A/B Testing: How to do it Right for Corporate Decisions?
Marketers create landing pages, call-to-action buttons and write emails based on the intuition of what would result in high clicks and conversions. This approach, however, can be detrimental for businesses as basing decisions on mere hunches is totally unwise. Rather than assumptions, perform A/B Testing also known as a split test which helps you understand different audience behavior.
No one size fits all which is true for the digital industry as well in a way that what’s profitable to one company can be a complete failure for another. All that said, A/B testing is also complicated and even a little bit of carelessness or incorrect statistics can backfire your entire strategy. Read on to know about doing it right to make well-informed decisions.
Getting Started
To perform A/B test, two different versions of a content file are created however, with a single variable change. The two pieces are then shared with the likewise audience to analyze which performed better over a particular time period. Make sure that the duration is long enough to conclude the results accurately. The test let digital marketers and analysts observe the performance of content which further leads to the development of a strategy for increasing the website’s conversion rate. Let’s have a look at a few examples for clarification:
The User-Experience Test
In-case you wish to see the performance of a specific CTA button by shifting it to the header section of a homepage rather than keeping it in the sidebar or footer. An alternative webpage is also created keeping almost everything intact other than the CTA which is placed either in the sidebar or footer. The clickthrough or conversion rate is then observed by sharing the webpage with the same audience, mostly internal team or a selected external group.
Read Also: Why Facebook Ads and Google Analytics are Unmatched?
The Design Test
To find out the impact on the CTA button by altering its color, another is created with a different shade which is then shared with the target audience.
Advantages of A/B Testing
Digital marketing and creative experts benefit most from A/B testing, depending on what’s being verified. Above all, they’re valuable to conclude a result and take an informed decision, minimize risk and forms a base to further develop a corporate strategy. Here’re some of the common reasons to perform the test:
Amplify Web Traffic
Different webpage titles and/or blog posts are tested to observe the possible variation of users who actually clicked on the hyperlink and converted. The end result is a probable increase in website traffic.
High Conversions
Experimenting with different locations, anchor text, and color of the CTA, for instance, to see the number of clicks for a landing page helps in higher conversions. Eventually, you’ll know the total users who fill out the website form, submit their contact info and convert into a lead.
Minimized Bounce Rate
Just in-case a particular website is experiencing fewer visits and increase in bounce rate quickly after users’ land on the page, A/B testing variation of blogpost introductions, fonts, featured images, and other content can help digital experts identify the problem for improvement.
Related: Google Adwords Guide for Beginners
Less Cart Abandonment
A survey of global eCommerce businesses concluded that more or less 40-75 percent of customers leave the website after adding items in the shopping cart, which is termed as “shopping cart abandonment”. In this situation, testing different product images, design of the check-out page and even the page where shipment costs are displayed can help in lowering the abandonment rate.
A/B Test: During the Phase
Simultaneous Variations Test
Time duration is most significant when considering the results of the marketing campaigns that can be anywhere from a day to a week, a month and even a year. If running version A for one month and then B a month later, how can you actually know about the performance change?
When performing the A/B test, you would be running two variations altogether else the results can be inconclusive or confusing. The only exception here is testing time, let’s say to identify the optimal time for shooting emails.
Give Time for Data Production
Make sure the test runs long enough to produce desired results, obtain a substantial sample on which you can actually base your decision. This ‘time’ can be anything between hours, days and even weeks unless you’ve acceptable statistics to measure traffic.
If you’re an active digital agency, A/B testing has many benefits when basing decisions. Just don’t forget asking for feedback from actual users and take a viable action.
