Want better results from your email marketing?

According to the 2007 “Email Marketing Benchmark Guide” Survey conducted by marketingSherpa, you should test the words first. That’s because the email tests that give the highest ROI are about copy performance.

Landing-page copy tests scored best. An estimated 43.2 percent of those surveyed gave it a ‘high ROI’ rating. The A/B testing of email offers ranked second (40.7%). Subject-line tests were a close third (40 percent).

But don’t overlook the importance of graphic design. An estimated 34.4 percent of email marketers said A/B testing the email creative (images and formatting) delivers a high ROI. And 33.6 percent gave the same rating to landing-page creative test. So testing design elements can make a big difference to your bottom line, too.

You may be tempted to ditch email testing to invest in sexy Web 2.0 technologies instead.

Don’t–email is too valuable.

In fact, MarketingSherpa reported that 40 percent of B2C marketers and 35.6 percent of B2B marketers see email’s impact as increasing significantly. That may be surprising news–but it’s certainly good news too.

Source: July 2007 Entrepreneur Magazine