A site that sells pet medications was promoting a
homeopathic product, Problem Dog Solution, formulated
to tackle hyperactivity, disobedience or aggression
in dogs. An email campaign targeted at the subscribers
of the site was to be launched, and The Conversion Multiplier
was called upon to optimize its impact.
Testing an email campaign prior to launch is always
desirable. In this case it became doubly so because
the market was extremely niche: (a) dog owners (b) willing
to try a herbal remedy (c) purchase online (d) without
the requirement of a vet recommendation or prescription.
The aim of the test was to track:
The Conversion Multiplier team shortlisted 6 factors
to test on the emails and 4 additional factors to test
on the landing page of the site.
Testing factors for the emails:
1. Subject Line: What you say in
your subject line is the basis of a spot decision
to open your mail or not. How do you hook your prospect
with 50 characters or less? 6 possible alternatives
were tested:
a. A NATURAL remedy for your disobedient dog! (Control)
b. Is your dog hyperactive and out-of-control?
c. Homeopathic leash for your highly-strung dog!
d. How to tame your wayward dog.
e. Turn your aggressive dog into a docile pet.
f. Does your dog hump every visitor to your house?
2. From Line: The content of the
From line (or the sender's identity) can decide whether
your mail is read or lands up in the trash can. While
prospects were familiar with the site owner Nancy
Richards' name, the From Line could also serve to
describe the email content:
a. Nancy Richards (Control)
b. Nancy's Dog Bulletin
3. Day of Mailing: The performance
of your email campaign can vary significantly depending
on the day of the week in which you send the email.
Based on anecdotal evidence, the website management
team knew that Tuesdays and Thursdays were generally
the best days for sending emails to their list - but
they did not know which of these 2 days would work
best for this campaign. So we decided to test both:
a. Tuesday (Control)
b. Thursday
4. Copy Length: Do readers switch
off halfway through a long email, or are they keen
to receive maximum information about a product they
might want to buy? Two versions of the email copy
were tested:
a. Short Copy (Control)
b. Long Copy
5. Product Image: What impact would
including an image of the product in the email have
on sales? The original email creative prepared by
the website management team did not have a product
image. We decided to test whether adding a product
image would increase response:
a. Image not present (Control)
b. Image present
6. Follow-up Emails: We tested whether
sending a follow-up email a few days after the initial
email promotion would increase sales:
a. Follow-up Emails Not Sent (Control)
b. Follow-up Emails Sent
The landing page factors were:
1. Headline: Does a dog owner's
head rule or her heart? Two headlines were tested
- one emphasizing the major benefits of the product
and the other having an emotional appeal.
a. Benefit-oriented (Control): "Turn Your
Unruly, Disobedient or Oversexed Dog into a Lovable
and Obedient Pet, in Just a Few Weeks, WITHOUT Punishment,
Harmful Drugs, Side Effects or Change of Personality."
b. Emotional: "Is Your Dog Unknowingly Hyperactive
and Badly Behaved despite the love and affection
you shower on it? Here's a Safe and Natural Way
to Improve its Behavior WITHOUT punishment or harshness."
2. Price: Price always has a large
impact on conversions and revenues - so we tested
3 separate prices:
a. $41.95
b. $37.95
c. $29.95 (Control)
3. Offer: An attractive offer can
be hard to resist. Two variations of this factor were
tested:
a. Buy 2 and get 1 free offer present
b. Buy 2 and get 1 free offer not present (Control)
4. Urgency: Would a short sale period
urge people to place orders quickly, or would a longer
stretch of time work better? To measure the impact
of a limited time offer, two variations were selected:
a. 7-day sale (Control)
b. 3-day sale
