English
When attracting attention in messages by email, the usual test elements are often the moment of sending, the subject line, audience segmentation, the copy used, the design and call to action. In this process these elements are tested within a certain percentage of the total test file. Ultimately, such a test procedure should lead to informed decisions about which combination of elements would bring the two success factors for effective email marketing together, namely the creation of optimal relevance for the recipient and the optimization of the approach.
The combination that scored best is then processed to the addresses in the database, assuming that the response of the test group is sufficiently representative and the compound content at that time is relevant for each recipient. Does this actually achieve the maximum return? And could the duration of valuable contact time be increased?
From static to dynamic content
Dynamic content is the starting point of the next generation of email marketing: Pixylon, allowing to provide email campaigns with dynamic and current content in real time. This technique ensures that your email content is adjusted real-time, based on the time, location and the (mobile) device that is used to open your email.
Previously the test results determined the composition of the communication and content within the static email message, whereas now the moment of opening (or reading) the email becomes the determinant. Because of this the receiver occupies an even more central role, and it will be possible to solely offer relevant content to the specific receiver within a mailing optimized in real-time. The value of your email marketing efforts will increase significantly and permanently.
Real-life case
For the most prominent discount site in the Netherlands, OMG/Mail Media’s used its coverage to recruit new members. Because the discount site offers discounts in different categories such as hotels, restaurants and shopping, real-time A/B testing was conducted with Pixylon to find out which category lead to the highest number of subscribers. For the first 20,000 recipients the categories in the mail are randomly interspersed. In this process the number of clicks by category are recorded and in this way the highest scoring category is determined, which is automatically displayed in the remaining recipients of the same mailing. After the mailing the reports and the statistics showed that the category ‘restaurants’ led to the highest number of subscriptions.
Based on profile data supplemented with GeoIP (geographical targeting by IP) the deal of the day was shown through the available XML feed in real time, depending on where and when the email was opened.
- Dynamic Imaging for location (real-time personalization of images in the email);
- Deal tailored to division / region based on GeoIP;
- Every day the latest deals are shown;
- The remaining period that the deal is available is shown in real-time at the time of opening. This is done to create urgency;
- The amount of times people used the deal is displayed in real time. This to reinforce the “me too” effect;
- Real-time optimization of category and deals shown.
Results
The click through rate of the dynamic email is more than three times higher than that of the static email. Since the click to sales rate in this case is 6.7 times higher than that of the static email, the conclusion is that not only the volume of clicks raised considerably, but also the value of these clicks increased.
Another notable difference in the conversion of the dynamic mailing as compared to the static email is the constant influx of new members. Because the daily deals were shown on a daily basis and these also depended on the location where the email was opened, the content remained continuously relevant. After a launch in January 2011 and March 2011 the influx of members and spin-offs are shown as follows:
- January 4,773 first mailing sent
- February 515 spin-off mailing January
- March 5,509 second mailing sent
- April 993 spin-off mailing January and March
- May 222 spin-off mailing January and March
- June 11 spin-off mailing March
- July 8 spin-off mailing March
As shown in this overview, the months of April, May, June and July generated new members as a result of the mailing that was sent in March. Generally in static emails there are no more clicks to register after 10 days. In the case of dynamic email there were still conversions to record after two months, besides clicks.
Conclusion
Once dynamic content is used and the content of the email is more relevant to the recipient, and the email is kept relevant, this leads to higher conversion rates and greater durability of the moment of contact. This contrasts with static email where the content is not appropriate to the situation wherein the mail is opened / read.
Source: DDMA / OMG Mailmedia
