What works today may not work tomorrow. Marketers would be wise to take these words to heart. To stay competitive, marketers need to continually experiment with different approaches to see what resonates with their target audience as well as helps them see improved results and increased ROIs. This is where testing comes in.
As Jeff Bezos put it, “Our success at Amazon is a function of how many experiments we do per year, per month, per week, per day.” This mindset is not only the one at Amazon, but it’s well documented that giants such as Google and Facebook also run thousands of tests every year, and while most tests fail, the big wins they do come across due to this mindset more than make up for it.
Testing is the practice of running experiments to see what works and what doesn’t. This can apply to testing your ads, website landing pages, new marketing channels, budget allocations or target audiences, and it can take many forms. From simple A/B testing to more complex multivariate testing, the goal remains the same: to identify the most effective tactics for achieving a desired outcome, whether that’s increasing conversions, improving brand awareness, or driving more traffic to a business.
Personally, I’ve worked with a B2B client who had tested Instagram Ads previously, and as their last attempt had been a failure, the business had decided against Instagram Ads, labelling it as unfit for their business and instead shifting their focus to advertising on LinkedIn.
After carefully working with them on a tailored lead generation strategy, Instagram Ads was a channel I suggested to test. After testing it with a variety of different Ad types, and testing different landing pages, we were able to generate large numbers of leads for their business at a fraction of the cost of LinkedIn Ads. This client still invests heavily in Instagram Ads today, 18 months later.
On another occasion, we had a new client come in with abysmal results after working with a few different agencies. We needed to completely revamp their website, social media presence, and media buying strategy. On each of these elements, we rigorously tested different options in tonality, design, content, and targeting criteria in order to find the optimal mix for their audience. Within their first year, we could help increase their ROI by 600 per cent.
It’s a testament to how many tests and experiments we were able to conceptualise, plan, and prioritise in order to achieve the best results possible in the least amount of time.
But is testing always the right choice for businesses?
Why testing is crucial in today’s world
The benefits of testing in marketing are profound. First and foremost, testing allows marketers to make data-driven decisions. Rather than relying on gut instincts or assumptions, as many continue to do, businesses can use real data to inform their marketing strategies. This almost instantly leads to more effective campaigns, better ROI, and improved customer experiences.
Testing also allows for iteration and improvement over time. By running tests and carefully analysing results, you may notice that a certain tone of voice or specific call-to-action drives much higher results on others. Seemingly small changes, such as the change of a button colour or the pose used in a photo, can yield significantly different results, and all of your testing efforts help you learn more about your audience and their preferences.
These learnings can help guide your future content, enabling you to produce more effective content while simultaneously providing you with an opportunity to double down on a successful ad and reap the benefits.
Another reason testing is crucial is that it can help you optimise your website for search engines. By consistently running tests on website design, content, and structure, you can accelerate the improvement of your search engine rankings and attract more organic traffic to your website.
Finally, testing can help you avoid costly mistakes. By identifying ineffective tactics early on, you can avoid wasting valuable energy, time and resources on strategies or content that simply don’t work.
Potential gains from simple tests
Even simple tests can yield significant gains for businesses. For example, you might test two different versions of a landing page to see which one gives a higher conversion. By making small tweaks to the copy or design, you can significantly increase conversions, directly improving your bottom line with minimal effort and spending.
Another example of a simple test is testing different subject lines in an email campaign. By sending out two versions of the same email with different subject lines to a portion of your audience, you can see which one results in more opens and clicks. This tactic would help you understand how to write subject lines that your users might better like and interact with.
Should all businesses be testing?
While testing is essential for staying competitive in today’s market, not all businesses will need to invest the same amount of time and resources into testing, and many do not yet have the resources to instil comprehensive testing into everything they do anyway. For some businesses, simple A/B tests may be enough to achieve their marketing goals. For others, more complex multivariate testing may be necessary.
Frequency is also a key factor. Maybe you only have the resources to run a few tests every month or maybe it’s feasible for you to run various tests on a daily basis. However the situation looks for your business, it’s important to be realistic in terms of your internal capacity to test and adapt accordingly. If you don’t have the budget to be running thousands of tests every month, focusing on running the right tests is the best way to gain the biggest benefit for your business.
It’s important to keep in mind that testing should not be seen as a one-time activity. On the contrary, it should be an ongoing process that is integrated into the marketing strategy and team culture. Instead of settling discussions through seniority or a proverbial throw of the dice, the answer should always be to test and find out, if applicable and feasible.
Ultimately, the decision to test will depend on a variety of factors, including the size of your business, its industry, target audience, and marketing goals. However, one thing is clear: to stay competitive in today’s market, businesses must be willing to experiment constantly and remain flexible to pivoting as needed to maximise the efficiency of their marketing and the return on investment.
Testing is absolutely essential for any business looking to grow. By instilling testing into your marketing efforts, you can unlock new growth opportunities, efficiently improve the ROI of your marketing efforts, and greatly enhance your business’s overall digital marketing metrics.
By Bassem Saber, Partner and Chief Marketing Officer & Head of Performance Marketing at Igloo
