A/B Testing: Small Business Competitive Advantage?

We are aware of numerous companies that do not utilize A/B or Split testing as a marketing tactic. In some cases, smaller local businesses can capitalize on this opportunity. A/B testing, or split testing, is a method of testing advertising, in which a baseline control sample is compared to a variety of single-variable test samples in order to improve response rates. This testing method is often used to measure which single variable is most effective in increasing response rates or conversion rates. Many large scale corporations do not allocate significant resources to A/B testing within smaller local markets. By using A/B testing, local businesses are able to create a competitive advantage by testing and measuring online marketing tactics, such as banner ad placement, email campaigns, and pay-per-click campaigns. Simply running an A/B testing is not enough; the marketer should have a solid understanding of statistical analysis to determine the correct sample size, confidence level, and confidence interval. Check out www.sempo.org or www.webanalyticsassociation.com for additional details on A/B testing methods.

Next Generation of Web Analytics & Conversion Tracking

Within organizations, many of the departments work in silos to achieve a business goal and one department is credited with the success or failure. Unfortunately this silo mentality leaks over into the marketing channel distribution or communication that all Internet marketing tactics are separate interactions with prospects or customers. Generally, the last tactics prior to a purchase or lead is often associated with a conversion with no value associated with any other tactic to the prospects or customers. In reality, all the prospects or customers see is “ABC Company” marketing communications (i.e. email, banner ads, PPC, etc.). All Internet marketing tactics to prospects and customers have value and a cost. If you value your time and money, you should be measuring your interactions/marketing channel communications in a holistic fashion. This will lead to a collective understanding of your Internet marketing efforts and effective way to evaluate your online marketing campaign performance across multiple channels (Attribution Model).