Split Testing Strategies

Why split testing should be a part of every marketer's arsenal

Split testing is a powerful strategy for understanding customers and fine tuning your offer or message. The premise of testing in the first place is to try different ideas, with a goal of increasing the effectiveness of each subsequent modification.

Unfortunately, this is frequently not the case. Testing marketing messages is very much a trial and error affair. Much has been written about what works to make sales.

Different techniques exist that will supposedly increase an offers effectiveness. Some are crazy, some may actually help. Making changes based on common assumptions is better than just making changes out of the blue.

But the fact is that the only way to find out what will motivate your customers to take action on your offer, is to measure your effectiveness, test your offer, and review your results. And try new ideas.

There are numerous advantages to split testing. Two of the biggest are that it delivers more accurate test results, and gives near instantaneous feedback on what is working and what is not. Stop making incorrect decisions because of seasonal and external factors. Historically, testing online has meant trying one offer for a while and then switching it and watching for an increase in sales.

Using this "one after another" approach is often worse than not testing at all. It leads to decisions based on incorrect data. Lots of things happen over time. Wars, changes in the economy, not to mention normal seasonal factors that all have an impact on your customers willingness to pull out their wallet.

Simultaneous split testing levels the playing field. Testing offers or variations at the same time means that they are influenced by the same external factors. Results from "same time" testing are the most accurate, and are unlikely to lead you to false decisions. Quickly learn what is working and what is not Testing more than one offer at the same time gives you instantaneous feedback on which is making more money. There is no faster way to learn which test member is performing better. Testing one after another can take weeks before enough data has accumulated to be statistically significant. Testing offers at the same time gives immediate feedback. As part of an overall marketing strategy which seeks to improve conversion rates, split testing is an invaluable tool.