Quadruple Your Business With AB Testing
I admit, the idea of quadrupling your business with AB testing (or any kind of technique for that matter) sounds like a bit of a hyped up claim.But, before you disregard the idea and go somewhere else let me explain how it really is possible.
In fact, it's not only possible, most of the time it's not even difficult and you'll wish you'd have used this technique earlier.
So if such a massive increase in business is feasible why isn't everyone doing it?
These companies already are and they seem to be doing ok out of it:
- Amazon.com
- Microsoft
- BBC
- eBay
I've just started to use this technique myself and I've already quadrupled my mailing list subscriber rate after just two days of testing.
Ok, that's enough of the hype, let's get down to business with some facts and explanations of how you can use this technique in your business.
A Real Example of AB Testing
Many of the most successful marketers are compulsive testers, they split test everything. So what is split testing, or AB testing as it's sometimes known as?
It's really simple. To use my mailing list example I just swap the heading above the subscription fields automatically every five minutes, technically very easy to do.
Both headings are true, they have to be because we're not here to mislead potential prospects, but I reword them slightly and use a different emphasis.
For example at the time of writing this I'm split testing two headings, one with emphasis on "business mindset tips", the other with emphasis on "business ideas".
I'd been using the "business mindset" heading with reasonable but not great results for months now. However, I noticed that most people find my website in Google by searching for business ideas so I thought I'd test a new heading related to that.
It turns out after only a couple of days of split testing that four times as many people subscribe with the new header. That's an impressive result for the first test, I wish I'd done this months ago.
But that's not the end of it. What I'll do is take the winner of the two headings and then split test that against another heading.
Can you see where this is going? If I keep repeating the process, keeping the winner and split testing it against another heading I'll more than quadruple my subscription rate. I'll find headings which work better and better the more I test.
The best thing about this is that it's easy, free and it totally removes the guesswork, something I always try to do.
How Can You Use AB Testing
With internet marketing split testing is easy. You can use some code to automatically do the split testing for you, then use something like Google Analytics to create goals and track conversion rates.
However, it's not difficult in offline businesses either. Direct marketers have been using split testing for years.
They send out samples of sales letters with slightly different headings or text and see what converts the best before they send out the letters to thousands of people.
It's important though to only change one variable in each of your split tests. For example if you were to change the heading AND text between two sales letter samples, how would you know if it was the heading or the text which increased/decreased conversion rated?
You wouldn't, so it's important to only test one small change at a time.
A good way to track your results in both online and offline businesses is to use promo codes, especially if you offer a discount.
Wherever you usually advertise your business, try creating two adverts with slightly different headings. Offer a small discount in both but use a different promo code in each.
When your customers use the promo code to get their discount you'll know which advert persuaded them to purchase.
With that information you can easily work out which advert works the best. If both ads had the same exposure then it's simply the one with the biggest number of promo code uses.
Remember though, only change one thing at a time between the two ads under test and repeat the process, keeping the winning ad each time and swapping the loser for a new idea.
My Own Experience of Split Testing
I've used split testing many times in the past with great success. My biggest mistake with my mailing list was making assumptions that I knew what my subscribers wanted and not to split test from the start.
I also split test the actual emails I send out, sending out the same email to two different groups but changing only the subject line.
It's surprising how different subject lines (effectively a sales letter heading) can make a massive difference to the email open rates.
In the past I've also split tested sales letters on my websites. Tweaking and testing the headline has literally turned some of my product sales from one or two a month to fifteen or more.
Google AdWords is a great advertising service which makes split testing so easy you'd be crazy not to do it.
I used AdWords for about a year and split tested right to the point where Google scored me 10/10 for my keywords/adverts/landing page combinations. This made my ads much cheaper and more cost effective.
I also split tested the AdWords headings and text until click though rates were around 20%. They started off at below 1% in the early days. Conversion rates for people who purchased/subscribed were well into the double figures too.
In conclusion, split testing really works and using it will give you a massive competitive advantage if your competitors aren't using it. They won't have a clue how you're managing to continually out sell them.
About the Author
Jason is a freelance Software Engineer who is a keen blogger, has run a number of online businesses and is also in the property letting business. His interests include researching and teaching the business mindset, his goal being to learn all there is to know about how to be a successful entrepreneur and to pass this information on to others. For more information visit: http://BusinessMindsetExpert.com or follow him at http://Twitter.com/JRKtm
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