For most subscription content sites, getting an initial email registration is the first step in the sales funnel. But even that can proove challenging.That’s why we were excited to hear about this interesting email test from BrightTalk during WhichTestWon‘s email testing awards Webinar last Friday.BrightTalk tested whether having a large, hero image highlighting one particular content piece in an email increased registration to view content, or if having equally-sized thumbnails would work. (A visual mock-up of the test is below).

Surprisingly, the same size option (in green) won, and led to a 400% lift in registrations to view content!That’s an impressive return that all of us should pay attention to, especially since email marketing is by far the best acquisition tactic for subscription sites. And it’s consistent with other findings, such as multiple story headlines in a subject line increases open rates.