Recently, NichePublisher.biz has been experimenting with MailChimp’s built-in AI tools to see if we can get some better ideas to boost our overall newsletter open rate. So let me start by saying that we are getting more and better ideas, and are actively using them.
Here’s one strategy that boosted our click-through rate by 300% without changing the text inside the newsletter.
Our strategy was to use MailChimp’s new AI tools, which rewrite the subject line and preview line and preselect the audience of non-openers. So, it was easy to edit and click to test.
So how did AI do?
Well it’s not as accurate as a split test, since we sent the first email on a Friday and the second on a Sunday. However, neither of these times are ideal for business newsletter performance according to data from Hubspot.
Having say that, the open rate did improve by 50%, moving from 19.8% to 30.8%, not a bad lift.
What was more remarkable is that with NO changes to the email itself, the click rate doubled, from 1.1% to 2%, a lift of 300%. Maybe it was the Sunday send, maybe it was the AI subject line. We’ll definitely be using this strategy again.
Here’s what I wrote, and AI wrote:
Email 1:
Subject line: How much can you earn from a newsletter?
Preview text: Solopreneur James Cridland explains his radical model.
Send time: Friday, 12.25 p.m. EDT
Total sent: 10,632
Opens: 19.8% or 2105
Clicks: 1.1% or 116
Email 2 – AI generated, Sent only to non-openers
Subject line: Discover the earning potential from Newsletters 📈
Preview text: Lessons from James Cridland, newsletter as a business guru
Send time: Sunday, 2:40 p.m. EDT
Total Sent – 8610 non-openers
Openers: 11% or + 947
Clicks: 2% or + 172
New total: Total after adding second send to non-openers with the AI-generate headline
Openers: +44% lift
Clicks: +140%% lift