Have you ever wanted to discover what works best for your audience? Have you heard of A/B testing, the mythical form of marketing testing?
Then you might wonder, “What is A/B Testing?” and “What is its purpose?”
You don’t need to worry—you’ll get all the answers to your burning questions. First, let’s keep it simple with the basics.
When marketers create landing pages, write email copy, or design call-to-action buttons, it’s easy to rely on intuition to predict what will drive clicks and engagement.
However, anyone who’s experienced in marketing will tell you, Always Expect the unexpected.
Rather than making decisions based on your “feelings,” it’s more effective to run an A/B test and let the data guide your decisions.
Keep on reading to discover how to use the A/B testing process, which involves steps before, during, and after data collection to help you make data-driven decisions depending on the results.
What we’ll discuss:
- What is A/B Testing?
- History of A/B Testing
- How does A/B Testing work?
- A/B Testing in Email Marketing
- Benefits of A/B Testing
What does A/B Testing mean?
“A/B Testing,” often called “Split Testing,” is an experiment used in marketing where you divide the audience to test the variations of a campaign and analyze which is performing better.
In most simple terms, you can present version A of marketing content to one group of your audience and version B to another group of audience.
Split testing removes the guesswork from determining how your marketing materials should look, function, and be distributed.
I’ll guide you through all the essentials of split testing, and I’ve also included a visual learning option for those who prefer that.
History of A/B Testing:
Although the exact origins of A/B testing are difficult to pinpoint, in marketing, it can be traced back to American advertiser and author Claude Hopkins.
Hopkins pioneered the use of promotional coupons to test his ad campaigns.
However, his “Scientific Advertising” process didn’t incorporate the key principles of modern A/B testing.
For that, we can thank 20th-century biologist Ronald Fisher. He explained the statistical significance and developed the null hypothesis, laying the groundwork for more reliable A/B testing.
The A/B testing we use today began to take shape in the 1960s and ’70s, particularly in testing direct-response campaign strategies.
A significant milestone for marketing came in 2000, marking another pivotal moment in the evolution of A/B testing.
At that time, Google engineers ran their first A/B test. (They were eager to know the best number of results to display on the SERP)
How does A/B Testing work?
To conduct an A/B test, create two different versions of the same content, each with a change to one specific variable.
Next, these two versions will be presented to audiences of equal size, and each performance will be analyzed over a defined period.
Remember that the testing period should be long enough to draw reliable conclusions from your results.
The content that is performing better than the other will be taken further for result-oriented marketing purposes.
A/B testing helps marketers determine how one version of a piece of content performs with respect to the other.
Examples of A/B Testing:
Here is an example of two different types of A/B testing you can conduct to increase your website’s conversion rate.
Example 1: User Experience Test
You want to check whether moving a specific call-to-action (CTA) button to the top right of your homepage, rather than keeping it in the sidebar, will improve its click-through rate.
To A/B test this theory, you would create an alternative web page using the new CTA adjustment.
The existing design with the sidebar CTA—or the “control”—is Type A. Type B, with the CTA at the top, is the “Get Now.”
Next, you would test these two versions by displaying each to a predetermined percentage of your site visitors.
Ideally, both versions should be shown to an equal percentage of visitors.
Example 2: Design Test
For example, you can test whether changing the color of your CTA button can increase the likelihood of CTR.
To A/B test this theory, you would create an alternative CTA button of a different color and make sure it leads to the same landing page as the control.
For example, if you use a blue CTA in your content, and the A/B testing shows that the red version attracts more clicks, this could color your CTA button red instead of blue.
A/B Testing in Email Marketing:
Everybody practicing Email Marketing is aware that Email A/B testing is one of the ways to optimize your campaigns.
You can do this by A/B testing two versions of an email to learn valuable insights into which version resonates most with your audience.
One key reason email is well-suited for A/B testing is its simplicity in generating binary responses.
With email, you can track clear, two-option actions that recipients take, such as if a person is clicking or not clicking a link or opening or not opening an email. These straightforward metrics make it easier to assess and refine your email strategy.
Email is an excellent candidate for A/B testing due to its ability to test the following:
- Subject Line: Experiment with different subject lines to identify which gives higher open rates.
- Preheader: A preheader is the preview text that appears alongside the subject line. You can test different introductory phrases to see which one grabs the reader’s attention.
- Content: Testing different versions of email copy to see which messaging sticks best for your audience.
- Image: Experiment with images to see what attracts your audience’s attention the most.
Benefits of A/B Testing:
The major benefits of A/B Testing that marketing experts experienced are discussed below:
Increase Website Traffic:
A/B testing can be used to find the most progressive way to word your website title. This is what captures your audience’s attention and gets them to click.
Using various titles can allow you to see which titles, blogs, or web pages get more clicks. It is a great way to get more traffic to your website.
Improved Conversion Rates
A/B tests are not only about increasing the number of visits; they also help improve conversion or sales rates. You should measure the performance of your call-to-action in terms of its design, location, and wording.
Therefore, the optimizations can allow you to create several extra forms. Users can provide contact details or engage in other desired actions, thus converting them into leads or customers.
Reduce Bounce Rates
If visitors leave your website too quickly, this could indicate that the site isn’t resonating with your audience.
A/B testing can help identify elements that might be causing high bounce rates, such as unappealing page designs or mismatched visuals. Testing things like blog post introductions, fonts, or featured images can help retain visitors and keep them engaged longer.
Product images that perform the best:
You believe that you have the perfect product or service to offer your audience. How can you be sure that the product image you’ve chosen effectively represents what you’re offering?
A/B testing is the best solution for this. It lets you decide what version of the image catches the attention of your audience.
You can do this by comparing the shortlisted images against each other and picking the one with the highest sales rate.
Lower Cart Abandonment
E-commerce businesses experience an average of 70% customer abandonment of their websites with items in their shopping carts. This process is known as “shopping cart abandonment,” and it is, of course, harmful to any online store.
Testing various product photos, checking page designs, and even placing shipping cost information can help reduce this abandonment rate.
Start A/B Testing Today:
A/B Testing has a bundle of benefits when it comes to your marketing practices.
By experimenting with different versions of your content—email subject lines, product images, or website layouts—you can make insightful decisions that provide you with better results.
Implementing the Best A/B testing strategies helps refine your approach, improve conversion rates, reduce bounce rates, and ultimately increase customer engagement.
Start A/B testing today to see what truly works best with your audience and take your marketing efforts to the next level.
If you’re looking for a powerful A/B Testing tool that covers all the goals and objectives of your marketing practice, then you should give Mumara a try and see your business hitting the heights of success!
