What’s A/B Testing and Why Does it Matter?

What’s A/B Testing? Or maybe a better question is how do you know what you should be updating and changing on your website and/or email?

The truth is, your guess is as good as mine. I’ve always said that and I’ll continue to say that!

It’s no wonder industry titans like Microsoft and Google each conduct over 10,000 A/B Tests annually.

If you’re interested in running an A/B test today, feel free to checkout my A/B testing guide with examples.

A common strategy I follow when working with clients is to try and test everything.

Everything? No really, you should.

When I was working with a client to increase email open rates, click rates, and conversions, A/B testing guided our decision making.

I would even go as far as saying A/B testing dictated our decisions when it came to bettering email tactics.

For example, you would think that an email dressed up in fancy colors and images would be aesthetically pleasing, enticing and better yet convincing…

But, keep in mind the email needs to actually reach the customers inbox and the customer needs to open the email to even get to that point.

In this scenario, we found that plain text emails converted more customers. Yes, plain text emails. Why?

It has a lot to do with deliverability and spam filters. However, those aren’t the only reasons why plain text emails can convert more customers.

Your email list is unique so your business needs to meet them where they’re at and run A/B tests.

You see, without A/B testing many email variables like subject lines, content within the email, CTA’s, time and day you send emails, design, offers, and more, your guess is like I said, as good as mine!

And that’s just the thing, A/B testing allows you to rely on concrete data and results rather than your best guess.

What is A/B testing?

A/B testing, also known as split testing or bucket testing, is a method used to find which marketing tactic is the most effective and will convert more prospects into paying customers.

The method of A/B testing involves creating two versions of your marketing material.

This means creating Variable A of your email and Variable B of your email. Both variable A and variable B would be sent to your email list to compete for better results.

If you were testing email subject lines you would keep all the other sections of your email equal or the same on both emails.

In other words, when testing your subject line alone, you could essentially duplicate variable A or email A to create variable B or email B. Just make sure you changed the subject line (or whatever variable you are testing) for email B.

This ensures no other parts of your email have changed. It also saves you time.

Instead of completely re-building an email (in this case email B) you can easily duplicate the design and content.

The reason why you wouldn’t want to change any other pieces of your email content other than what you are testing is because it could potentially skew your data.

If you were to send two completely different emails to see which email performs best for a given conversion goal, you wouldn’t know what caused customers to complete the action you want them to take.

You want to test subject lines, content within the email, CTA’s, time and day you send emails, design, and offers one at a time.

Once you’ve gained insights to what performs the best in all the above categories I listed, you can build the ultimate email; which will definitely come in handy when it comes to larger email marketing campaigns.

Why does A/B testing matter?

A/B testing gives you a greater and in-depth understanding as to which tactics work best to convert your email community.

It allows you to identify room for growth in not only your email marketing but where ever you implement A/B testing.

Remember, not all A/B tests will generate positive results effects, but that can be a positive.

You know that old saying that goes something like, “Everything in life teaches you a lesson, you just have to be willing to learn.”

The same goes for A/B testing.

The ultimate goal is that you learn something from you’re A/B test.

Based on your results, you’ve either proved your hypothesis right or wrong. Either way, you’ve walked away with a key takeaway you can use toward future marketing.

Lastly, the data and analytics you discover will ultimately provide incredibly valuable insights into your business that will benefit the future of your marketing in the long-run.

If you’re interested in running an A/B test today, feel free to checkout my A/B testing guide with examples.

Summary

As a marketer and small business, you should always keep in mind you are creating content for your customer not you.

A/B testing allows you to understand the why in all marketing decisions you make while capturing invaluable insights into your business.

Without it, your guess is as good as mine.

When executed with care and consistency, you can level up your email, website, paid ad, and overall marketing efforts.