What’s an A/B split?
Edgar KatzThere’s a term you don’t hear much anymore, though the concept is very much alive.An A/B split is the way marketers simultaneously test two similar offers to the same audience. Once the offer generating better results is determined,mr marketing for webit can be expanded to the world at-large.Say I sell Mabel’s Fish Juice nationally and want to test whether sales will improve more with Offer A (50% off) or Offer B (Two For One). Everything else (graphics, colors, etc.) remains consistent.My company distributes the coupons to every home in Ramona, Rancho Bernardo and Poway. Coupon A goes to every home with an even number, and Coupon B goes to every home with an odd number. Then I wait.Within 10 weeks I’ll know which coupon worked better. Now I can take the winner and roll it out to every home in America.A/B splits used to be quite common in magazines, newspapers and coupon inserts. However, the Internet has squeezed the publishing industry for profits and most communications vehicles no longer offer the option.Which explains why most print advertising sales reps, asked if they offer A/B splits, respond, “What’s that?”Like much of their business, A/B splits have shifted online. Smart marketers considering multiple sales offers will put up rotating landing pages on their website, with each offer getting its own page and equal time before the buying public.Typically the current offer is part of the mix to ensure at least a portion of your old business revenue stays intact.As traffic comes into the site, the pages rotate and the winning offer (i.e. the offer converting the most visitors into sales) eventually becomes the permanent page.Regardless of what you’re selling, at some point you’ll want to consider testing new services, products or pricing structures. Rather than committing to any new offer before you know if it’s viable, try doing an A/B split of your own, then run with the winning results.Admittedly, this means you’ll have to wait a few extra months to know which direction to take your business in. However, over the long run you’re sure to make more money.With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.
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