A/B testing presents a profound method of improving your marketing campaigns and ads. Split your audience and distribute alternative campaign versions to see which performs better. Optimize your marketing output step-by-step and reach higher conversion rates.

UNCERTAINTY HURTS PROFITS

In order to maximize conversion rates, you need to consistently improve your campaigns, whether large-scale or ad-hoc. But mending the imperfections of your campaigns can sometimes feel like finding a needle in a haystack. What went wrong? Was the CTA button too small? Was the send time suboptimal? Did the subject fall short?

The problem is that every single tiny change can seriously affect the whole campaign’s success, and you can’t resort to guesswork while trying to patch things up. Thankfully, there is a more reliable way.

Welcome to the A/B testing. With it, you can gradually optimize your campaigns using data and data only. 

A TRIED AND TESTED METHOD

In concept, A/B testing has been around for some time, with implementation in marketing dating to the 60s and 70s. This simple method, where you randomly split your audience and send each part a slightly changed version of your campaign, ad, or landing page, distinguishes what works and what does not.

This indispensable tool will help you optimize all the relevant attributes of your campaigns and give insights into your customers’ psychology. To get the most out of your A/B testing, conduct an analysis or at least contemplate the results.

WORK PATIENTLY TOWARDS YOUR GOAL

Every small change can be decisive for conversion: a poorly chosen word here, a faultily placed link there. Here are some crucial areas to focus on in designing a campaign (email, in this case). 

• Subject: This is perhaps the most crucial part of the email – only with a well-made subject can you ensure customers even open it. Depending on the image you want to propagate, you can be “punk” and wild or formal and dignified. In any case, you must catch attention and open up a gap in the receiver’s curiosity. Eddie Schleyner from VeryGoodCopy.com recommends: “Work to create a curiosity gap in almost every subject line you write and watch your open rates increase.”
• Pre-header: Do not underestimate “the second in command.” You need to elaborate, strengthen, and root your message/intent in a relatively small space. While the subject brings attention to the email, the pre-header needs to make sure this email is worthy of it. Therefore, do not repeat phrases or words but rather complement the subject.
• Color palette: The age-old question: warm or cold colors? Using more neutral colors and playing it safe may be the way to go, but depending on your product/service, you may take risks and use more loud colors or a combination of palettes. Also, two cultures may associate the same color differently. Yes, symbolism matters.
• CTA: Ultimately, it all comes down to clicking the link if you seek conversion. Therefore, the placement and even the design of the container (button, link prompt, or image) matter tremendously. Choosing the right font does wonders, but you should also keep the text short and resolute (“Buy now” or “Learn more” are staples in this regard). In any case, the button needs to stand out.
• Send time: The A/B campaigns should ideally be sent to both halves simultaneously, as the conditions need to be as fair as possible. Unless, of course, you want to test the ideal send time. With that goal in mind, you can gradually arrive at the ideal “timeslot.” You may also appreciate one of CareCloud’s planned features, which will use AI to decide the ideal send time: email, SMS, push notification, or Viber.

When the attention span of reading emails is approximately 8-12 seconds, you’ll want all the edge you can get!

CHOOSE YOUR APPROACH

There are two major governing concepts of A/B testing. Firstly, you change only one particular aspect of the email, be it the subject, preheader, or the color of the CTA button, for example. Then, you send out both versions and compare their success.

With repeated campaigns, you gradually optimize your emailing step-by-step. It takes a long time, but it allows you to develop a solid framework for emailing. This works best for campaigns that are to be repeated or have a longer time span. Think newsletters and such.

The second one is a bit of a wild card and works best for ad-hoc campaigns and any short-span emailing. In it, you create two completely different versions of the email and send them to small portions of your audience. Then, you send the better performing one to the remaining, more significant chunk of the audience. Of course, in this case, you can hardly ascertain the reasons behind the success, but often, there is no time or capacity for the slow and methodical approach. 

BEGIN A/B TESTING NOW WITH CARECLOUD

If you are in retail, pharma, or e-commerce and experience significant business traffic, it is high time to introduce A/B testing to your marketing. What’s more, in this retention marketing era, you should utilize a solution that works with customer data. Therefore, a Customer Data Platform (CDP) is the way to go.

CDP & CRM CareCloud provides all the tools of the trade: a unified collection of customer data, complex campaign analyses, and finally, a custom-made campaign designer with A/B testing options available. With CareCloud, you can easily prepare email campaigns, automate them, and test them with A/B for optimal results.

Your campaigns shouldn’t be guesswork. Walk with CareCloud on a stairway to profit.