A/B Testing (Split Testing) to Convert More Online Customers

What is A/B testing (split testing)?

A/B testing, or split testing, is a marketing testing method by which one baseline control sample is compared to a variety of single-variable test samples in order to improve response or conversion rates. An example would be to test two different subject lines of an email campaign. A/B testing has been implemented for direct mail and within the interactive space to test tactics such as banner ads, emails, landing pages, or even entire websites to improve performance. You can also extend A/B testing to PPC advertising copy, alternative keywords, or PPC keyword match types.

How can my business or marketing department apply A/B testing?

You should always be testing ways to improve the sales process to reduce your cost per acquisition and to improve your customers’ experiences. I would recommend that you start with the “low hanging fruit” that could have the greatest impact on revenue or the customer experience. For example, an A/B test could be a simple as testing the color of the calls-to-action to improve the click-through-rate.

A/B testing can be applied to marketing tactics to improve sales or lead generation at a lower cost. In general, it’s easier to implement A/B testing with digital advertising because of the ability to make changes quickly and optimize the process. The findings from digital advertising can also be carried over to traditional advertising.

A/B Testing Best Practices

If you’re new to A/B/ split testing, here are a few best practices:

Define your goals. Clearly state what you hope to accomplish.

Determine how you plan to accomplish your goals. Keep it Simple!

What are you testing & why?

What is the variation you are testing (color, position, ad copy, etc.)?

Define the control and your variation for testing.

What are your expected results & reasoning?

Measure & Analyze the results through the sales or conversion process.

How do you apply A/B Testing to Internet Marketing Strategy?

You can leverage A/B testing based on geography, psychographics, customer lifecycles, etc. You want to develop realistic goals based on your target audiences. At first, I would recommend being targeted with your approach and limiting the test to a single market. It’s important to identify the greatest impact on the conversion process or sales process by modifying the internet marketing strategy slightly. Be sure to focus on all the results from the beginning of the process to completion and to communicate the results. Think about the effect the testing will have on saving time, money, and creating efficiencies.

Conclusion

If you haven’t started A/B testing, you’re wasting time, money, and missing opportunities. As marketers, we should always be testing to maximize performance and to reduce costs. Testing goes beyond just a subject line or ad copy. It requires focus, consistency, and planning. In addition, you must think about usability, branding, layouts, the purchase process, etc. There are numerous tools such as Web Optimizer, Visual Website Optimizer, or Test &Target to get started.

Financial Services: Increase New Accounts & Acquisitions via Web Analytics

Countless industries have made dramatic increases to their web-based marketing efforts as of late. In 2011 alone, budgets usually allocated to print-based efforts were diverted to online ad spending. The Internet Marketing space has proven to be an efficient means to market to specific clientele via various forms of targeting. However, as with almost every instance of change throughout history, there are still those who lag behind in adapting to the circumstances.

In the financial services industry in particular, we have noticed a sizable population of organizations that either lack in marketing in the digital space or are not monitoring their marketing channels effectively (if at all). Large portions of marketing budgets are still being alotted to traditional efforts like print or billboards, which is fine: But how accurately is return-on-investment for these channels being monitored?

If implemented properly with solid policies and procedures, Web Analytics can shine quite a bit of light on the performance of your web efforts as well as how much return traditional channels are really generating. Here's 3 ways Web Analytics can help:

1. Optimization for Increasing Loan Applications & New Accounts: In many ways, your institution's website is as important as your branch tellers and representatives. It is client-facing, has to serve up the information your customers are looking for, and get them to bite on additional products and services you offer. Web Analytics can help shine light on how well the site does at cross-selling and up-selling your clients and point out where improvements could be made.


2. Identification of Seasonal Trends: Different seasons yield different trends with consumers. This is old news to anyone in marketing. Monitoring what non-branded search phrases people are using to find the website on search engines can uncover gems to base marketing strategies on in the next month.


3. Monitoring Effectiveness of Traditional Channels: Web Analytical platforms' visibility can extend beyond the website. Want to determine how much of a return that shiny new billboard your organization has on the interstate is really generating? Using a combination of vanity numbers, URLs, and unique landing pages, you can measure its effectiveness at creating new banking and investment customers right alongside your website's data.

The list of benefits extends well beyond these alone. Not only can you optimize your institution's website, but you can also measure return-on-investment on other channels of marketing as well. Gone are the days of remaining blind to performance and the inability to compare and contrast channels. Use Web Analytics to increase sales and new accounts.

Want an example of how Web Analytics actually helped a Financial Services Institution? Check out this Case Study. Also be sure to Follow Us on Google+ to receive the latest news & tips on Web Analytics, Internet Marketing, SEO, and more!

Capabilities of Multichannel Analytics

One of the greatest challenges in the past has been effectively tracking traditional marketing methods like billboards, direct mail pieces, and print advertisements alongside internet marketing efforts.  This is much more attainable nowadays via Multichannel Analytics.  DMG's Web Analyst Brandon Wensing describes some of the benefits of using this method to yield imperative insights into your high level marketing efforts:

Monitor Phone Lines, Billboards, Direct Mail Pieces, and More Using Multichannel Analytics

Most people involved with the marketing facet of a company would agree that there are countless avenues to market with. Websites, banner advertising, e-mail marketing, direct mail marketing, cold calling…the list goes on and on. Over the past decade, it’s become increasingly important to monitor marketing effectiveness. Web analytics tools have been improving as quickly as the rest of the internet has, allowing for more dynamic, in-depth analysis with every new update. With these new updates and improvements, it has now become possible to monitor much more than just a website.

When implemented properly and in the hands of a web analytics ninja, platforms like Google Analytics can be used to monitor and track the effectiveness of more than just websites. Using advanced integration methods such as event tracking, virtual pageviews, and cross-domain tracking, these tools can be used to track everything from your organization’s social media efforts to phone calls. That’s right: phone calls. Call tracking is the latest trick in the analytical magic bag, using a hidden, blank web page bound to a specific phone number to track calls via “pageviews”. Call tracking isn’t the only trackable avenue of marketing that isn’t limited by the internet. Using things like custom phone numbers and vanity URLs, it is also possible to use web analytics platforms to effectively track direct mail and even billboard advertising.

As human beings, we can’t help but think in silos. In today’s marketing world, it is crucial that we break away from this old way of thinking and see how all of these facets and avenues of advertising are tied together. When data from all of these areas of marketing is combined, it can generate crucial business intelligence and reveal insights that could give your organization the edge it needs.