# CNET simplified welcome email: opens 32% to 46%, clicks 12% to 21%

- Outcome: Won
- Page type: Email (Lead-gen)
- Elements: Email copy, Subject line, Page length
- Date shared: 2015-10
- Test run by: [CNET](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/cnet/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingexperiments.com/a-b-testing/cnet-welcome-send-test-results
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/cnet-welcome-email-simplified/

Over a series of tests, CNET replaced its long welcome email with simpler versions and saw open rate rise from 32% to 46% and clickthrough from 12% to 21%. CNET's email team ran the tests, and they were published by MarketingExperiments after a MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2015 talk. The gains come from several changes tested one after another, so no single change gets the credit.

## Result

**opens 32% to 46%, clicks 12% to 21%**

- Open rate rose from 32% to 46% across the sequence of tests.
- Clickthrough rose from 12% to 21%.
- CNET reported that each treatment improved both opens and clicks. The headline numbers cover the whole series, not one change.
- This was a bundled series of changes to content, subject line and ads, so the lift cannot be split between them.

## Control

A long welcome email that tried to tell new subscribers everything: four sections (product reviews, tech news, more newsletters, forums), an ad, and the long-standing subject line 'Welcome to CNET! Let's get started.'

## Variant

Five treatments tested in series: a short intro with one call to action to the homepage, an editor photo or an ad unit, a new subject line 'Thanks for joining! Let's get started.', a collage image, and a final version combining the winners with an ad and a block of high-traffic content.

## Why it likely won (our reading)

- One clear call to action gives new subscribers an obvious next step instead of four competing sections.
- A shorter email is quicker to scan, which matters most in the first contact after sign-up.
- The new subject line thanked the reader rather than greeting them, which may have felt warmer and lifted opens.

## Caveats

Changes were made across five treatments tested one after another, and the before and after figures cover the whole series. List size and duration were not shared, the data is from 2015, and CNET stressed the result was for its own brand.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we cut our welcome email down to a short intro and one call to action, then opens and clicks will rise because new subscribers can see the next step right away.
- Primary metric: Welcome email clickthrough rate
- Guardrail: Unsubscribe rate
- Guardrail: Ad revenue per send (if the email carries ads)
- Guardrail: Engagement with later emails
- Who should test it: Lead-gen, media and SaaS teams whose welcome email tries to cover everything. Change one element at a time if you want to know what worked; CNET's series only shows the combined effect.

---

Credit: CNET ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/cnet-welcome-email-simplified/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.