What is A/B Testing?
The content that marketers create and post on websites, apps and even social media pages is developed with the intent of pursuing customers and getting them to make a purchase. The content that is created has to be thought out and developed with the intention of converting sales, but often it is hard to see whether or not the data that is posted is doing what it is meant to. Sometimes marketers make an educated guess and then use metrics to see how well specific content is doing, and while this method does work, it is a hit and miss plan that can take some time to get right.
A/B testing, or split testing, refers to the process of creating two different marketing campaigns and splitting your audience between these two different sets of data. You are then able to see which data set gets you the best results by comparing the interaction that the different groups have with the content that they are exposed to. The campaign that achieves better results is the one that has been better designed for the consumer market!
What is A/B Testing in Digital Marketing?
You may be asking yourself; “What is a/b testing in digital marketing and how can it help me?”. A/B testing in digital marketing refers to the splitting up of different campaigns and testing each of these on different people within your target audience. Marketing is all about coming up with the best ways to promote yourself and the products or services that you offer and A/B testing allows you to measure two different marketing campaigns against one another to see which one has the best results.
Who Should Use A/B Testing?
A/B testing is incredibly beneficial and can help a business determine the best campaign to use in order to promote their products or services. From businesses that are just starting out and need to determine what their audience best likes to some of the largest companies in the world who need to keep up with the developments in marketing, A/B testing can help your brand in immeasurable ways. By using an a/b testing calculator and monitoring specific metrics, any company with a website, social media page or even an app would find this sort of testing system useful!
How is A/B Testing Applied?
Like with any experiment, A/B testing involves determining criteria, metrics and random group splitting to ensure that the test is controlled and effective. Setting goals and determining two different data sets to analyse would be the first step of the process as this ensures that the content is different enough that there will be a noticeable difference in the results that are obtained. You should also determine how significantly different the results need to be when it comes to the analysis part of the process.
Small differences could be due to the different people in each group and the results from these tests need to be definitively pointed to one piece of content to be sure that it is the more effective set of data to use. Ensuring that the above processes are in place, you can apply the different sets of content and stream it towards a predetermined set of customers. Once this has been completed, you can use metrics to determine if there was a significant difference in the results of the content!
What are A/B Testing Tools?
When it comes to A/B testing, having the best tools can help speed up processes and ensure that the data you gain from A/B testing is reliable. The following are just a few of the best rated A/B testing tools on the market today, along with a brief description of each.
- Optimizely: One of the best tools to use when it comes to A/B testing is Optimizely! Optimizely is easy to use, and the interface is extremely user-friendly, ensuring that you do not need to be very technical to get the hang of it. The results displayed are easy to read and analyse, making this the perfect tool for even beginners. The one downside to this tool is that it is quite pricey, but the results you get can help to increase revenue, so you could consider it an investment!
- VWO: Another great tool to use is VWO, and if you are hoping for something a bit less expensive than Optimizely, this is definitely the tool to use! This tool makes it easy to set up your goals and download the data that you receive but you cannot view the goal reports that are created at the same time, which can make it harder to compare.
- Convert Experiences: For small to medium-sized businesses, Convert Experiences is a great A/B testing tool to use! The friendly user interface, variety of pricing plans and power compared to price ratios ensure that this tool is one of the best on the market!
What Are Examples of A/B Testing Use Cases?
Email Marketing
Email marketing can be easily compared with A/B testing systems, and creating two different email templates with different content, campaign ideas and call to action and then using split testing to measure the performance of each can be very beneficial. The a/b testing results can be compared using specific metrics, like the click-through rate and measuring how many sales come from each different email template!
Landing Page Design
Having two different landing page designs and comparing the effectiveness and how far a potential customer makes their way through this page can expand on the effectiveness of the landing page itself. A landing page is extremely important as this is the first page of information that a potential customer will have to learn about who you are and what you do! Remember to keep the content on each page varied, as this will show you what the most effective page design is when it comes to attracting customers!
Display Ad Optimization
When designing a/b testing templates for digital ad optimization, marketers will be able to note, through monitoring the click-through rate, which design and display ad is the most effective. The ad that attracts the most customers will be the one that should be used for future advertising.
eCommerce Websites
A/B testing for e-commerce websites is quite popular as it allows businesses to see what the best marketing campaigns have the best results. The wording, descriptions, pictures and call to action statements are all relevant when it comes to a customer’s decision to complete a transaction. With many e-commerce websites having issues with customers placing items in shopping carts and then not going through with the purchase, A/B testing can help to resolve issues like this by trying out various sales tactics and techniques.
What are The Errors to Avoid While Performing A/B Testing?
One of the most common mistakes that people make when it comes to A/B testing is that their two campaigns are too similar to produce very different results. If both sets of content that are to be tested against one another are too similar, you may be wasting time and resources. When it comes to effective and productive A/B testing, you need to ensure that you have come up with two very different campaigns with very different content in order to see a variation in the results. it is not enough to change a few things, and the content needs to offer a variety of different attributes in order to be effectively compared against one another.
What Are the Advantages of Using A/B Testing?
A/B testing is a great way for marketers to compare different sets of content and find the best strategies that ensure the best results. The following are just two of the many advantages to consider when using A/B testing.
- Increases traffic: Finding the best content and campaign to use when it comes to your website, app or even social media pages can help you to increase the amount of traffic that is streamed to your website. Specific call to action and phrasing is able to draw people in and convince them to make a purchase better than others, and finding the best content that attracts the most amount of customers will ensure you remain competitive! This makes a/b testing in SEO important!
- Higher conversion rates: Doing A/B testing has proven to be an effective tool in increasing a business’s conversion rates. By testing different techniques and methods when it comes to call to action’s and sales content, a company is able to develop the best way to attract customers and lead them towards making a final purchase.
