There is a variety of tips and guidelines to optimise email marketing in this blog. One of the best optimisation measures however remains simply to test what works best with users. We have compiled 50 factors which you can test in email marketing.

  1. Send time (date and time)
  2. Send frequency (how often do you send emails?)
  3. Formulation, length and tone of the subject line
  4. Designed in HTML or text mail
  5. Content of the pre-header
  6. Sender name / address
  7. Height of the header graphic
  8. Image personalisation or consistent graphic in header
  9. Different background colours
  10. Social media buttons at the top or bottom of the email
  11. Design of the social media buttons (shape, size, official logos…)
  12. Table of contents as navigation or not
  13. Casual or formal salutation
  14. Use personal data (e.g. surname, company, position) or generic salutation
  15. Use editorial to introduce email or not
  16. Length of editorial
  17. Number of columns in the body text
  18. Length of body text
  19. Highlight text parts or consistent formatting
  20. Self-created or curated content or the right mixture of both
  21. Content exclusively for email recipients or from website
  22. Bullet points or flow text
  23. Focus on an individual product or a range of products
  24. Order of products in the newsletter (e.g. new ones at the top)
  25. Arrange products individually or in categories
  26. Number of products
  27. Change product names in the email
  28. Length of product descriptions
  29. Tone of the product description (commercial vs product features vs. benefits…)
  30. Different (product) images
  31. Different (product) image sizes
  32. Different Alt-texts with images
  33. Use testimonials or not or variety of testimonials
  34. Use animation
  35. Use video
  36. Individual content for different terminal devices (e.g. link to app shops)
  37. Special offers or full price or the right mixture of both
  38. Time limits for (some) offers (only until…)
  39. Length of the time limit
  40. Cross and upsells with reference to purchase history
  41. Incentives (discounts vs competitions vs free delivery…)
  42. Fixed or relative discounts (5 GBP or 5 %)
  43. Design of call-to-action elements
  44. SWYN of individual products / articles or the whole email
  45. Number of links in the email
  46. Integrate additional banners
  47. Landing page design
  48. Import email content from landing page or use different copy
  49. Different segmenting
  50. Individualised or uniform emails or different degrees or individualisation