Treasure hunting in an email audit

Or why I’m testing a “well-oiled” system anyway.

I’ve been building some A/B tests on Klaviyo today.

Simple stuff: include a header menu in welcome emails or not. Use a long or short form in an abandoned checkout email - all seeking higher click and order rates.

I’m setting up these tests for a customer I’ve been working with for 5-6 years, whose KPIs have been consistently phenomenal. I’m not bragging, I’m quoting the data.

It all started when my client got a free Klaviyo audit from a different agency and in the findings, they had many suggestions for design tweaks. Change the left-aligned text to center-aligned, they said, the latter performs better.

On which metric does center-aligned text perform better, you may ask? Since it wasn’t in the findings, I figured this is probably about click and order rates.

Another suggestion was to revert an automated flow I A/B tested recently to the original version. However, the new version - the test winner - significantly improved order rates and shortened the decision time for customers. Maybe they didn’t check the flow’s history and suggested a 'best practice' without all the context. I decided to ignore this one.

It was a free audit, after all. Maybe they weren’t that committed to winning the customer over. And I’m not trying to make excuses for them though why would they waste everyone’s time with a job half done?

But here’s why I am writing about this today - why put a well-oiled, result-delivering system to a test based on a somewhat sloppy audit?

Because - assumptions and comfort.

The two biggest enemies of an email marketer in the constantly evolving world. Get too sure of yourself, and you won’t see the downfall until performance is already tumbling downhill.

Some of the audit findings challenged my assumptions about email layouts and content. The results we’re getting made me feel comfortable.

Was I falling into the trap?

Here’s the way out - go on a treasure hunt. There’s always something valuable to uncover in other people’s musings.

Test everything. Consider suggestions before dismissing them. Embrace the challenge and turn the critique into a win. Or gold.

Thanks for reading!

Until next time,

Diana