A/B testing is a method of marketing research. The point of this kind of test is that a control group of elements is compared with a set of test groups. The indicators change within the test groups to find out which of the changes improve the target indicator.

It is a hot type of research for several reasons:

  • It is a simple and cost-effective way to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the product
  • There are many tools on the market to perform quality A/B testing
  • You can test everything with A/B testing: landing pages, marketing campaigns, platforms, and codes
  • It is an easy-to-launch method of research that can perform a junior marketing manager or analyst of any digital marketing agency
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Types of A/B Tests

There is nothing in the world you can't test with A/B testing. It is a very popular tool among marketers, designers, and analysts. Let's look at the spheres where A/B testing can be implemented.

A/B Testing in  Campaigns

Digital marketing is a wide field, where you can test everything:

Within these blocks you can test:

  • Usability
  • Engagement
  • CTR
  • CR
  • Bounce rate

We will not go into the deep details of each block but will show you on the case how it works.

A/B Testing Case in Marketing Campaigns

In 2013 Microsoft performed A/B testing on titles and captions in the Google search. They had great results and scaled the testing up to 32m people. The test helped the company to earn an extra $10m per year. That is why you have to use A/B testing – it works.

A/B Testing in Design

Design is something you also can test with A/B testing.

  • Images
  • User interface
  • User experience on the engagement is estimated within the research as well

How to do A/B testing in design? Here is the case!

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A/B Testing Case in Design

In 2005 Google made a test with ran a test of over 30 color combinations for their search results page. This series of split tests helped the company to get over $200m extra money per year.

Tools for A/B Testing

There are so many tools for A/B testing tools, we are going to mention the most effective and widely used ones.

Google Optimize

Google Optimize is a free tool that offers A/B testing features. There you can test landing pages, lead forms, and many more. There is also a minus of Google Optimize – you have to know the platform very well, that is why it is not appropriate for the newbies.

  • A/B testing
  • Multivariate testing
  • Server-site experiments
  • Personalization

Optimizely

This is the leading platform of the industry that has lots of CRO tools for any type of business.

Optimizely offers the range of the tests, where A/B testing is one of them. Differ audience segments and test personalized messages with Optimizely.

  • A/B testing
  • Multi-page testing
  • Targeting & segmentation
  • Full-stack

HubSpot

This is a marketing software platform, where you can perform A/B testing as well. There is a CRM holding your data which costs $800 per month for 1000 contacts. HubSpot is a cool tool for big companies and developed businesses.

  • A/B testing
  • CRM
  • Lead management
  • Marketing automation
  • Live chat

Tips on A/B Testing

  1. Document everything: from small changes in variables to the big differences. Later with a large amount of data, you will more detailed picture
  2. Do not copy the tests of your competitors blindly
  3. Define your success metrics clearly, otherwise, you will not understand where a good result and where is not

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Summary

A/B testing is a great tool for achieving the goals such as: get better engagement, a more effective user interface, get higher CTR and conversion rate. Use the tips we gave you to perform perfectly not only your marketing campaign but design as well.