A/B Testing

'A/B testing' may automatically evoke college day memories of sitting in stats class thinking, “I’m never going to need to know this.” But, as it turns out, statistics do have a purpose in the real world (won’t mom be proud?). ‘A/B Testing,’ aka ‘split testing,’ is testing with two variants where one is considered the ‘controlled’ element (A), and the other (B) is modified in some respect. By comparing the two variants, you can see changes, and be able to prove which choice works better.

You can have fun applying this to your marketing by testing items such as copy text, subject lines, layouts, images and colors and see how/why these choices affect the buying decision. And to keep your CFO happy, it’s always best to have tangible evidence that what you’re doing yields a return.

With A/B Testing, set one clear goal so you can pinpoint which specific element change (for example, just a title difference) yields the greater response. Too many modifications at once can result in an unclear solution. A/B tests aren’t limited to CTAs and emails. They’re useful for personalizing greetings, landing pages, and webpages.

What you test is up to you. Balance what your customers and prospects say with what they actually do.