Let's explore a vital step in your communications process: testing your emails.  Why is this so important?  Well, it's happened to all of us. We craft the "perfect" email only to discover a typo or incomplete link after it's been broadcast to a large number of recipients.

This feature tip contains the steps you should take to test your email campaigns before you send them out.

Voodoo offers multiple ways to test emails.  You can Preview the email from the email template, send a test email right from the template editor (Sales Magic Users), or build an actual campaign to send the email to a test list you have created.  These are all useful features to get you through the creative and testing processes.

By far the best way to test your emails (we cannot stress this enough) is the last of those 3 options.  Always send an actual Test Campaign to your test list (including yourself) before sending to a larger group. This will allow you (and/or other team members) to click through to check your video, survey or trackable links, your tracking stats, etc.  You'll receive the real campaign email, see exactly what your contacts will see, and make sure everything is working perfectly.  It's that easy to avoid heartbreak and embarrassment!

Voodoo Feature #222 - Previewing and Testing Emails

eVideo Launcher users: to create your internal test list and fully test your email templates follow these steps:

1)  Login to your account and access the Email Template.

2)  On Step 2.  Choose Recipients, select to enter your test contacts one at a time.

3)  Name your contact list so you can easily identify it as your permanent test list (i.e. Testing, Testing Only).

4)  You’ll use this small test list to send your campaigns to yourself and/or other colleagues so enter your testers' email information (email, first name, last name, company name). Click Next.

5)  Add any personalization you would like to test.  Click Next.

6)  Preview your email and launch your test email by clicking Send Campaign.

7)  Check your email for typos and be sure to test all the links.

8)  Once tested you can send out your broadcast to your larger group of recipients.

Campaign Manager users: to create your internal test list and fully test your email templates follow these steps:

1)  Access your Contact Lists and click Add New Contact List.

2)  Name your contact list so you can easily identify it as your test list (i.e. Testing, Testing Only).  Click Save.

3)  Click on the Contacts tab and Click Add Contact.  Enter the details for your testers and click Add.

4)  After you have created your email template (and saved it), from the template you can first preview the email.  Click the Preview Email button to see how your email looks and how your embedded links are performing. These previews contain your active links, so you can test and make sure each link will take your recipients right where you intend them to go.

5)  You can also Send Test Email directly from the email template.  Just click the Send Test Email button to send yourself a copy of the template to check its content, formatting and video link, as delivered to your in-box. Note: This test email is NOT identical to an actual campaign broadcast: 

It does not have a reference Contact List to access for the RecipientFirstName and other custom fields.   

Because of this missing active content, the test is more likely to get identified as junk or SPAM.

The test delivery will NOT be monitored in your tracking stats. It’s for your reference only.

6)  Because step 5 will not give you an email that is identical to the one broadcasted, it's important to send an identical one to your test list.  Access the Campaign Wizard or Build/Send Campaign and send your email template to your internal test list to see exactly what your recipients will see.

7)  Check your email for typos and be sure to test all the links.

8)  Once tested you can send out your broadcast to your larger group of recipients.

After creating your internal test list one time, you will use it over and over again.

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Voodoo has performed numerous strategic A/B/C tests to determine what Email Styles, and what type of embedded links produce the best results.

Even experienced marketers assume “text-only” emails will be perceived as boring and, therefore, less likely to generate click-throughs.  Voodoo statistics from hundreds of campaigns confirm the opposite is true.  The key is keeping text-based emails brief and authentically personal, so they don’t feel like a form email.  

We tested the following three Email Styles:

Personal Email—similar to a note you’d receive from a friend.  It contains a personal-sounding subject line, merged recipient first name, text-only content, with an overall casual tone.

Semi-Personal Email—like a note you’d receive from a friend, but with a bit more “professional” graphic content.  It contains a personal-sounding subject line, merged recipient first name, text with some HTML graphic content, with an overall casual tone.

Commercial Email—like most commercial emails you receive from established companies, with some added personalization.  It contains a promotional subject line, merged recipient first name, all HTML graphic content, with an overall promotional tone.

Are text links, video play buttons or product photos more likely to encourage click-throughs?  

Statistics: Click-Throughs by Email Type and Link Type

Personal Email

43%     Text link (within body copy)
31%     Video Play Button (showing frame from video)
26%     Product Photo only

Semi-Personal Email
39%     Text link
34%     Video Play Button
27%     Product Photo

Commercial Email
37%     Video Play Button
36%     Text link
27%     Product Photo

Comment: This appears to indicate that people respond most readily when the Style and type of link are consistent.  Text-based Personal Emails would normally and naturally include a text link, while HTML-heavy Commercial Emails are expected contain a video play graphic.  

Which type of email gets the best Deliverability and Response rates

(i.e., Opens and Click-throughs to watch related videos)?

Average Deliverability Rates* (as a percentage of total sends):
97%     Personal Email
93%     Semi-Personal Email
86%     Commercial Email

*This drop in deliverability is caused by the inclusion of additional “active” HTML content/links and promotional keywords.  ISP algorithms identify this content as typically “commercial,” and therefore likely to be spam or junk.

Comment: Personal Email is the clear winner here, as “lighter” HTML content is more ISP-friendly and likely to make it all the way to the in-box of the recipient.

Average Open Rates (as a percentage of total sends):
27%     Personal Email
23%     Semi-Personal Email*
8%       Commercial Email**

*The drop for Semi-Personal Email is directly attributable to the drop in deliverability rates, as the tested subject lines were identical to their Personal Email counterparts
**The Commercial Email drop is much larger than the drop in deliverability rates and therefore indicates a greater skepticism and lack of response to email which is perceived as promotional, even when coming from an approved sender

Average Click-Through Rates (as a percentage of total opens):
11%     Personal Email
9%       Semi-Personal Email
2%       Commercial Email

Voodoo’s Conclusion:  Keep it Personal!

Our statistics make it clear that the most effective way to communicate is the one that feels the most personal, i.e., a Personal Email with a Text Link to your video.  The Personal Email produces the highest Deliverability, Open and Click-Through rates.  What’s more, using this style of email, using a simple Text Link to your video is likely to produce 12% higher click-through than the next-best option. 

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