Mini tutorial: How to A/B test email subject lines

If you want to crush it as an email copywriter…

Then you need to master email subject lines.

Why?

Because…

You could be the best copywriter in the world…

But if no one opens your email, you’re screwed!

But Brandon… A/B tests can sound complicated and confusing (and like a lot of work).

They sure do. I felt the same way as a beginner.

Thankfully, it’s never been easier to start testing than with beehiiv’s “Smart A/B Testing”.

Smart A/B tests let you send up to 4 subject lines to a sample of your subscribers for a few hours. Then whatever one does the best is selected as the winner and sent to the rest of your list. It’s brilliant (and an easy way to get 10-50% higher opens).

In this quick email, I’ll show you a mini tutorial on how to do a “Smart A/B Test” with beehiiv (to get up to 50% higher open rates)

But first, here are my highest opened subject lines of the past 180 days:

(By the way, do you notice how these 4 subject lines aren’t even that HOOKY or flashy? Like they’re not super crazy. But they clearly work, since they won the A/B tests — and got the highest opens of any of my emails from the past 6 months)

#1: Get my course for free

#2: Remove "writer" from your bio

#3: Here's the best copywriting niche (and why)

#4: How a depressing Christmas of 2018 changed my life

And here’s how to A/B test your subject lines in beehiiv:

1. Once you’re in beehiiv and you finish writing your email, head over to the “Email” tab.

2. Toggle on “A/B test.”

3. Write 2-4 subject lines.

4. Select the length of the test (I like to do 2-3 hours).

5. Select the sample size — % of your subscribers for the test. I like to do 30-40%.

Make sure to add a Preview Text (this will help increase open rates since a preview text is like a subheadline for your subject line (which is your main headline as an email copywriter).

Then, hit send and wait for the results.

Here are a few results from past emails.

(And don’t be scared when you get lower open rates during your test. That’s normal since it’s a small test window. If you normally get about 40% open rates (my average for daily newsletter), you should expect to see test open rates of about 15-25% within your 2-3 hour test period).

Look at the difference between my worst performer and my best performer:
16.73% vs. 24.46%.

The winner got me a 50% higher open rate from the loser! Case in point why you need to A/B test your subject lines.

Here’s another:

Another large discrepancy. 16.1% on the lowest vs. 23.65% on the highest.

The winner performed about 40% better than the loser.

So…

Whenever you write an email for a copywriting client…

NEVER write one subject line (whether you’re just writing emails in a Google Doc for them or you’re managing everything within software like beehiiv or Kit).

ALWAYS write at least 2. And if you’re using beehiiv, you might as well do 4 and increase the odds of an open.

Just remember…

If people don’t open your emails…

It doesn’t matter how good the copy is on the inside.

• No openers means no readers

• No readers means no buyers

• No buyers means no revenue

So optimize your subject lines.

Sure, it takes an extra minute. But, it could increase your performance by up to 50%.

-Brandon “the copy scientist” Storey

P.S. Did you enjoy this? Want me to do a tutorial on anything else about email copy, email marketing, or anything else? Reply to this email now and let me know what you want to learn!