you’re selling in your email marketing campaign?

Email Marketing Reports described how image-heavy emails can outperform the alternatives in the right circumstances and with the right execution. This may not sound surprising, but the key phrase here is “in the right circumstances and with the right execution”.

We looked at a number of customers who were using images in a really smart way, and thought we’d take a moment to share these examples with you.

The Tangibles: Images of Your Product

If you’re selling something tangible, you want to show your subscribers a picture of it. An email from Bruder Toys is a good example of this:

Bruder Toys includes the name of the toy and price, so those that click through will most likely be interested in buying the product in the picture.
It’s easy to snap a picture of what you’re selling and insert that image in your message, but what about if you aren’t selling a tangible product?

The Less Tangibles: Using Images of Results

If you don’t have a physical product you’re selling, you can still use images in an effective way.

Think about what you’re trying to sell, maybe it’s even just an idea you’re selling, and then think of how you can provide an image of the end result that comes from using your idea.

Let’s look at some different approaches:

1. If you’re offering a service

Interior decorator Faith Sheridan uses email to connect with potential clients. Her end result is how a room will look after she’s finished working on it:

Subscribers will get to see her work and there are even links to see the before and after pictures.

You want subscribers to see samples of your work so you can increase your credibility and allow them to get to know you more. This will make them more likely to hire you!

2. If you’re giving them something to try

Southern Plate provides recipes for their subscribers. This email shows an image of an end result from one of their recipes:

It’s easy to hook subscribers when the end product looks so delicious! Southern Plate sets it up so the recipe isn’t actually in the email, so subscribers need to click through to their site in order to get the recipe.

You want subscribers to be compelled to do what your email is telling them to do, so show them the reward they’ll get for completing the task.

3. If you want them to join a program

Sixpacknow.com wants subscribers to follow their training program to get great abs. Their solution? Include an image of someone who had successful results from using the program:

People see the results they want for themselves, and are compelled to join the program. Using before and after pictures would also work well here.

You should take pictures depicting the before and after results of joining your program so subscribers can clearly see why the program will benefit them.

Keep in mind that your results don’t need to be just pictures. You can also show images of graphs and charts that will provide a visual for the success that you or someone you worked with had.

Use Split Testing to Find What Works for You

You can split test your broadcast messages to find out how images impact your emails. Split testing allows you to send different versions of your message to randomly selected groups. After sending it out, you will then need to determine what worked best.

You can use the QuickStats page to get an “at a glance” idea of how the message performed. Click tracking records the number of clicks within your message, along with the number of times each URL was clicked.

If you have Analytics set up, you can get a more in depth idea of how your message performed. You can even set up sales tracking to see how much money each message brought in. This will allow you to see more clearly what works best with your subscribers.

Remember These Tips When Using Images

When you use HTML emails, you want to make sure you’re doing the following:

• Link to a web version of your message- Broadcasts can be archived so you can use the direct URL to your message and insert it at the top of the email. That way subscribers can view your message in a web page in case they can’t see everything in their email client correctly.
• Make your message comprehensible without images- Make sure your messages are still easy to follow even when the images can’t be seen, as some email clients will have images turned off by default. You should use alternative text for your images so subscribers will still know what’s going on.
• Include a plain text version- Always include a plain text copy of your message. If a subscriber cannot receive HTML messages, it will automatically revert to the plain text copy.

Think About How Images Can Help Your Emails

Keep in mind that images can improve your emails “in the right circumstances and with the right execution.” Can you sell your idea with images? What other ways can you think of for incorporating images effectively in messages?

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Your web form needs to convince visitors to your website to sign up to your mailing list. Should you take the opportunity to get to know them more by asking them more questions, or will having a lot of fields to fill out just scare subscribers away? It’s a hard question, and the answer usually [...]

How do you know you have the best web form for your email marketing campaign? You might think you know what works best, but testing will let you know for sure and give you a better idea of what your subscribers want. One of our customers in the sports car business decided to set up [...]

Did you know split testing is actually part of everyday life? It can happen when you try on different outfits. Or if you try a different ingredient in your recipe. Or maybe you’re comparing ways to tell people you want to take one of those vacations to the moon so you know how you should [...]

Question: Would you ask a visitor to do something right away, or after they’ve had some time to get to know you?

Pop-up type forms make this something you need to consider. These forms can greatly increase your subscribers for your email marketing campaign. You can set how much time elapses before the form comes up, but the question is: how much time should that be?

Split testing allows you to set up a controlled experiment within your account to test and see when you should have your form come up. We had a couple volunteers try out this experiment, and we’ll be discussing their results and why it may or may not work for you.

Time to set up some tests

Karen Baker runs the email campaign for this South Africa travel company. She has a pop-over form set up on the site to come up immediately:

She decided to set up a split test to see if this was optimal, so she also set up a form that would appear after a delay of 30 seconds.

After several weeks, we took a look at the results. The form that came up immediately had a 45% higher subscription rate than the other form, making it the winner. Satisfied with these results, this is the form that is on her site now.

Tony Kummer runs the email campaign for this site that has online resources for teaching kids about Christianity. He set up a pop-over form on Ministry-To-Children.com:

His pop-over comes up within 10 seconds of landing on the page. Like Karen, he decided to test how a form that comes up after a delay would perform in comparison, and he set up a form to come up after 40 seconds.

Again, we let the test run for several weeks before looking at the results. Tony ended up having similar results in that the form that comes up shortly after landing on the page was the winner with a 50% higher subscription rate.

What does this mean?

Having a shorter delay definitely brings in more subscribers for these examples. This may be because people don’t stay on a particular page that long, as they’ve found and clicked on a link they’re interested in before they’ve even seen the form. Another reason could be they are more likely to close out a form that comes up after they’re already looking at content, and don’t want to be taken away from that page.

It may also just be the visitors are prepared to fill out something that pops up shortly after they land on a page, especially if they’re already familiar with the company and know they want to be on the mailing list.

This is why it’s good to have an inline form as well. The inline form should be immediately visible upon landing on the page, and if possible, on all pages of your website.

When might this not work as well?

While having the form come up immediately works well for our examples, there are some situations it wouldn’t works as well.

1. The page doesn’t have a lot of information. If the web page doesn’t have a lot of content on it, people aren’t going to be staying on the page long. They’ll be finished reading through the site before the form is scheduled to pop up.
2. You’ve got some convincing to do. If you’re marketing a new idea or a new product, you may want to let visitors read over your information a bit asking them to commit to your mailing list.
3. Required reading is your goal. Some businesses only want subscribers that have stayed on the site for a certain amount of time and read all the good stuff that’s up there. After enough time has elapsed, then they get the mailing list offer.

Do a split test to find what works for you!

Does your pop-up come up immediately or do you have a delay? Have you tested delays for your pop-ups? Why do you think your pop-up timing is important?

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Take a look at that last promotion you sent. Go ahead, open it up.

How is your subject? Interesting enough to open? How about your call to action? So intriguing enough that you want to click it?

Good! But opens and clicks only measure interest. They’re not your end goal.

Your goal is to make sales. It’s the revenue from customer purchases that keeps you afloat. So a broadcast’s true worth can be measured in the sales it generates.

The trick is finding out how to put the message together in a way that prompts the most purchases. With a little setup, you can do this right in your AWeber account.

Step 1: Set Up Sales Tracking

First, you’ll need to make sure you’re tracking the purchases subscribers are making in response to each broadcast.

You can do this with sales tracking. If you’ve already set this up, skip to step 2. If you haven’t yet, head over to our Knowledge Base and follow these steps.

Once you’re ready, it’s time for…

Step 2: Tweak Your Promotional Broadcast

Start with your original broadcast design. The goal is to see if a different version will sell more, so you’ll need to create that other version.

To get started, take a look at:

• Your call to action. Is your design eye-catching enough? Would different words be more compelling? Should it move above the fold (the point where readers need to scroll to see more)?
• Your text-to-image ratio. Experts recommend a blend of 60% text to 40% images to illustrate your message while avoiding spam traps.
• Your preheader. Do you have a whitelisting request? A link to your newsletter online? An unsubscribe link?
• Your format. Are you using the best layout for your content? Or should you try one of these options instead?
• Your images and copy. Are you presenting your product or service in the best possible light? Or would your readers respond better to something else?

Step 3: Split Test For the Winning Design

To figure out which design will generate more sales, use the broadcast split testing feature in your account. This sends each version to a randomly selected, equally sized audience so you’ll get the most accurate results.

After the broadcasts go out, follow the QuickStats for each version to keep track of sales. (Just click on the subject on the Broadcast page to see how they’re doing.)

Once you have the winning version, you know what design to use for future promotions!

How Likely Are You to Follow These Steps?

Does setting up sales tracking and a split test sound like something you’re likely to do?

If it does, what changes do you think you’ll test? We’d love to hear about your results!

If not, what’s standing in your way?

While at SXSW 2010 in Austin, TX last month, I had the chance to meet a number of businesses using AWeber to deliver their email marketing.

One of the people I met was Chris Garrett, a new media consultant and longtime blogger and email marketer.

We sat and talked about what Chris has learned about email marketing and what he’s doing with his campaigns.

Today, I’d like to share two excerpts from our talk with you.

“What Do You Test In Your Email Marketing?”

In this video, Chris shares:

• Why he doesn’t use popover forms as a list building tool, even though other users have had success with them.
• What he tests in his email marketing campaigns.
• The value of looking at indirect or long-term metrics in addition to direct/short-term ones.

“How Do You Use Autoresponders?”

In this video, you’ll learn:

• Why incentives like ebooks don’t always yield quality long-term subscribers (even though they can help build your list).
• Why an ecourse may not be the best marketing use of autoresponders.

Learn From Other Email Marketers Using AWeber

See how…

• Ramit Sethi uses email to build a community.
• Chris Guillebeau establishes trust and fosters relationships with email.

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