There are two subjects that I don't write about or discussoutside of my family and closest friends: politics and religion.There are even some family members that I won't bring up thosetopics with because I already know how adamant they are intheir beliefs.

I've recently started engaging in a political activity: pollingbefore making a decision. How many presidential or congressionalcandidates have called their opponents flip- floppers, or beenaccused of setting policy decisions based on polling results?There's a nasty connotation to that process, and perhaps for ourleaders it's a justified taint. But when it comes to marketing, Ithink early polling makes perfect sense.

What is split testing?
For every emailmarketing campaign, there are two primary goals you should focus onaccomplishing: getting your target to open the email, and gettingthem to respond to your call to action (CTA). It's a very linearprocess and one where if you don't succeed with the first, thesecond doesn't really matter.

It's the same type of formula for door-to-door sales people. Ifyou can't get the homeowner to open the door, it doesn't matter howbeautiful your brochures are or how great the products and servicesthat you offer.

I have a good friend whose business, Green MarketDairy, harkens back to the early 1900s, when the milkman stilldelivered milk and butter right to your door. Ryan Richter, ownerand president, is successful delivering high-end milk and dairyproducts to middle- to high-income families, but he builds hisbusiness by knocking on doors every day.

Richter says “People have a preconceived notion aboutdoor-to-door sales. The minute they feel pressured to make adecision, they are gone.” The key to his success is his “nopressure, no long-term commitment” approach. He focuses on theemotional response people have to the memories of farm-fresh, homedelivery; he takes the business out of the equation.

“While I have a top-notch delivery process and state-of-the-artonline ordering system, that's not what we talk about,” Richtersays. Which, from my perspective, just reinforces my convictionthat it's never about the technology, no matter what you do, it'sabout the results. Even for Apple and Steve Jobs, it was neverabout the technology but rather what the consumer could do withit.

Email marketing door-to-door
There is alot of correlation between the door-to-door salesman and thehigh-tech marketer: both must get their target's attention and bothmust have that person take some kind of action. I know some of youare saying, “Yeah, the action most take is to shut the door in myface.” But isn't that preferable to someone not even opening thedoor or clicking on the email?

Someone saying “No” is someone taking action and making adecision. You may think it's the wrong action, but now you cancross them off your list and continue on or put them into a dripcampaign (I'll discuss that in a future column) and wait for thetiming to be better.

Keep the message simple
Have you everreceived an email from some business that has lots of bright colorsflashing all over the screen, different sized fonts and animatedGIFs, and your eye is so overwhelmed with the input that you reallydon't have a clue as to where to look or what they want you todo?

Sacrificing the message for the visual impact is a mistake. It'smy corollary to “It's not the technology, but what you do with it,”but in this instance the rule to remember is, “It's not thedelivery of the message, but what the message says.”

Split testing inpractice
For every email marketing campaign, focus onaccomplishing two primary goals: getting your target to open theemail, and getting them to respond to your call to action (CTA).It's a very linear process and one where if you don't succeed withthe first, the second doesn't really matter.

It's the same type of formula for door-to-door sales people. Ifyou can't get the homeowner to open the door, it doesn't matter howbeautiful your brochures are or how great the products and servicesthat you offer.

Split testing creates an email marketing campaign in twodifferent ways. Create two different subject lines and even havedifferent content, images and CTAs for the sole purpose of testingdifferent approaches. An email marketing system that allows you tosplit test will automatically send the alternative campaign to asmall percentage of your targeted database.

Let's imagine that your bi-monthly e-newsletter includes itemson safety for teen drivers, a piece on the value ofconducting a homeowner's inventory, and something about youragency's recognition of its success from a large carrier.

You create one version of the newsletter that highlights as thetop article the safe driving piece for teenagers, because thetiming coincides with when a lot of high school kids will be takingdrivers' education. Then you create a second version that kicks offwith the agency's award recognition, and both have subject linesthat target the primary article.

The typical split test marketing might send the first version to10% of your list and the second to a different 10% of the list. Thesystem would automatically send whichever version has the greatestopen rate to the remaining 80% of the contacts on the list.

Subject lines
Unfortunately, there isn't a “one subject line fits all” answer.Some studies find that including the company name or theindividual's first name elevates the open rate. Others say thatusing words like “free” or “huge savings” prompts opens.

Another school of thought looks to the length of the subjectline, recommending you keep it on the short side. I have even seena study that found—in spite of its association with spam—using allcaps in the subject line grabs attention from subscribers

So, like the politician, you poll your constituents to see whatfocus will better earn their attention. It's important to know yourintended audience. By having that understanding, you will be betterable to craft a subject line that will get more people to open itmore often. And keep testing. Don't expect to hit on the rightapproach the first time out. The more you can test with more thanjust two options, the better your results and the more youlearn.

Then once they open it, you can try different methods forengagement and getting them to activate a call to action, whateverit might be. Remember, getting your emails open and read cansometimes be more art than science and practice will definitelymake perfect. Someone saying “No” takes action and makes adecision. You may think it's the wrong action, but now you cancross him or her off of your list or wait for better timing.