Content plays a bigger role than ever in a business’s success. Consumers are seeking more information before making purchasing decisions and they want to feel engaged with the companies they buy from. However, not all content is created equal and you may find that your current content strategy isn’t bringing in the results you want.
One way to make your content more effective is to consistently perform A/B tests on various elements of your content strategy. It can help you hone in on the strategies that work and eliminate tactics that are missing the mark.
What Is A/B Testing?
A/B testing is a fixture of the marketing world, but not every content creator has had exposure to it. Put simply, an A/B test is a randomized experiment where two versions of some item are presented to a set of viewers to see which one performs better. You can perform an A/B test on virtually anything – images, opt-in forms, emails, button colors and much more. More and more content marketers are relying on A/B tests to figure out which versions of their content get the best results.
Why Testing Works
We all know that quality content brings in quality visitors – visitors who are interested in your product and service and may be willing to purchase it. But how can we ensure that we’re creating the kind of quality content that attracts our ideal visitor?
The best way to find out is through testing. Performing A/B tests also eliminates some of the guesswork of content marketing because, let’s face it, our opinions and assumptions aren’t always correct. And it’s better to be proven wrong through A/B testing than to suffer with poor results despite all your efforts.
What to Test
There are a number of content elements you can compare using an A/B testing method:
- Headlines: The truth is most content doesn’t get shared very much. According to a study that analyzed one million headlines, 89 percent of content is shared less than 100 times. By A/B testing your headlines, you can zero in on the ones that are likely to get the most clicks and shares.
- Emails: You can tweak quite a few different parts of an email to boost its effectiveness – the subject line, the body text, specific offer language, testimonials and much more. When you run A/B tests on an email campaign or newsletter, be sure to test only one of these elements at a time to ensure accurate results.
- Calls-To-Action: The exact language used in a call-to-action can have a surprisingly big impact on overall conversion rates. The web development company Basecamp (formerly known as 37signals) A/B tested different versions of a call-to-action before choosing the most promising candidate. Subsequently, they saw their signups increase by 300%.
- Social media activity: A/B testing can help you make the most of your social media presence. You can test out different images to see which ones resonate better with your audience, tweak the wording of posts and even determine your ideal posting schedule and frequency.
When it comes to A/B testing, it is important to only test one element at a time to get the most accurate results.
Tools of the Trade
If you’re going to run A/B tests on your content, you’ll need the right tools for the job. Google Website Optimizer is a free tool that can manage most of your testing needs. But products from KISSMetrics, Optimizely and other vendors can help you monitor and analyze the results better. Your email campaign product probably contains built-in tools for testing. If it doesn’t, you can always set up an email test yourself. All you need to do is split your existing email list into two separate lists – send one version of an email to one list and the other version to the other list and see which one gets better results.
Performing A/B tests on your content may take a bit of time and effort, but this testing can have a big impact on your content success and, consequently, your bottom line. Why rely on guesswork and gut instincts when you plan your content strategy? With A/B testing, you can identify your strongest-performing content elements and combine them to create winning campaigns.