A/B testing is producing two (or more) variations of a single piece of content and proportionately distributing them to your audience. You can determine which version has improved your KPIs the most once both have been viewed by a sizable enough audience by looking at the analytics data.
This article from the Harvard Business Review, titled “The Surprising Power of Online Experiments,” is a classic on A/B testing and details how Microsoft and other well-known software companies have benefited greatly from it. According to the article, controlled trials may make decision-making into a methodical, data-driven process rather than just an instinctive reaction.
Designing landing pages and running advertising are typical A/B testing use cases. Almost everything may be tested, including large and minor design modifications as well as content. Tools for website A/B testing that are often used are Google Optimise, VWO, and Optimizely. A/B testing is also supported by the majority of ad platforms out of the box. You may start A/B testing your website for free using Google Optimise
A/B testing is one method of data collection and analysis. This approach, also known as split testing, involves comparing different versions of marketing collateral to determine which is most successful. You may increase performance by adjusting your message based on the findings.
How to carry out A/B tests?
The process of split testing should begin with the identification of your objectives. These can involve promoting sign-ups, clicks, or view counts. This will give your work meaning and enable you to derive practical lessons.
Here’s how you can easily A/B test any aspect nowadays thanks to digitisation.
- Select a component to examine.
- Make two different versions of the element.
- Divide your audience into two equal groups at random.
- Give each section one variant.
- Keep tabs on which component worked better and examine it.
You may run more A/B tests on that option’s variations once you know which one performed better in order to determine which one is most popular. But just evaluate one aspect at a time. It is challenging to monitor the potential impact that each thing may have while running the experiment with several components.
What components are testable using A/B?
Take a look at some of the numerous components that you may evaluate as a B2B marketer now that you know how to do the evaluation.
1. Posts on social media
You may test headlines, language, tone, post style, post length, usage of emojis, punctuation, and other elements within the scope of social media material.
2. Online material
Test text separators, the arrangement of pictures or videos, as well as tone, phrasing, and headlines. When it comes to landing pages, split testing website content is extremely crucial because they have a direct influence on conversion.
3. Content for preview
Since preview content is very visible, it must be tested. Test both the information and the images in this case to find the most effective way to communicate.
4. Visual components
Use a variety of media kinds and formats when it comes to visuals to measure engagement. Examine the effectiveness of your message with and without visuals, as well as when using a variety of photos, videos, infographics, GIFs, and animations.
5. Calls to action
Since it motivates the visitor to take action, a CTA button is an essential component of your marketing strategy. Try different call-to-action button iterations to see which one is most compelling.
6. The ad format
To ascertain which format performs best for each sort of advertisement, experiment with PPC and social media ad variations. For instance, if you’re discussing your product or service catalogue, a carousel post could perform better. However, if an offer or discount is being communicated, it might not be as effective.
7. Hashtags
Use many hashtag expressions to see which one suits you the best. Compare “#lead generation” to “#lead” and “#generation,” for example. Check out the distinction between using and avoiding hashtags.
8. The intended market
Here, offer the identical material to two distinct audience segments rather than sharing two variations. This is important since various groups may have different perceptions of things like tailored content or remarketing ads.
9. A social networking site
In this case, you test it out by publishing the identical information on other social networking sites to observe how the audience responds. This demonstrates the communication style that works best on each social networking site.
10. The posting’s time
Users of social media are not always engaged across all channels. Find out, for example, when your target audience is online on Facebook vs LinkedIn. Then, for each platform you’re targeting, arrange periods of activity and dormancy according to geo-locations to obtain even more specific data.
Conclusion
One of the most crucial things a B2B marketer can do is do A/B testing. To sum up, A/B testing is a technique that enables you to compare the performance of several iterations of a website, landing page, email, or any other marketing message. It’s a crucial component of any data-driven strategy since it enables marketers to concentrate on the issues that matter to their clients and discover solutions to enhance their relationship with the business.
To conduct effective A/B testing, you don’t need to be an engineer or statistician. All you need is a fundamental understanding of how the procedure functions and a little bit of patience. Staying on course won’t be an issue if you adhere to the recommendations made in this article and keep your sights fixed on the goal (higher conversion rates).
Contact one of our internal professionals to learn more about why A/B testing is vital in B2B marketing. Contact us at (334) 635-9001 or info@themfinity.com with any difficulties.