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Tutorial: How to Begin A/B Testing Email Designs

Beefree team
Beefree team
Jun 17, 2016
Tutorial: How to Begin A/B Testing Email Designs
Tutorial: How to Begin A/B Testing Email Designs

Want to know which email campaigns catch your readers' eyes? Try this easy solution: A/B testing.A/B testing compares two versions of the same thing (subject headlines, email design layouts, CTA buttons, etc.) until you narrow down results for comparison. Not surprisingly, the data that results from the A/B testing is powerful, from open rates to click-through rates to conversions, and reveals howyour audience responds to changing variables. It's a great testing and optimization method to understand your audience's reaction to changes in calls-to-action, layout, and background color.Today, we'll be using Beefree to walk you through how to conduct A/B testing on your email design. If you're not already using Beefree, sign-up for our free plan!

How to decide what to test

Before designing your A/B campaign, determine what you want to test. To start, choose just one variable so your results are clear. Here are some examples of commonly tested variables:Design

  • CTA size and style. Full-width button or smaller? Green or red? Tall or short?
  • Layout. Single column or multiple?
  • Color scheme. White or gray background? Blue or green header text?
  • Image size or variety. Two product images or four? Still image or animated GIF?
  • Information amount. Include secondary content or not? Social media buttons or not? Nav menu or not?
  • Information placement. Social buttons at the top or bottom? CTA button mid-way through or at the end?

Content and Time

  • From line. Your business name or the name of an individual?
  • Subject line. Shorter or longer? Emoji or no emoji? Include "" language or not?
  • CTA language. "Claim your ebook now" or "Claim your free ebook"?
  • Body text. "Pushy" language or more subtle? Six sentences or three?
  • Send time. Will there be more opens at 8:00 AM or at 4:00 PM?

Best practices for A/B testing

As you prepare your campaign, do your research and be sure to follow some best practices, including:

  • Determine your success metric first. Open rates will make sense if you're testing subject lines; click-through or conversion rates for design changes. Know what you're evaluating in advance.
  • Test only one thing at a time. If you change more than one variable, you won't be able to tell what caused the change in response.
  • Test a big sample size. Understand how many responses you need to show statistical significance.
  • Send A and B versions at the same time. Time is a variable, so be consistent by having both campaigns be sent at the same time (to different groups)—unless send time IS your variable.

Today's Workshop: How to A/B test email design changes

Let's walk through how to A/B testing related to design by using this email example fromVerywell, a site that provides health advice and resources.

Verywell A/B testing

A/B Design Test 1: CTA button

Verywell'scurrent version of the email has no call-to-action button. What if we added one in the first module to see how it changed the click-through rate?For the "A" version: Let's first recreate the Verywell email as-is in the Beefree editor. Using the drag-and-drop functionality, the basic email outline from the Structure menu can be pulled, followed by the appropriate content blocks and content. Here's the first half of the email, i.e. our part "A" of the test:

Verywell A/B testing CTA button

For the"B" version,simply drag a CTA from the Content menu and format it.We chose a button that matches the header color, is nearly the width of the email, and uses some urgency in the text, "Check out the recipe now." So will this CTA increase clicks? Well, we'll just need to send our A/B test emails to find out!

Verywell A/B testing CTA button

Just a note: In Beefree, it's easy to save your email and edit it later. Look for the blue "Save Message" button in the upper right corner. This way, you can create one version—like your "A" version—and save it to edit later.

Verywell A/B testing BEE Pro save message

But the important thing to know about A/B testing is: you can also copy an entire email in Beefree to make modifications to your "B" version and save it. Look for the "Create a copy" command in the "Edit Message" drop-down menu. Creating a copy means you won't have to start from scratch to create a second version.

Verywell A/B testing BEE Pro Create a Copy

A/B Design Test 2: Layout

Without multiple columns, but how would Verywell's email perform if a version included the first module as a single column?Instead of arranging the header text and image side-by-side, let's update the layoutso the image appears above the text.Using Beefree's drag-and-drop functionality, changing the layout is super simple. Starting with the "A" version, we'll drag in a single-column structure as a destination for our content:

Verywell A/B testing layout

Then, grab the existing header text, and drag it down:

Verywell A/B testing layout

Finally,grab the image and drag that underneath the text:

Verywell A/B testing layout

That's it! The text re-flows and image resizes, so our email is automatically formatted nicely. Now, we can delete the empty two-column structure, and the new email is ready to go:

Verywell A/B testing layout

A/B Design Test 3: Background color

Even thoughVerywell's email has a nice, clean look with an all-white background, how would readers react if the first module has a bight background color that matches the brand's teal color?To change the background color, let'sselect the top row, then navigate to the Structure menu and update Content background. 

Verywell A/B testing BEE Pro color change

After that, let's update the text from black to white to make it readable, and our new module is ready to be tested:

Verywell A/B testing color change

Running any A/B tests? Go Pro!

It's easy to create different versions of an email and test which one performs best. Just remember to stick to one variable at a time in order to understand what your subscribers are reacting to at specific moments. Feel free to try our tips out and sign-up for our free plan!

Using Beefree with Marketo Engage 101

Learn how integrating Beefree with Marketo Engage can help you build high-converting, on-brand email campaigns— faster.
Luca Penati
Apr 4, 2025

What Are Email Security Gateways? A Guide to Secure Communications

Are your newsletters being marked as spam? Discover all you need to know about email security gateways and how to create emails that pass all the checks.
Beefree team
Mar 12, 2025

Getting Started with Beefree: A Guide to Streamlined Email and Landing Page Creation

Whether you're designing a newsletter, promoting an event, or driving a marketing campaign, ensuring that your emails and landing pages are visually appealing, engaging, and efficient to produce is no small task. That’s where Beefree comes in.
Beefree team
Feb 26, 2025

Using Beefree with Marketo Engage 101

Learn how integrating Beefree with Marketo Engage can help you build high-converting, on-brand email campaigns— faster.
Luca Penati
Luca Penati
4 Apr
2025

Marketo Engage is a powerful tool for marketing automation, but when it comes to email design flexibility, many users find its built-in editor limiting. Creating visually compelling, mobile-responsive emails often requires custom coding or workarounds, slowing down workflow and making it harder to execute high-quality campaigns efficiently.

That is where Beefree comes in. By integrating Beefree’s no-code, drag-and-drop email design platform with Marketo Engage’s advanced automation capabilities, teams can build professional, responsive emails without coding headaches and push them directly to Marketo in just a few clicks.

This article explores:

  • The challenges of designing emails directly in Marketo
  • How Beefree solves these pain points
  • A step-by-step guide to integrating Beefree with Marketo Engage
  • Common FAQs and troubleshooting tips

The challenges of designing emails directly in Marketo

Marketo’s built-in email editor is useful for basic templates but presents several limitations for marketers and designers.

  • Limited design flexibility – Customizing layouts, fonts, or interactive elements can be difficult without custom HTML or Marketo’s proprietary syntax.
  • Technical barriers – Advanced customizations often require HTML knowledge or an understanding of Marketo’s email template language, which may not be ideal for non-technical teams.
  • Time-consuming manual processes – Without a centralized style kit, teams may struggle to stay on-brand and often have to manually recreate headers, footers, and other reusable content blocks for each email, adding extra steps and slowing down production.

Due to these challenges, many marketing teams turn to external email builders like Beefree, FeedOtter, or Knak to improve design efficiency and automation.

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Why Beefree is the best email builder for Marketo Engage

While other external email builders like Knak and FeedOtter also integrate with Marketo, Beefree offers distinct advantages.

  • No-code drag-and-drop builder – Enables teams to design professional emails without writing any code.
  • Advanced design features – Provides more customization options beyond what Marketo’s built-in editor allows.
  • Mobile-responsive templates – Ensures emails adjust automatically for both desktop and mobile devices.
  • One-click export to Marketo – Simplifies the process of moving email designs directly into Marketo Engage.
  • Ability to update existing templates – Allows quick updates without requiring manual re-imports of HTML files.
  • Team collaboration – Enables teams to work together in real time, with built-in guardrails and approval controls to ensure error-free emails before exporting.

By integrating Beefree with Marketo, marketing teams eliminate design frustrations and manual email imports, allowing them to focus on high-performing email campaigns.

Learn more about Beefree's integration with Marketo Enagage [https://support.beefree.io/hc/en-us/articles/24837761625618-Export-Emails-to-Marketo]

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How to update existing email templates in Marketo

Instead of manually editing HTML, Beefree allows users to edit emails in Beefree and update existing ones in Marketo Engage with one click.

  1. Open the email design in Beefree.
  2. Make changes and click “Export.”
  3. Select “Update Existing” to overwrite the previous version in Marketo Engage.

This feature ensures that emails and templates remain up to date without requiring complex HTML edits or duplicates.

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Frequently asked questions on using Beefree with Marketo Engage

Can I use Beefree with other ESPs besides Marketo Engage?

Yes! You can connect Beefree to any ESP, MAP, or CRM including Mailchimp, HubSpot, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, and others. To learn more about how to integrate Beefree to your sending platform watch the video below: 

For a full list of our native integrations visit [https://beefree.io/integrations].

Are there any limitations when exporting Beefree emails to Marketo?

Yes, there are a few important limitations to be aware of:

  • Charset emojis are not supported in Marketo. Including emojis in your email content may result in an error. To prevent this, Beefree automatically replaces unsupported emojis with a placeholder. For more details, refer to the [Marketo documentation on emoji support].

Preheader text is not a native field in Marketo. However, Beefree includes it by embedding the preheader directly in the email's HTML code during export.

Additional resources and links

Why you should use Beefree with Marketo Engage

By integrating Beefree with Marketo Engage, marketing teams gain a faster, more flexible way to build high-converting, on-brand email campaigns—while leveraging Marketo’s powerful automation and analytics to track performance and optimize results.

  • Design responsive, professional emails with ease.
  • Maintain brand consistency across every message.
  • Collaborate efficiently and gain insights to improve campaign performance.

Ready to elevate your Marketo email marketing? Try Beefree today and streamline your entire email creation process.

Start your 15-day free Business trial today!

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What Are Email Security Gateways? A Guide to Secure Communications

Are your newsletters being marked as spam? Discover all you need to know about email security gateways and how to create emails that pass all the checks.
Beefree team
Beefree team
12 Mar
2025

Email is king when it comes to talking directly to your customers. Sure, we might send texts or share voice notes, but we all still check our emails. It’s how we keep in touch with work and the businesses we connect with. 

As an email marketer, this puts you in prime position to get your business’s brand right into the hands of your customers. The problem, however, is that you must first get past the metaphorical guard dog known as the secure email gateway (SEG). 

SEGs use sophisticated methods to identify and block spam and phishing emails from ever entering a person’s inbox. While your email newsletters should go through, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will. That’s why businesses need to know what a secure email gateway is and how it works. Know this key info, and you’ll be able to improve the chances of your emails reaching their destination. 

What are email security gateways? 

Protecting yourself from cyber threats is the basis of all cybersecurity risk assessment services. One of the biggest gaps in any security armor is phishing emails. If they get through and someone clicks a link they shouldn’t have, it’s almost impossible to stop the damage. 

The victim could be anyone. The link could lead to a ransomware virus that holds your data captive or be the start of a data breach. It could even lead to a traditional scam that has you input your credit card details so a thief can steal them. 

For all these reasons and more, email providers consistently invest in security features to help protect their customers. One such feature is an email security gateway. 

A secure email gateway uses AI and machine learning to screen incoming emails, identify spam, and stop it from entering. If there’s any doubt, the system quarantines the email in your spam box for review. 

Why are secure email gateways important?

While we are getting better at filtering out spam emails, an estimated 45.6% of emails sent in 2023 were still spam. This poses a massive security risk for consumers, businesses, and governments alike. 

According to IBM, businesses are hit the hardest, with the global average cost of each successful phishing attack increasing to $4.88M USD. The attacks don’t just hit businesses, either, with attacks targeting individuals and even charities.

Just as phishing and spam emails have become more sophisticated, so have the tools designed to protect against them. All providers, including big names like Gmail, use SEGs to secure communications and other features, such as Gmail’s unsubscribe feature

What do SEGs flag as spam? 

SEGs continually update their parameters. This means that what they check for is constantly in flux. What SEGs look for today, for example, could include: 

  • Strange or suspicious subject lines
  • Highly urgent capitalization or excessive exclamation points
  • Strange URLs
  • Poor grammar and/or spelling
  • Generic greetings that don’t address the recipient 
  • Suspicious email addresses
  • The volume of emails sent at once
  • Attachment types 
  • Image-heavy content 

SEGs are far more advanced than just ticking boxes, but that doesn’t mean your emails can’t get blocked or sent to spam. After all, you might put together a great email campaign, but if your email is too image-heavy, it might get quarantined or sent to spam. 

The good news is that once you know what the SEGs look for, you can work to design better emails. Beefree can help you get started, with a range of templates for responsive email designs.

How to create newsletters with secure email gateways in mind 

The good news is that you can implement and send out most, if not all, of your newsletter ideas without issue. So long as the emails are well-made and are sent at a reasonable frequency, you’ll be golden. 

Start by first improving your security methods

In general, you should always look at ramping up the security measures in your business. You can use one of the top types of risk assessment matrix to understand your business's threats and how to resolve them. Then, since you already have that information, you can use it to create better newsletters and emails. 

Make sure the personalization feature works

One of the biggest red flags for an SEG is a generic greeting. Adding Dear Sir/Madam at the start isn’t going to fly in today’s world. Even if your email gets through, it’s unlikely the recipient will open it. 

That’s why you need personalization. Linking your email marketing tools to your customer relationship management system means you can offer easy personalization, like addressing your customers by name, or even offering personalized recommendations based on their order history. 

Avoid image-only emails 

Image-only emails are tempting for an email marketer. They’re striking, they look good, and you can fine-tune what they look like in Photoshop or another image editor. 

They can also be a red flag for SEGs.

Thankfully, the solution is simple: enrich your emails. The best part about this approach is that it also improves the accessibility. Improving email accessibility will help ensure that all your customers can engage with your emails on their terms. Those emails will also load faster, look great on all devices, and be more engaging. 

Align your emails with the landing pages 

SEGs look out for suspicious links. A link might be suspicious if there’s a misspelling or if the link doesn’t sound like the content in the email. So, how do you ensure that SEGs don’t see any of your links as suspicious? 

You make them predictable. 

An easy way to do this is to create a landing page from an email. On top of aligning the landing page with the content of the newsletter, you’ll want to: 

  • Make a custom URL for every link that matches the content of the page 
  • Ensure there’s no misspelling
  • Don’t use urgent language around your link

Use 2FA to boost security

Do you need 2FA to get past SEGs? No, but it’s a great way to help protect you and your customers. 

You can protect sensitive data by adding user identity verification. For example, a customer may get an order confirmation email but wants to cancel or change the delivery details. Including a two-factor authentication step ensures only the customer can request changes. 

Building in extra security features puts your customers at ease. It also protects your endpoints and, in turn, your business. So, no, you don’t need 2FA to get past SEGs, but it’s worth looking into for you and your customers’ protection. 

Avoid urgency 

Urgency can be a flag for SEGs. So: 

  • DON’T WRITE IN ALL CAPS
  • Minimize the use of exclamation points

Think of the copy in your newsletter as a chance to win over your audience, not scare them into clicking the link. Doing this will improve your relationship with your customers since they’ve come to you on their terms. It’s also essential to get emails past the SEG.

Key takeaways 

Secure email gateways are a primary defense against spam and phishing attacks, but they can pose a problem for email marketers. By working to understand the security risks associated with email scams, you can then understand what your email needs to make it into inboxes. 

From there, you’ll want to make your emails more personable, accessible, and secure. Once you’ve found that sweet spot, your newsletters will be more likely to get past the secure email gateway and into your audience’s inboxes. 

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