A/B Test Your Subject Lines

Let data decide your subject lines. A/B testing automatically splits your audience and measures which subject line gets more opens.

How A/B testing works

1. You provide two subject line variants (A and B) for Step 1 of your sequence
2. WorkOnward Reach splits your audience approximately 50/50
3. Half receive subject line A, half receive subject line B
4. After enough data, you promote the winner to use for all remaining sends

Enable A/B testing

1. During campaign creation, go to your sequence’s Step 1
2. Toggle Enable A/B Test
3. Enter your Variant B subject line (Variant A is your original subject)
4. Launch the campaign

AI-generated variants

WorkOnward Reach’s AI can generate test variants automatically:

1. Click Generate A/B Variant next to your subject line
2. AI creates a variant that tests a different approach:
   • Different emotional angle
   • Question vs. statement
   • Specific vs. curiosity-driven
3. The AI provides a hypothesis (e.g., “Testing whether a question format drives more curiosity clicks”)
4. Review and accept or generate another

Promote the winner

Once you have enough data:

1. Go to your campaign dashboard
2. Review the A/B test results:
   • Open rate for Variant A
   • Open rate for Variant B
3. Click Promote Winner
4. The winning subject line is used for all remaining sends

Tips

• Test one variable at a time — Only change the subject line, not the body. Otherwise, you won’t know what caused the difference.
• Wait for statistical significance — Don’t promote a winner after just 20 sends. Wait for at least 100+ opens.
• Test different angles, not just words — Quick question about {{company}} vs. {{first_name}}, a 3x improvement in pipeline tests two completely different approaches.
• Keep testing — Every campaign is an opportunity to learn what resonates with your audience.

Next step: Launch and control your campaign