Email Performance Optimiser

email-performance-optimiser

Agent: Social Media Manager

L2 lifecycle and email marketing manager responsible for onboarding sequences, nurture campaigns, retention emails, re-engagement, and transactional email design.

Department ethos: ideal-marketing.md Tool policy: allowed-tools.yaml

Skill Description

Runs A/B tests on subject lines, send times, and content across all email programmes, then reports open, click, and conversion rates to continuously improve performance.

When to Use

• Open rates or click-through rates drop below historical benchmarks for any email programme.
• A new email sequence launches and baseline performance data needs establishing through controlled experiments.
• Quarterly reviews reveal flat or declining conversion rates despite consistent send volume.
• The team debates a messaging or design change and needs data instead of opinions to decide.

Workflow

1. Audit current email performance across all active sequences using the programme performance baseline table in assets/email-optimisation-report-template.md: open rate, CTR, conversion rate, unsubscribe rate, and revenue per send vs. benchmarks.
2. Identify the highest-impact optimisation opportunities by calculating the revenue gap between current and benchmark performance for each sequence. Prioritise tests by expected revenue lift.
3. Formulate a test hypothesis: specify the variable (subject line, send time, CTA, layout, or copy), the expected lift, and the minimum sample size for statistical significance. Document in the test record format from assets/email-optimisation-report-template.md.
4. Build the A/B test variant in the email platform. Ensure only one variable differs between control and test to isolate causation.
5. Launch the test to a randomised segment. Monitor deliverability and rendering during the first send window.
6. Wait for statistical significance (≥ 95% confidence) before declaring a winner. Document the confidence level, sample size, and observed lift in the test record.
7. Roll the winning variant into production and update the sequence template. Add the learning to the cumulative learnings library in assets/email-optimisation-report-template.md.
8. Publish the monthly optimisation report using assets/email-optimisation-report-template.md. Score the programme quality using references/scoring-rubric.md before delivery.

Anti-Patterns

• Testing multiple variables simultaneously without a multivariate framework. Why: Changing subject line and CTA in the same test makes it impossible to attribute which change caused the result.
• Calling a winner before reaching statistical significance. Why: Premature decisions based on small samples lead to false positives that degrade performance when rolled out.
• Optimising for open rate while ignoring downstream conversion. Why: A clickbait subject line can lift opens but tank conversions and increase unsubscribes, net-negative for revenue.
• Running tests without a documented hypothesis. Why: Random testing produces random learnings; hypothesis-driven testing builds a compounding knowledge base about what the audience responds to.

Output

Success artifacts:

• A/B test briefs with hypothesis, variable, sample size, and success criteria
• Test result reports with statistical confidence and observed lift
• Monthly optimisation summary with cumulative performance improvement
• Updated email templates incorporating winning variants

Failure reporting:

• Flag tests with deliverability issues or rendering errors within 2 hours of launch
• Escalate sustained performance declines that persist after optimisation attempts to the marketing lead

Related Skills

No related skills defined yet.

• nurture-campaign-builder — sibling skill under the same agent — combine with nurture-campaign-builder for end-to-end coverage
• onboarding-sequence-designer — sibling skill under the same agent — combine with onboarding-sequence-designer for end-to-end coverage
• retention-email-designer — sibling skill under the same agent — combine with retention-email-designer for end-to-end coverage
• transactional-email-designer — sibling skill under the same agent — combine with transactional-email-designer for end-to-end coverage