The fork in the A/B testing roadmap
Before we can explore all things A/B testing, we need to understand its purpose. A/B testing, also known as split testing, is when two or more versions of work (web pages, ad copy, visuals, etc.) are displayed simultaneously to measure which approach performs best with your audience. Simple, right? So now let’s buckle up and cruise into our A/B testing roadmap for eCommerce.
Where the rubber meets the road: A/B testing and eCommerce
Alright, so why should your eCommerce business use A/B testing? While we recommend everyone give A/B testing the green light, the eCommerce space has so many creative opportunities to experiment with product launches, sales, imagery, video, copy, CTAs, and so on.
If you’re playing devil’s advocate, you may wonder if testing multiple versions of your work is worth your time? Sure, you could spend all your time crafting one incredible campaign. But what happens when it crashes and burns?? What held it back? Why didn’t it work? Sometimes, we think we know what our consumers will respond to, and then…radio silence. Awkward…
Ready to shift gears? When you develop your marketing strategy with A/B testing, here are some added benefits:
- Insight into customer pain points
- Lower bounce rates
- Better ROI from existing traffic
- Low-risk revisions
- Informed marketing statistics to guide decisions
- Test results to implement across your business
Exploring every route with the A/B testing roadmap
There are endless possibilities for A/B testing in the eCommerce space. While you may think A/B testing requires a lot of extra work, there are so many simple changes you can implement and test.
What can you take out for an A/B test drive?
Email subject lines
Splitting your email list into two groups and changing the email’s subject line is a low-effort way to see what approach customers respond to best. Maybe your first subject line is a question, and the other is a fun phrase with emojis. Seeing the open results from this test will help you draft relatable content for your customers in the future.
Headlines and subheadings
Another quick way you can A/B test is to update the headlines and subheadings in your emails, on your landing pages, ad copy, etc. Try calling out a customer pain point with option one, and then maybe keep the headlines short and fun for option two.
Short-form vs. long-form copy
There’s a time and a place to write long-form copy. Unfortunately, you don’t always know when that moment is until you see your results. Testing a short and longer version of your content helps you see what areas people are looking for more information.
Design and page layout
Let’s say you’re designing a landing page for a new campaign. You could create one page and then duplicate it, adjusting some imagery, content, or the layout of the page. Then, lead half of your audience to one page and half to the other and see which page converts at a higher percentage. Sometimes the smallest change can tip the scale.
Calls-to-action
CTAs are another simple way to A/B test for social ads, sales promotions, emails, and beyond. What happens when you’re selling a sweater and one CTA says “shop the sale,” and the other says, “shop this look?”
Imagery
Playing with eCommerce imagery is so effective. After all, a photo can say a thousand words, and you want to make sure your product photo or sales post is saying the right words to your consumers. How does a product gif perform vs. a still image? Will a lifestyle image convert higher over product photography? Be creative and see what happens.
Send frequency
Here is an A/B testing method that people don’t consider as often. Companies either over-spam their customers or rarely pop in their inboxes, newsfeeds, and SMS messages. Splitting up your audiences into groups with different communication frequencies is a valuable way to see what amount of contact has the best influence on your customer base.
