A/B testing is a method of marketing research. The point of this kind of test is that a control group of elements is compared with a set of test groups. The indicators change within the test groups to find out which of the changes improve the target indicator.
It is a hot type of research for several reasons:
- It is a simple and cost-effective way to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the product
- There are many tools on the market to perform quality A/B testing
- You can test everything with A/B testing: landing pages, marketing campaigns, platforms, and codes
- It is an easy-to-launch method of research that can perform a junior marketing manager or analyst of any digital marketing agency
Types of A/B Tests
There is nothing in the world you can't test with A/B testing. It is a very popular tool among marketers, designers, and analysts. Let's look at the spheres where A/B testing can be implemented.
A/B Testing in Campaigns
Digital marketing is a wide field, where you can test everything:
- Campaigns
- Landing pages
- Media mentions
- E-mail marketing campaigns
- Social
- Viral marketing campaigns
Within these blocks you can test:
- Usability
- Engagement
- CTR
- CR
- Bounce rate
We will not go into the deep details of each block but will show you on the case how it works.
A/B Testing Case in Marketing Campaigns
In 2013 Microsoft performed A/B testing on titles and captions in the Google search. They had great results and scaled the testing up to 32m people. The test helped the company to earn an extra $10m per year. That is why you have to use A/B testing – it works.
A/B Testing in Design
Design is something you also can test with A/B testing.
- Images
- User interface
- User experience on the engagement is estimated within the research as well
How to do A/B testing in design? Here is the case!
A/B Testing Case in Design
In 2005 Google made a test with ran a test of over 30 color combinations for their search results page. This series of split tests helped the company to get over $200m extra money per year.
Tools for A/B Testing
There are so many tools for A/B testing tools, we are going to mention the most effective and widely used ones.
Google Optimize
Google Optimize is a free tool that offers A/B testing features. There you can test landing pages, lead forms, and many more. There is also a minus of Google Optimize – you have to know the platform very well, that is why it is not appropriate for the newbies.
- A/B testing
- Multivariate testing
- Server-site experiments
- Personalization
Optimizely
This is the leading platform of the industry that has lots of CRO tools for any type of business.
Optimizely offers the range of the tests, where A/B testing is one of them. Differ audience segments and test personalized messages with Optimizely.
- A/B testing
- Multi-page testing
- Targeting & segmentation
- Full-stack
HubSpot
This is a marketing software platform, where you can perform A/B testing as well. There is a CRM holding your data which costs $800 per month for 1000 contacts. HubSpot is a cool tool for big companies and developed businesses.
- A/B testing
- CRM
- Lead management
- Marketing automation
- Live chat
Tips on A/B Testing
- Document everything: from small changes in variables to the big differences. Later with a large amount of data, you will more detailed picture
- Do not copy the tests of your competitors blindly
- Define your success metrics clearly, otherwise, you will not understand where a good result and where is not
Summary
A/B testing is a great tool for achieving the goals such as: get better engagement, a more effective user interface, get higher CTR and conversion rate. Use the tips we gave you to perform perfectly not only your marketing campaign but design as well.
