In the world of paid media, mature companies and budding affiliate marketers alike hate spending money on ads that don’t work. However, there’s a solution to correcting underperforming ads: split testing. This method, which you may not yet be using but will in the future, can significantly improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.
Why am I so sure you’ll be paying for online ads? Like many new affiliate marketers, I’ve realized that driving traffic through grassroots strategies is a time-sink. Contrary to popular belief, the organic approach to audience-building, such as hanging out in social media groups of like-minded people, is not free. It requires a significant investment of time and energy. More importantly, it’s not scalable to reach a critical mass of potential subscribers. After all, a click-through rate above 10% is considered excellent for an email marketing campaign (5 out of 50 people), and a conversion rate of 3% is quite good for the average e-commerce website. Most of us will need subscribers in the hundreds (if not eventually thousands) to reach our revenue goals.
Split testing can make a huge difference in those numbers.
The basic approach is actually centuries old, first used by doctors in clinical trials to determine which therapies worked best on a given aliment. The traditional name for it is “A/B testing” but marketers today tend to favor the more descriptive term “split testing.” Basically, split testing lets you compare two versions of any marketing asset, from email subject lines to entire landing pages, to see which version potential buyers like better. It’s a powerful tool to help you make data-driven decisions and boost your marketing results.
While split testing is statistics-driven, we needn’t get into the statistical weeds (thank God!) to demonstrate its worth. Imagine you’ve crafted the perfect email campaign promoting a hot new affiliate product and written two versions of the email subject line, each with a different approach. By sending both versions to two different subsets of an email list (each large enough to be statistically viable) and tracking open rates, you can determine which subject line resonates better with your audience.
But it doesn’t stop there.
Once you’ve identified the winning subject line, how do you iterate and sharpen your email copy to maximize click-throughs and conversions? This is where you apply the work of being a superior rewriter (see post, Content That Compels Clicks: 7 Steps).
Let’s say Version A of your email subject line, “Exclusive Deal Inside: Don’t Miss Out!” outperforms Version B, “Check Out Our Amazing Offer!” Armed with this knowledge, you can (and should) apply similar language and messaging techniques throughout the body of your email. Emphasize the exclusivity of the offer, create a sense of urgency, and use compelling calls to action to entice readers to click through to the product offer.
So, where do you find split-testing tools and how do you work them?
Fear not; many different tools are available, with prices ranging from free (open-source software, Google Optimize) to hundreds of dollars monthly for large-scale commercial websites (typically an annual subscription). Often, split-test tools come built-in to ecommerce website development platforms (e.g., About Dean Holland’s Internet Profits Accelerator Program – by a Certified Partner (internetprofitspartners.com). In any case, there are dozens of tools out there ready to download and start using to create and track marketing experiments painlessly.
Now, go forth and embrace the power of split testing. Experiment boldly, rewrite and retest relentlessly. As copywriter extraordinaire Eddie Shleyner says, “The day you stop running tests on your copy is the day you stop improving.”
Tony,
Thanks for highlighting the power of split testing in refining ad effectiveness! It’s indeed a game-changer for marketers, offering invaluable insights into what resonates best with our audience. Your explanation of its application and the practical steps involved is insightful and actionable. Here’s to embracing split testing and continuously improving our marketing efforts!
CJ
Thanks, CJ. I used Google Optimize at work. Affiliate System has a split testing tool, which I plan to use as soon as I need to.