None of this is meant to suggest that B2B marketers should stop A/B testing. It remains a valuable methodology for learning about business audiences by comparing what messages, designs and/or formats they prefer. Let’s just be more efficient and refresh our approach to digital platforms by following these three steps:
1. Determine what you want to learn before testing.
- Video versus images
- Pain point A versus pain point B
- Benefit A versus benefit B
- Audience A versus audience B
There’s no right answer here. So many elements of an ad or message can be tested. But it may help to consider what you plan to do with your learnings, so you can take actionable steps once your test is complete.
2. Build campaigns and ads to answer these bigger questions.
- Don’t restrict yourself to only testing a single difference among ad variations. Google, Bing, LinkedIn and Meta will introduce their own differentiating factors anyway. It’s OK to change more than just a single word, headline or sentence.
- Instead of A/B testing, make it A/B/C/D/E/F/G testing. Focus on crafting a set of great ads — even if that requires large differences among variations or 10 different variations.
3. Don’t forget the outside variables that could impact your test results.
- Be sure to double-check any factors that may have skewed the data, such as:
- How often did extensions appear with your search ads?
- Where did your video ads run?
- Which audiences saw which ads more often?
- Don’t avoid the variables that could ultimately improve your performance, but consider the impact they may have had on your test when analyzing results.
Completing these steps can provide the insights that may help you make better decisions based on real data about and from your target audience. Even with all the new complexities, A/B testing is far better than guessing.
Remember, the goal of testing is to ultimately find the ways in which your ads can achieve the most success. It’s OK to lean into what works, even if it’s not the most scientific approach.