Obama Campaign Email Efforts Marked By Continual Testing

A hallmark of the Obama campaign’s email program was its non-stop emphasis on testing. On Oct. 17, it sent out messages to 166 segments and 84 were A/B tests, whether with subject lines, time of day, messaging, etc. Toby Fallsgraff, the e-mail director for Obama’s 2012 reelection effort, said the pursuit of innovation continued to avoid stale tactics. “Novelty can be highly effective, it can also be highly fleeting and so our mantra was test and re-test,” he said. The efforts worked. More than $500 million was raised online via 4.5 million donors averaging $53 a donation.