A/B tests are used to verify two different versions of a specific piece of content to see which one is better. Almost everything you use online can be verified with A/B tests, including:

1. Websites and landing pages
2. Marketing materials
3. Emails and newsletters
4. Ads

The idea is pretty simple; suppose you want to test an ad, but you can’t decide to pick just one; you like both versions. These are your A and B ads. You display both ads to your potential customers and track their effectiveness to see which one is better (ergo, more attractive to your target audience). These two versions of your ads are frequently referred to as the control and variant versions. Ideally, 50% of your target audience should see the control version, and 50% should see the variant version. Only this way is the test conclusive. In their most basic form, A/B tests are about testing ONE CHANGE ONLY. Why? Suppose you have two very different ads. If you run A/B tests on them, you will probably find out which one is better, but you will never know why. Was it because of the colours? Or maybe fonts? Or the CTA button? Such tests aren’t very useful because you want to know what works but also why.

What are the benefits of A/B tests?

The most important benefit is one – you know what’s the most attractive form of your marketing materials and why (which element makes the difference). This way, you can improve your other materials and, in effect, boost your marketing campaigns. A/B tests are easy to verify and analyse; you don’t need any advanced tools to see which version is better. If version A got 80% of clicks and version B just 20%, you know where to go next. Additionally, thanks to A/B tests, you can attract more valuable traffic to your website, as A/B tests are basically about optimising your marketing materials. As a result, you spend your marketing budget wisely.

How to run A/B tests

In most situations, you need to set up an A/B testing system to run A/B tests. A professional marketing agency can help you with that. Today, thankfully, many marketing tools enable A/B testing as a basic feature. Things get tricky if you want to test something on your website. In such a situation, you’ll need to create two versions of it with two different links. Next, you can use these two other links and show them to your target audience.

How to make A/B tests useful

If you want to make the most of your A/B tests, you need to tick a few boxes:

1. Make sure the changes are visible: if you use two very similar fonts or two very similar colours, many viewers won’t see the difference.
2. Test one change at a time: as we mentioned earlier, you must know which change has made the difference; otherwise, it’s just guessing.
3. Don’t test everything: concentrate on materials that are crucial to your marketing or struggle with poor conversion rates. Testing materials that already perform well is a waste of time.
4. Decide what you’re going to analyse: If you’re after conversions, you have to track conversions; if you’re after visibility, you have to track visits on your website.

Here, we’ve just scratched the surface of A/B testing. You know the basics; now’s the time to find out more. Read the full version of this post: What Are the Benefits of A/B Testing for your Business?