What is A/B Testing in Marketing?

What Is A/B Testing in Marketing?

A/B testing in marketing is one of the most valuable tools marketers can employ to get a better understanding of customer behavior. A/B testing can shed light on what makes customers purchase a product, download an eBook, or sign up for the company’s newsletter. A/B testing is also a tool that marketers use to determine which landing page or version of a webpage is more successful in getting the customer to do what the marketer wants them to do. 

60% of companies believe A/B testing is “highly valuable” for conversion optimization. A/B testing pages can give marketers an edge when it comes to optimizing websites, CTAs (calls to action), or landing pages for their potential customers. A/B testing can offer the following benefits to the marketing team:  

• Reduce pain points: One of the first things a marketer needs to do before engaging in A/B testing is research the customer’s journey on the website to understand where customers drop off due to potential pain points. A/B testing can help marketers determine if potential solutions to those pain points work, and whether they help convert visitors into customers. 
• Increase conversion rates: Tweaking the wording on landing pages or product pages can help increase conversion rates. A/B testing allows marketers to optimize language, images, and calls to action depending on the pages that result in more sales or sign-ups. 
• Decrease bounce rates: A/B testing can also help marketers decrease bounce rates, where visitors leave the site not having purchased or completed a sign-up, by helping marketers ascertain what methods could keep visitors on the site longer. 
• Assist in website redesign: If a marketing department is considering a website redesign, finding out what content works best via A/B testing can be a useful way to determine what to incorporate into a new website.  

Marketers also use A/B testing when sending email newsletters or other communications. They can optimize by sending test emails on different days of the week or at different times to discern which emails reach the maximum number of people with the best results. 

In order to properly conduct A/B testing, a marketing department will require a few marketing tools. Website analytics software is critical to marketers when conducting A/B testing. Heatmap tools can also give more detailed information about how visitors behave once they reach a web page because they can show how visitors are scrolling and navigating through the site.