Split Testing 101: How to Generate More Conversions and Sales

Are you a business owner or marketer who is looking to improve their sales and conversions? If so, you’re in the right place. Running your own business is far from easy, but it is one of the most rewarding experiences you will have in your life. 

However, it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. Sometimes you’re going to struggle to generate new leads and turn people currently on your list into customers. 

Luckily, there are plenty of ways to improve your bottom line. One of the most effective and widely used strategies is known as split testing or A/B testing. 

Today we are going to look at several tips you can use to efficiently generate more sales for your business by running split tests on various marketing campaigns. 

What is Split Testing? 

Let’s start by defining the term split test. Essentially, a split test is when you take an existing marketing campaign and change various elements to elicit the response you want. For example, if someone notices that their lead magnet isn’t getting enough attention, they may split test the location of the link to see if changing the position results in more downloads. 

Recent surveys show that 44% of business owners use split testing when marketing their products and services. The reason they use this tactic is simple — it allows them to improve the success of their campaign without fully committing to a change. 

In other words, you can try multiple strategies across email, social media, and on your website to see what sticks. Now that we know the primary benefit of split testing, let’s look at several ways you can begin experimenting. 

Start with a Hypothesis 

Before you can start thinking about what to test, you should come up with a hypothesis. All useful split tests begin with an assumed theory. Let’s say you can’t figure out why people stopped opening your emails. You suspect that the loading speed is playing a role in the decline of engagement. 

You can either try a new marketing software, making images smaller, or remove unnecessary photos altogether. 

Our example would require the marketer to review data from customers that received the presumably faster emails. They would look at the old information and compare the results to the recent split test. If conversions are significantly higher, they can try to roll out the test to a broader audience to see if the sales and conversions remain consistently higher than the original copy. 

You should review your Google Analytics and email data to see if your theory matches the current information you have on hand. If so, you can start thinking about ways to test your hypothesis. 

Consider Essential Variables  

There are countless variables you should think about before you create your first test. The obvious question you’ll want to ask yourself is where you should test. Most people start with their website, social media ads, or email marketing campaigns. Beginning with one piece makes it easier to measure statistical changes. 

Each platform offers a host of benefits to those who properly split test aspects of their campaign. For example, testing your email starts with segmenting your audience, which can improve your open rate by 14.31%! 

Social media, on the other hand, is essential for brand awareness. In part, this is due to 3.81 billion people using social media across all platforms. Properly testing your newest social media add could result in more engagement, followers, and website traffic. 

You’ll have to decide for yourself which platform needs your attention and expand from there. Every company is different, so your needs might be different from the next person. Please keep this in mind when considering the different variables. 

Try to prioritize areas where you underperformed either statistically or according to customer feedback. If a couple of people tell you that your contact form is long and complicated, consider creating an updated, concise contact form and see if input and engagement improve. 

Experiment with One Item Per Test

Business owners and marketers make the mistake of trying to change multiple elements within one test for better results. While you could potentially see more sales and conversions, you’re putting yourself at a disadvantage. 

The best kinds of tests are ones where you can clearly point to one thing and say, “This piece made a difference.” If you’re testing several elements within the same campaign, you’re not going to know which part resulted in better results, and to what degree. 

When you identify the part that’s helping you shine, it’s hard to develop future campaigns. You won’t know where to start and whether specific changes you’re making are helpful. 

In almost every case, you’ll get better results by testing one aspect of each marketing campaign. Once you confirm your hypothesis, you can continue evolving with more tests, but patience is vital to your success. 

Review and Revise 

Finally, let’s touch on reviewing and revising your tests. We’re going to be honest, sometimes things are not going to go your way when you start experimenting with your marketing material. Instead of letting this idea scare you, use it as a motivator. 

Failed tests provide you valuable information about your strategy, target audience, and help give you a sense of direction when thinking about future experiments. 

Plus, don’t forget that if your test does well, you can see more traffic, conversions, and engagement across all of the platforms you use to communicate with your customers. 

You can use split tests across every industry, and on virtually every marketing campaign out there. It’s up to you to get out there and start tweaking your business for the better. 

split testing concept -DepositPhotos

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