DESIGN EFFECTIVENESS   |   POSTED ON 02.12.2015

There’s lots of talk about the importance of A/B Testing; two thirds of businesses are now integrating it into their marketing strategy. But do you understand what it all means, why it’s important and how it all works? Liquid Creativity discusses…

A/B testing (also known as split testing) is essentially a move away from guessing on which communications will work and moving towards confidence in achieving with your messages. In fact, it’s now the most used method for measuring conversion rates.

A/B testing can help any brand to learn how to:

• Optimise your marketing campaigns
• Better understand your customer base
• Develop more relevant content
• Improve ROI

It’s an efficient and cost effective part of any marketing strategy.

What is A/B Testing?

Basically AB testing compares two versions of the same campaign on a certain channel. These channels include but are not limited to:

• Website
• Social Media
• Emails
• Mobile Apps
• Landing Pages
• Digital Advertisements

And from there you can also test and compare individual campaigns on these channels such as a home page or a push notification.

But how much do the two versions differ? It all comes down to one element, whether that’s the size of a CTA button, the font used, or the colour of the background. An A/B test will measure the difference in the conversions.

Why it works?

By measuring the actions of buyers, A/B testing reveals what truly appeals to them. It also advances consumer engagement, campaign effectiveness, and marketer expertise.

Here are a few specific reasons why A/B testing should be a part of your company’s marketing strategy:

A/B testing increases engagement with customers – the goal of A/B testing is to improve interactions between buyers and brands by uncovering which marketing methods most resonate with people. Since this type of testing applies to everything, from more engaging personalised emails to social platforms, it opens up all channels to stronger communication.

A/B testing enhances campaign effectiveness and optimises programs for a company’s target audience -by trying out different combinations for a specific group of customers you can eliminate elements that alienate users, drive people away, or have no effect on conversion rates whatsoever. In addition, all audiences do not respond identically to a single campaign.

A/B testing enhances marketers’ awareness and expertise of audience preferences – it provides businesses with enormous amounts of data on audience behaviour. The more tests you run, the more robust your understanding will be and you can begin to make more intuitive choices in your marketing.

A/B testing is an ongoing process and not a one-off event. People, trends, and preferences change over time and you’ll need to respond accordingly. The best way to stay ahead of the game is to consistently test elements across all your campaigns so that you don’t neglect any opportunities to bring in sales and conversions.

A/B testing is revolutionising marketing because results are real and data is immediately applicable for making changes to campaigns. The real beauty of the A/B test is that the possibilities are endless. You can always learn something new and continue to improve their marketing efforts. It simply takes perseverance, creative thinking and consistency in approach.

We’ll do a follow up blog to cover some more aspects of A/B testing; the process, what to test and target segmentation – so don’t forget to check back.

Or you can learn more about A/B testing today by contacting your local branding specialist Liquid Creativity.