Of 18 measured lead-gen email tests, 15 won, 1 lost and 2 were flat, and the most useful pattern is that emails win when they are more relevant to the reader and make the next step easier.
Most results come from case studies by MarketingExperiments, MECLABS Institute and the companies themselves, such as HomeAdvisor, CNET and EnergySage.
Several report a winner without a figure, so lean hardest on the ones with numbers.
The flat tests are worth a look too: two attempts to win by making a newsletter shorter did not give a reliable lift.
What a lead-gen email has to do
A lead-gen email has one job: move a subscriber or prospect one step closer to becoming a qualified lead.
That might be an open, a click to a content offer, a registration or a completed verification.
So the tests here measure opens, clicks, opt-ins and registrations, and the best ones tie the email to a result further down the funnel.
Most-tested changes on the email
Relevance and personal touches
HomeAdvisor sent follow-up emails matched to the reader's project and got 2x conversion rate and 1.5x clickthrough rate.
The Global Leadership Summit named the nearest host site in the email for +87 registrations vs control.
Small personal details also helped. Apollo Education Group put the subscriber's name in a birthday email preheader for +9% open rate, and EnergySage named a team member in a verification email for +3.98% approved properties.
Newsletter length and layout
Newsletter content is the most-tested area, and the results point both ways.
HomeAdvisor saw a higher click rate with five articles instead of three, while MarketingSherpa got a higher clickthrough after cutting article summaries from a weekly newsletter.
HomeAdvisor also called moving the conversion module to the upper left a big success, with no figure given.
Biggest measured wins
A MarketingExperiments test added 'Only 5,000 copies' to a free DVD offer and conversion went from 0.0189% to 0.115% (+508%).
Another found several content offers in one rented-list email gave +197% email capture rate for the most qualified prospects.
MarketingExperiments also saw +104% clicks from a clearer value and lower-commitment CTA.
CNET simplified its welcome email and open rate went from 32% to 46%, with clickthrough from 12% to 21%.
In a MECLABS Institute test, adding member benefits to a donation email gave +32% revenue per donation and +16% total revenue.
Tests that lost or were flat (and why)
The one loss is the mirror image of that win.
MECLABS Institute tried a donation email focused on one value point, and all four treatments underperformed the control.
For this audience, the full list of benefits did the persuading, and cutting it to one point removed reasons to act.
Both flat tests are about length. A shorter monthly newsletter had slightly higher CTR, significant in only 1 of 3 months.
In a short vs long newsletter copy test there was no significant difference in unique clicks, though the short version got exactly 2x total clicks.
The lesson: shorter is not a win on its own.
Pick the metric that matters (unique clicks, not total clicks) and run the test over more than one send.
An email checklist built from the results
- Match the content to the reader. Project-matched and location-matched emails had some of the clearest wins.
- Make the value and the ask clear. A clearer value and lower-commitment CTA doubled clicks.
- Give real reasons to act. Member benefits won; a single value point lost.
- Add honest urgency where it is true. A limited quantity line lifted orders +508%.
- Use small personal touches. A name in the preheader or a named sender both won.
- Be clear on time and place. MarketingExperiments got +2.7% unique clickthrough and +45% total clickthrough by adding UTC start time to a webinar invite.
- Don't assume shorter wins. Two length tests were flat; test it on your own list.
Tools to run these tests
Most email platforms have a built-in A/B split for subject lines and content.
For results that matter to a lead-gen team, track the step after the click, such as registrations or qualified leads, not just opens.
Ferguson Enterprises found that product images behind a Black Friday email headline tied after the usual 4-hour read, and the treatment only won with more data.
Give each test enough sends before you pick a winner.
Questions
What should you A/B test first in a lead-gen email?
Start with relevance and clarity. In these results, emails matched to the reader's project or location, and emails with a clearer value and lower-commitment call to action, gave some of the biggest wins.
Do shorter emails get more clicks?
Not reliably. A shorter monthly newsletter was significant in only 1 of 3 months, and a short vs long copy test showed no significant difference in unique clicks.
Some shorter emails won, so test it on your own list.
Which metric should a lead-gen email test use?
Use the step that matters to your funnel, such as registrations, opt-ins or qualified leads.
Opens and total clicks can move without a real change in leads, as the short vs long copy test showed.
MarketingExperiments