What is A/B testing?

A/B testing in digital marketing is a research method that helps you to compare and analyze two versions of a web page, or other digital assets. Ultimately, it helps you to understand which version is performing better. 

For instance, you can examine the font styles for your site content. Say, you’re comparing the Helvetica and the Calibri fonts for your site during A/B testing. Now, you need to provide samples of both these fonts to your audience and measure what you’ve gained from their impressions. After that, you have to compare those two versions – control version (A) and variant version (B) to understand which version will provide the best performance. 

Now, in this blog, you will learn about the A/B testing process and its benefits. 

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The process of A/B testing in marketing

• Define objective

Every testing workflow needs a proper objective for performing it. Similarly, you have to define your goal for A/B testing in digital marketing. You may want to boost your conversion rate, sales rate, or click-through rate. Again, you may want to reduce the website bounce rate. So, whatever goal you may have, you need to specify it according to your business requirements and goals. 

 

•   Select a component for testing

Now, pick the elements for your A/B testing according to the test objective. For instance, if you want to improve your conversion rate then test the call-to-action buttons. If you are looking to reduce the website bounce rate, test the components like navigation bars, forms, layouts, images, URLs, etc. In this way, you have to select the right component before testing. 

• Test with variations 

In this step, you have to jump into the A/B testing. So, first test the actual version of your element. You’re already familiar with this version. As you already know everything about the version, it should be your version A. Then, implement some changes in your version and test it again. Now, it becomes the version B.

After completing the test procedures, ask some users to try both versions. Based on their feedback, you can determine the impacts of the changes.

• Split your audience at random

In this step, you have to ensure that every user has experienced both versions of your web elements. For this reason, you have to divide them into two separate groups. Then, let your first group experiment with version A, the second group with version B, and vice versa. By doing these, you can ensure that everyone has familiarity with both versions. But you need to provide both versions under similar conditions and simultaneously.  

Observing their responses, you can again collect some insights into those versions. These help you to understand which one has better performance. 

• Collect data from the results and analyze it

Finally, collect the data from your results through the web analytics tools. You can collect data points like conversions, clicks, time spent on the pages, organic traffic, etc. After analyzing these data, you can observe the differences between the performances of each version. 

• Finalize the changes in your elements

Now, apply your findings throughout your website, email campaign, or marketing materials. That means you have to apply these changes continuously, wherever possible. By initiating these changes, you can apply what you have learned throughout the A/B testing process. 

Importance of A/B testing marketing 

• Elevating user experience

Conducting A/B testing for the elements of your website, app, email campaign, or ads, you can improve the user experience. For instance, your current website has problems with CTA buttons, and layouts or maybe the site has an unresponsive design. Here, A/B testing becomes impactful. It not only improves your site’s performance but also attracts positive user behaviors. Thus, A/B testing results win changes which improves overall user experience. 

• Boosting conversion rate

Conversion rate is a significant factor that leverages user engagement, improves ROI, reduces acquisition costs, and drives more marketing opportunities. Hence, by applying A/B testing in digital marketing you can improve your site’s performance and convince more people to purchase from you, subscribe to your newsletter, or anything else. 

• Reducing bounce rate

As A/B testing improves the overall visual and behavioral experience of the users, it keeps them longer within the site. That means the visitors spend more time on your site. As a result, they value your content and prefer to make a purchase decision. It indicates a reduction in the bounce rate and an increment in the engagement rate. 

• Reducing cart abandonment

Cart abandonment indicates a situation when a potential user starts to go through a process of online order but leaves the process without completing the purchasing process. In this case, they have picked a product within the cart but never proceeded with the transaction. That means they have abandoned the transaction. That’s why it’s called cart abandonment. A/B testing helps to optimize the order pages and entices the users to finish the transaction. In this way, A/B testing reduces cart abandonment. 

• Making data-driven decision

A/B testing leverages the scope of statistical analysis from both the outputs from the testing of the original version vs. the updated version. So, you don’t need to depend on any prediction or guesswork. Moreover, it shows which version of your experimenting object drives better results quickly. Thus, it helps you to build better marketing strategies. 

• Mitigating risks

A/B testing in marketing works as a safeguard for your business. When you implement any changes in your website or app, you don’t know whether it will work or not. Maybe it will create a win-win situation or it will cause a potential mishap! But when you conduct an A/B test, you shouldn’t worry about any failure. It identifies the risks and issues immediately and saves your business from costly errors. 

Conclusion

A/B testing helps to optimize the performance of your website, online ads, and email campaigns. If you have conducted it in the right way it will drive better user experience, organic traffic, and a higher click-through rate. You can apply this testing on CTAs, graphics, email subject lines, copies of bodies, and more.