In marketing, picking the right way to say something is rarely a decision based on emotion or other subjective factors. Rather, the choice is often made only after various tests have been conducted, and the most effective option is able to be definitively selected.
A/B testing is one of the most important marketing practices businesses use to ensure they are getting their money’s worth when advertising a product or service.
That is why in this article we will provide you with the ultimate guide on what A/B testing really is, why it is so important, and exactly how it can be used to reach your marketing goals.
What is A/B Testing?
A/B testing, also known as split testing or bucket testing, is a marketing technique that compares the effectiveness of two or more variables, by measuring how each variable contributes to the overall marketing goal.
It’s important to remember that the overall marketing goal does not have to be the user buying something. It could be as simple as getting more users to visit a certain page, sign up for a newsletter, or any other desired result.
To make a bit of a real-life comparison, A/B testing is basically what fishermen do when they go out to the lake, set up multiple types of baits and test which type of bait helps them catch the most fish. If one type of bait lets the fisherman catch significantly more fish, he will certainly invest in buying only that bait in the future, even if it is slightly more expensive.
Optimizely defines A/B testing as a A/B testing is essentially an experiment where two or more variants of a page are shown to users at random, and statistical analysis is used to determine which variation performs better for a given conversion goal.
Clearly, A/B tests are important not only for selecting the most effective calls to action but for improving the overall user experience as well.
Key Takeaways
A/B testing is a marketing technique that compares how different variations of content that have the same purpose perform
A/B testing helps decision-making by providing a concrete test result, which points toward one variation that is outperforming the others
Identifying the goal which is being tested is the first step in conducting a split test
How to Define A/B Testing?
A/B testing may be defined as using a different variation of the same variable, such as a website element, a call to action, or an email subject, to determine which variation performs the best after the test has been conducted.
A/B testing may be best understood by taking a look at the most important stages which are applied to each test.
1. Identify your goals
The first stage will require you to identify the key metrics you will be tracking to determine whether the marketing goal is being met or not. This can be a certain conversion rate, the amount of time a visitor spends on a page, and many other analytics.
2. Select your variables
Your split testing experiment, or multivariate testing experiment if you have more than 2 variables, naturally requires valid variables to be selected in the first place. Each variation should be as different from the others as possible to produce a more reliable test result.
3. Analyze results
After you have collected all of the test data you would be wise to apply different methods of data analysis. A/B testing software can make this significantly easier, to reveal whether the data is statistically significant and whether variant A or variant B is the one to go within your marketing campaign.
Why is A/B Testing Important?
A/B testing is the cornerstone of decision-making in marketing strategy and conversion optimization.
There is a myriad of reasons that go to show just how important split testing is for achieving various marketing goals, such as improving user experience, getting the most out of each visitor, and a better understanding of user behavior.
A/B testing drives profit
Since A/B testing is all about optimizing, its main goals such as removing user pain points, reducing bounce rate, and increasing the ROI of existing traffic – all contribute to better business performance and profitability.
Often, websites which are already high in traffic are not as profitable as they could be with simple landing page tweaks. AB testing multiple variants is a powerful way of revealing ways to optimize the conversion rate of a landing page.
What Are The Best A/B Testing Strategies?
There is no one best A/B testing strategy that may be indiscriminately applied. However, there are certain practices that are commonly used in A/B testing for websites and other platforms.
Make the important parts more visible
It may sound obvious, but often the steps which are required for a user to reach a certain page or complete a certain action are too vague and difficult to access. If the goal is for users to spend more time on your website, increasing the size of the search bar or other elements relevant to staying on the website may play an important role.
Experiment with the Call to Action
One of the most important parts of your marketing offer will be your call to action, and this is by no coincidence one of the most tested variables in A/B testing. Adding specific words or phrases to your call to action may increase the conversion rate of the marketing goal you are pursuing.
One of the most common words to add in your call to action is “free”. However, in some cases, this can also lead to a decrease in performance, which further highlights the importance of marketing performance.
Having a Control Group is important
The revealing power of AB testing is beyond doubt, and learning what your users like to engage with feels rewarding. But getting caught up in only making changes and overlooking the control group is sure a mistake. You always need a benchmark to compare the performance of the other variants against. A control group is the segment of users who are not exposed to any of the testing variants, and a control variant is the original element that doesn’t change.
Additional Tips & Tricks
- Using more than one variation can result in greater insights into the behavior of your audience
- Comparing one variation of text to another, such as copywriting for a Google or Facebook ad, may be tracked by using info gathered from Google Analytics or another web analytics tool
- Introduce changes one at a time. Changing more than one variant at a time on your website or in your ad copy will make it harder to track what contributed to your marketing goals and to what extent
Now You Know What A/B Testing is!
So, what is A/B testing then really? It’s simple, A/B testing is an important tool in marketing that allows us to test how one variation of web design is better than another, or how one variation of short copywriting can create ten times the profit of a long-winded call to action.
You learned what A/B testing is, why it is important, and different strategies for A/B testing and you’ve got a few tips & tricks in your pocket. With all this knowledge and information, it’s up to you now to determine if A/B testing is the marketing approach you need to take for your company or organization.
A/B Testing FAQs
The name of this common marketing test is there to illustrate the two most common variables. Variation A and variation B. A/B tests are generally considered to be the simplest form of controlled experiment.
There are some circumstances in which it may not be useful to conduct this test. The result of the experiment may not be valuable if your website does not have enough meaningful traffic. Similarly, the result of the test may not be of use if you do not have a formulated test hypothesis.
The accuracy of the test and the validity of the test result will depend on many factors, one of which is the statistical significance of the result. Many A/B testing tools are equipped with automatic calculations of statistical significance.
For the different variations to be processed and the result data to be accurate, a split test should be run for a minimum of one to two weeks. This way enough visitors will have had the chance to interact with the different variations which are being tested.
