The Importance Of A/B Testing For Marketing

ClearBrand Marketing Podcast

Does your company have a beautiful website that isn’t getting the traffic it deserves?

You can advertise effectively, apply design principles to a tee, and still find that your company’s online presence isn’t gaining leads and sales.

The foundations of your marketing plan are critical for success. But if you construct a plan upon a foundation that isn’t effective, you’re essentially not marketing at all.

So how can you know your marketing foundations are effective?

The answer is simple: A/B testing.

ClearBrand utilizes A/B testing for marketing (or split testing) on a regular basis to constantly optimize both our own website as well as our clients. The idea is simple, but its importance for marketing optimization is hard to overstate.

For those curious about what A/B testing is, how it works, and where it’s most effective, we’ve put together the guide below. It tells you everything you need to know to understand why this type of testing is essential, so you can successfully implement A/B testing for marketing in your organization to get more leads and sales.

Hand pointing at monitor

What is A/B Testing For Marketing?

Sometimes called split testing, A/B testing is when an audience is shown only one of two different versions of a specific piece of media to determine which version creates more leads.

Even owners of beautiful websites occasionally wonder whether their online presence could be improved. It’s often easy to recognize that something could be better, but hard to know exactly what needs to change.

A/B testing provides a data-driven method of finding which content is most effective. It allows for easy comparison between two versions of the same variable to determine specific factors driving user engagement.

For marketing agencies, in particular, A/B testing is a great way to find changes that lead to the tangible results your clients are looking for.

No more stressing about whether you could have got more leads or conversions. When you employ A/B testing, you can rest easy with the knowledge that you’re using the most effective marketing and design techniques available to you.

Where Can You Apply A/B Testing For Marketing?

A/B testing can be applied almost anywhere on the front end of your marketing systems. It’s useful for testing user engagement with content such as emails, website elements, and product descriptions.

With A/B testing for marketing, determine which call-to-action or button color leads to the most clicks.

Test whether more emails are opened when the subject line is a question versus a statement.

Figure out whether specific background images lead to more interaction with your website.

The possibilities are endless.

A/B testing can be applied anywhere that two versions of the same variable need a statistical comparison.

Is A/B Testing Expensive?

A/B Testing tools can vary from free to several hundred dollars per month. But whether paying for A/B testing tools is necessary depends on the tested variable and the tools used to test it. Free tools like Hubspot & Kissmetric’s A/B Testing Kit and Google Optimize meet most users’ needs.

However, you’ll need a large user base to obtain statistically significant results. If you don’t have one already, it will be necessary to either pay for additional exposure or find a way to grow your user base organically. One option costs money, and the other costs time.

This is part of why so many users opt for free tools. Using A/B testing for marketing with a small sample size can influence outcomes by providing false positives. Startups and smaller companies might prefer to save money with free tools until they have a large enough sample size to warrant more advanced testing.

Those new to A/B testing for marketing will find Hubspot & Kissmetric’s A/B Testing Kit extremely useful since it comes with a comprehensive guide. Companies with experience running A/B testing often use this tool but may find Google Optimize more valuable due to its more advanced features.

Analytics on screen

Are There Times To Avoid A/B Testing For Marketing?

Avoid A/B testing when making sweeping changes to website content and when you won’t have enough time to test a statistically significant number of people.

Running A/B tests for marketing isn’t helpful when testing multiple variables. If numerous changes occur, running multiple simultaneous tests makes it difficult to determine how to achieve the best results.

The same happens when running an A/B test without the time or traffic to obtain meaningful data. If your sample size isn’t large enough, it’s hard to tell whether you’re genuinely optimizing whatever variable is being tested.

These are the two principal occasions when marketers should avoid A/B testing. If we can’t run our tests under the right conditions, we end up wasting time!

Does A/B Testing For Marketing Optimization Have Any Shortcomings?

A/B testing is primarily limited by sample size and test duration, but some individuals may be discouraged by the need for knowledge of basic statistics.

Only basic math skill is necessary when using most modern A/B testing tools for marketing. These tools can usually compile results and data in easy-to-read formats that simplify content optimization.

Like any other tool, A/B testing is more suitable for some purposes than others. Keeping your goal in mind as you consider the variables you wish to test will ensure you’re using it in a way that achieves valid results.

How Often Should I Run A/B Tests For Marketing Purposes?

Running regular A/B tests for marketing allows content to be optimized consistently, making it easier to stay on top of consumer trends and preferences.

As mentioned earlier, test a single variable at a time using the largest sample size possible to achieve meaningful results.

If you’re interested in running A/B tests to perfect your marketing strategy but struggling to find time to run them yourself, consider outsourcing your marketing to an experienced team like ClearBrand’s. Schedule a call with our marketing experts today to learn more about A/B testing and other strategies to improve your marketing.

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