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If you had to identify the unique advantage of digital, the key feature that separates it from other sales and marketing strategies, then what would you choose? It’s measurability, for most.
The unique advantage of digital activity lies in its inherent measurability. The importance of digital tools and techniques lies in their being guided by results. Unlike traditional methods of advertising such as billboards and television, the return on investment of a digital campaign can be easily measured. Being able to interpret these data allows you to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the campaign. Capable of translating these insights into action will enable you to refine the campaign’s performance and maximize its success.
Measurement and monitoring is an essential component of effectively maximizing your digital marketing campaign and its resulting conversion rate, irrespective of your budget or overall objectives. Ironically, just 52 percent of businesses check the landing pages of their website to find ways to improve conversions.
This article will give you a comprehensive overview of A/B testing methodology and how you can effectively apply it in a variety of contexts to optimize your digital marketing and ensure continuous performance.
What is A/B testing?
A/B testing (also referred to as split testing) is the act of comparing two versions of a landing page to gauge your target audience depending on which landing page version performs better. You can then make improvements based on the results of your A/B test in order to maximize the conversion rates.
A/B testing involves taking two different audience samples (A, and B!) to which you will be presenting two separate versions of a web page. The success of an A/B test depends largely on the size of the samples which you choose to take. The larger the sample size, the more confident you can be in the insights gained from your test. In other words, if you choose to use five people for your survey, and three choose a particular website, you can not presume that their selection serves as a clear enough indicator of the tastes of your wider audience.
There is greater certainty and stability with larger sample sizes, as the results of A/B tests are getting closer and closer to representing audience preferences accurately. This means you can be assured that the changes you make to your webpages are the most positive possible.
Why should you use A/B testing?
The first step in any successful digital strategy is to set high-level objectives, which serve as a baseline against which to test the campaign. More often for any organisation the most major objective is normally to bring more traffic to its website.
A seasoned digital marketer will recognize the importance of using analytics tools to evaluate their organization’s website performance. But then what happens? The company may regularly enjoy a large volume of traffic to its website, but if it does not convert, it is effectively redundant.
A/B testing gives you insights that allow you to capitalize on your traffic and avoid unnecessary mistakes. For example, before you run a display ad campaign that directs users to a product page on your website, performing an A/B test on that product page and implementing the insights will give you the best chance of converting users without wasting money on fruitless clicks. Summarize-A/B testing can help you maximize ROI, cut costs and increase the number of quality leads generated and close sales. But given these measurable, easy-to-reach advantages, only 22 percent of companies are happy with their conversion rates, indicating that the A B testing process is seriously neglected.
What can you A/B test?
The use of A/B tests for landing pages has been discussed, they can be used to optimize a number of different elements within a website. A/B tests are particularly useful from a content perspective since this can have a significant impact on SEO. The more relevant the content of a web page is to the needs and preferences of a user, the higher it ranks in a search engine.
The text-based elements on your website that you should look at A/B test and optimize include:
- Headings and sub-headings
- The text above, near to and below the fold
- Positioning text such as pricing, promotions, and testimonials
- Calls-To-Action [both text and button]
- Hyperlinks
- Images
It is important to note that too many A/B tests should be avoided concurrently, as this can create confusion in determining which variants have improved and to what extent.
What do you try to achieve with the A/B test?
Before you start, you should know why you’re doing the A/B test.
Is it more email collection?
Is it about getting your social media posts shared?
Is it because you’d like more ebooks to sell?
Is it because of the product you want to sell?
And, is it because you want to have more users clicking on ads?
The reason most marketers fail with A/B testing is that they don’t have a clear goal before starting.
What is the A/B testing process?
A heat map will help you find out what users are like[ or not!]Your website.
In a few simple steps you can perform an A/B test:
Gather data: the use of analytics tools can help you decide which specific areas of your website should be checked by A/B. You could use a heat map for a more granular insight to find out how users are[ or aren’t! Use your website to establish a solid starting point.
Build two variations: whether it is changing the text of the button, rewriting a description for the product, or changing the color of a banner image, a good reason should always justify the changes you decide to make. Simply put, if somebody asks you why you’ve made a particular shift, you should be able to answer them with confidence.
Start the A/B test: You should run your test with a considerable sample size for approximately 3 to 4 weeks in order to obtain realistic, representative results. Visitors to your website will automatically be led to one of two variants on the landing page.
Analyze its effectiveness: the most important part of the test process, probably, as it helps you to apply what you have learned from the test results to make positive changes.
There is plenty of A/B testing software available to help you set up, run and measure testing. Look through a few choices to find the one that best suits the needs of your company. It’s a small but powerful investment that ultimately boosts your profit margins.
