TOPIC
9 Free Tools
Call them tab clutter or mission control, the 9 tools featured help me get things done in email, design, and everyday problem-solving. There’s at least one you’ll want to bookmark.
This issue was a shift from the usual format — a short-form, link list layout inspired by Emily Ryan, the Mailchimp pro behind 9 Things Sunday. It’s one of my favorite weekly reads for a reason: quick, valuable, and fun. I wanted to see how this style landed with participants.
This was a first: sharing my actual tool stack. I paired “tools” with an odd number, tapping into the psychology that odd numbers increase engagement and credibility, plus a subtle emoji test. The hypothesis: Curiosity and credibility would drive higher opens and engagement.
What Was Tested?
Short-form, link list format: Keeping it brief, punchy, and just enough to pique interest and drive clicks.
A/B testing the subject line: One version said “9 🆓 tools worth your clicks!” and the other, “9️⃣ free tools worth your clicks!”
Sharing information: Asking readers to share a tool to help grow my toolkit in return.
Campaign Details
From name: Danielle Cambio – sender@tryandreply.email
Reply-to: sender@tryandreply.email
| Subject Line – Preview | Send Date/Time | View Email |
|---|---|---|
| GROUP A 9 🆓 tools worth your clicks! – So good, they’re tab-worthy. | Thu, Apr 17, 2025 2:00 pm | Initial Email |
| GROUP B 9️⃣ free tools worth your clicks! – So good, they’re tab-worthy. | Thu, Apr 17, 2025 2:00 pm | Initial Email |
Goals
- Educate subscribers about free, valuable tools for email creation and testing.
- Encourage reader participation to gather more tools and insights.
- Provide valuable content in a digestible format that drives engagement.
Test Variables
- Subject line variation: Use an emoji to replace a word in the subject line.
Audience & Segmentation
- Initial: All subscribers who completed the welcome journey before April 17.
Key Insights
A/B Subject line Results
Apple Mail (iOS 18) reworded the subject line. It’s still relevant and makes sense, but it’s not what was defined: “So good, they’re tab-worthy.”
“9️⃣ free tools worth your clicks!“, despite having a slightly lower open rate, resulted in a significantly higher click rate, indicating it was more effective at driving engagement once the email was opened.
This suggests that “9️⃣ free tools worth your clicks!” resonated better with recipients, prompting more action.
A subscriber shared that “It was hard to see the 9️⃣ in my Gmail inbox (desktop) — I’m using 80% zoom on Chrome.” This valuable feedback prompted me to revisit my tests, and I realized I also struggle to see the FREE icon on my phone. This is a great example of why it’s important to ensure the subject line remains clear and readable, even without relying on the emoji’s meaning.
Engagement KPIs
| Metric | GROUP A | GROUP B |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery (rate) | 53 (100.0%) | 53 (100.0%) |
| Unique opens (rate) | 33 (62.3%) | 32 (60.4%) |
| Unique clicks (rate) | 8 (15.1%) | 13 (24.5%) |
| Clicks per unique opens | 24.2% | 40.6% |
| Bounce rate | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| Unsubscribe rate | 0.00% | 0.00% |
| # of Replies | 1 | 5 |
Mailchimp. powers this experiment. Information about Mailchimp’s Metrics can be viewed here.
Subscriber Feedback
💬 Direct Comments:
In reply to “9 🆓 tools worth your clicks!“
- “Nice email! it will be interesting to see if any of your subscribers have recommendations/other tools they use as well… Also would be interesting to see how many of your subscribers use ANY tools whatsoever…”
In reply to “9️⃣ free tools worth your clicks!“
- “For the subject line, I didn’t really notice the emoji. I had to scroll back up to check which version I’d received.”
- “Love these, Danielle! I was just thinking, I wish there was a way to see what a client’s emails look like to colorblind readers. I should have known there’s a tool for that! 😂”
- “Loved this Danielle 👏 I am totally stealing some of these for my newsletter 💯 (and will fully give you the cred ;), GoFullPage is one of my favorite tools.”
- Girrrrl you know I got a few tab worthy ones for ya, lol. https://www.calculator.net/percent-calculator.html – because who really likes to do math. https://dataviews.io/ – if you’re working in SFMC this is a MUST HAVE!
📩 Recipient Inquiry:
How do you get that ‘Realtime Stats’ widget? Is it dynamically updated or do you just put the numbers in before sending?“
🔗 Content click stats:
| 9 Tools | Total clicks | Avg. click rate |
|---|---|---|
| 1. https://aboutmy.email/ | 15 | 14.2% |
| 2. https://www.mail-tester.com/ | 12 | 11.3% |
| 3. https://gofullpage.com/ | 11 | 10.4% |
| 4. https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/ | 12 | 11.3% |
| 5. https://pilestone.com/pages/color-blindness-simulator | 8 | 7.5% |
| 6. https://ezgif.com/ | 9 | 8.5% |
| 7. https://convertcase.net/ | 11 | 10.4% |
| 8. https://www.emailtooltester.com/en/email-subject-lines-tester/ | 13 | 12.3% |
| 9. https://www.subjectline.com/ | 13 | 12.3% |
Questions, suggestions or takeaways to share? Email sender@tryandreply.email
Danielle Cambio
Marketing Technologist
Execute. Measure. Assess. Improve. Learn.
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I experiment with what I see in the inbox and share the results. As a subscriber, you can participate in real-time, and your feedback helps shape the email experiment.