A/B Testing Can Improve Your Direct Marketing Efforts

“Our last promotional O-mailer offered recipients a pair of tickets to the Olympus FireFestival when they purchased two or more ‘Olympiad’ torches,” Marka noted. “Next time, we could test giving away a pack of Lucy’s new matches instead and see whether that promotion outperforms the reigning control group.”

“I get it,” Zoot started, “if this new offer sells more, then it’ll become the new A piece.”

“Then we can test it against a new B message that offers, say, a free sales call from Zoot!” Numo suggested with excitement.

“That’s interesting, Numo,” Marka said dismissively. “Of course, the offer is just one of many components we can change up. Others include:

• Copy text/header
• Images
• Layout
• Design colors used
• Time sent (for O-mail)

“Good talk, tribe,” Marka concluded. “Let’s reconvene next week and we’ll discuss three keys to A/B testing success.”

Today’s FIRE! Point
A/B testing allows printing companies to fine-tune their direct marketing campaigns based on what has proven to garner better results. A/B testing involves splitting the campaign into two groups—the A control segment and the B test segment. The B marketing is exactly the same as the A except for one changed variable. Then the A and B pieces are distributed to two different but equal- and substantial-size recipient groups. If the B group does better, it becomes the new A control. There are many elements an A/B test can change up, including the offer, design, copy, etc.

A/B Testing in Action
Hyundai Uses Control-Variable Testing to Increase Website Conversion Rates

The Korean car maker used A/B testing to evaluate different elements on its landing page in order to determine which combination worked best. The test helped it to increase requests for test drive by 62 percent and realize a 208 percent increase in clickthroughs.

Next week: The FEI tribe discusses three keys to A/B testing success.