How do I send an A/B test campaign?

A/B Test campaigns allow you to test the subject line or email design of a campaign to determine what changes impact the recipients' engagement with the campaign.

You will find the A/B test feature on the Campaigns Dashboard. Follow the steps below to setup your A/B test campaign.

*Note: A/B test campaigns are available on Professional license or above.

How-To

Navigate to the Campaigns dashboard.
Click "Create Campaign" at the top-left corner of the page.
Name your campaign.
Choose A/B Test Email under "Campaign Type". This will generate an option to test Subject Lines or Email Designs. Choose whichever is applicable.
You may note that you are automatically editing Version A of your A/B test. There is no limit to how many versions you create for the test.
Use the Version drop-down to complete the setup for all of your different versions. Sender names and footers chosen for Version A will be the default for all subsequent versions unless changed.
*Note: Versions can be removed by choosing the Remove button. If you remove Version B then Version C will become Version B, etc.
Once you complete your setup for all planned versions hit "Save and Next.
You will be prompted to choose how you want to start your design for version A with the following options:
1. Start from Blank: Start in the drag-and-drop editor with no template.
2. Start from Paste: Paste previously created HTML to create your email design. This will bypass the drag-and-drop editor.
3. Start from Upload: Upload a previously created HTML file to create your email design. This will bypass the drag-and-drop editor.
4. Start from Template: Choose either a stock template, saved custom account template, or a template saved by your site admin available to all related sub-accounts to complete your design in the drag-and-drop editor.
If you've chosen to test Subject Lines you will only need to complete one version of the email design. If you've chosen to test email design you will be able to design each of your versions separately.
*Note: If your designs are similar with minimal changes, we recommend creating a default version as an Email Template. Be sure to "complete" that template so it will be available for selection under "Start From Template" > My Custom Templates.
Once you are done designing select "Save and Next".
Under the Contacts step you can choose one or more existing categories or segments. If you do not already have the appropriate segment you can build one from this page with the "Create a New Segment" button.
1. If applicable, also choose your exclusions or suppression lists.
Click Save & Next.
Use the Preview step to preview the rendering for all of your different email design versions. If you have email rendering credits (additional fee) you may preview rendering with specific email clients. You can also test dynamic content, merge tags, or see the online version of the campaign.
Click Next.
Use the Test step to test your content live. You will receive each version with 1 test (you do not need to send multiple copies). You MUST test your content before moving to the Schedule step.
In the schedule step you will choose your test distribution. You have a few options for your A/B tests:
1. You can distribute to a hard number of recipients or a percentage of your segment. For example, choosing 10 percent would send version A to 5% and version B to 5%. If you have a version C those percentages would change to 3.33%, etc. Use the View Details button to confirm.
2. Choose a manual or automatic winner. If you choose manual you will need to view the results of the initial test and manually send out the winning version. Automatic winners can be chosen based on opens, clicks, or purchase amount (Clickstream customers only). If you choose Automatic you must set a send time.
After your scheduling settings are complete, click Save.