A/B testing (sometimes called split testing) is probably the simplest marketing experiment in existence. All it involves is showing half of your audience one thing and the other half a slightly different thing to see which version resonates best.
You can use A/B testing on virtually any element of marketing, from the colors, fonts and graphics you use on your website to the call-to-action in your emails to the ads you post on social media. You can perform the tests over and over again. And each tweak you make takes you a step closer to perfection.
Some marketing strategies work well for some businesses, but not at all for others. A/B testing, however, is one strategy that should work for virtually every business marketer.
Here’s why you should be using it.
How A/B Testing Takes Your Marketing to the Next Level
You’ll Get to Know Your Audience Better
Does your audience prefer green or blue? Do they like big buttons or small buttons? Are they more apt to click on something that says “Call Us” or something that says “Schedule Your Complementary Demonstration”?
A/B testing can tell you!
These things might seem trivial, but small changes can have a big impact. Learning what your audience wants makes it easier to market to them in the future.
Conversions Become Easier
Are you up to your neck in abandoned shopping carts? A/B testing can help you figure out why.
Maybe the process is too complicated. Perhaps you’re showing the shipping rates too early or too late. Maybe your customers want to check out as a guest rather than be forced to create an account.
By employing A/B testing, you can figure out exactly where you’re losing the sale and correct it, leading to a better conversion rate.
Analysis Is Simple
Tracking the effectiveness of a marketing campaign can be tough. There’s a lot of data to go over and a lot of numbers to crunch. But with A/B testing, analyzing your results is simple — there’s one winner and one loser.
The landing page that gets the most traffic wins. The phone number that gets the least number of calls loses. It’s very easy to keep track of the results when the results are so easy to understand.
You Can Use A/B Testing Online or Offline
There aren’t many marketing strategies that translate well to both online and offline campaigns, but A/B testing is definitely one of them.
If you’re delving into offline marketing, you can A/B test things like postcards vs. flyers, newspaper ads vs. magazine ads, or even in-store customer service tactics like determining if people react better to one greeting than another, or if they’re more receptive to an upsell in the aisle or at the checkout.
A/B Testing Minimizes Risk
If you overhaul your entire website at once and your customers absolutely hate it, you’re out a whole lot of time, money and Tylenol. If you change it piece by conscious piece, however, you’re only risking one egg instead of the entire basket.
Does it take longer? Yes. Does it significantly minimize the risk of throwing good money after bad marketing? Same answer.
Are You Ready to Put Your Marketing to the (A/B) Test?
A/B marketing is all about making simple, small tweaks to get your marketing missives as close to perfect as they can get. And if you’re not already using this strategy, it’s time to get started!
You already know what your business looks like without Mischa Communications, so let’s test the variable that includes us helping manage all of your marketing needs. Ready to get started?