What Is A/B Testing vs. Multivariate Testing?
In marketing, there’s always the question in the back of your mind: “how do you know what is working?”
There’s no shortage of ways to test your marketing efforts for effectiveness. Yet, the two big types of testing both have names that sound a little technical: A/B and multivariate. If you measure one, you’ll get one type of result; if you measure the other, a different result. It may seem a little technical at first, but we’ll break it down for you.
First, let’s define the terms and get familiar with A/B testing vs. multivariate testing.
A/B Testing
A/B testing is a way to compare two versions of something and understand which version users prefer. You can use this method to get insights into web design, app design, and marketing materials. The goal is to have tangible data to make decisions, rather than relying on a personal hunch.
According to Harvard Business Review, A/B testing is a tried-and-true, field-tested method that’s been used for nearly 100 years. You can test things that are dramatically different, or you can test precise details such as color, headlines, graphics, and calls to action.
With these tests, you can answer big questions, including:
- Which design performs better?
- What makes people click?
- What gets people to take the next step?
Using both the A and the B versions, you let the test results guide your decisions.
Advantages
The advantage of A/B testing is you obtain meaningful results very quickly. You’ll instantly get a sense of which version is the better performer. Plus, you don’t need a ton of website traffic to do A/B testing. Since your results are data-driven, you can repeat with the winner and start a new A/B test with a different pairing.
For example, if you have two versions of an ad where A has a photo of water and B has a photo of a tree, with an A/B test, you’ll see which performs better. If it’s the water photo, that would become your next A version.
This method is great for testing everything from large design changes to tweaking headlines, graphics, messages, and colors. You can test websites, emails, and ad copy, and the outcome is that you’ll be confident in the direction to go with your campaign.
Many marketers start with A/B testing to try out big changes, with the results often leading to dramatic gains in optimization. You may find that one design is a clear winner, and this can provide a lot of guidance for design decisions.
What’s the Downside?
While you’re testing aspects of your design, you might miss a larger-picture context. This is the ability to test multiple components on your website at the same time. That’s why there’s another type of testing: multivariate.
Multivariate Testing
Multivariate testing demonstrates how various elements interact with each other and can give you insight into design improvements. It’s a more complex and intricate kind of testing in that you are testing different versions with different audiences. This process requires much more traffic than A/B testing.
When you have more traffic, it’s easier to evaluate responses to more than one component at once. You can test more variations in design and variations in audiences. One way to think of it is as running multiple A/B tests all on the same page, at the same time. Naturally, you’ll also need a much more advanced assessment of the results.
Multivariate testing is often used to boost conversion rates.
The results are going to be more complex and intricate to understand. The plus side is that when a natural winner emerges, you have significant testing to back up your next marketing decisions.
The Science of Marketing
At InnoVision, we like to say that marketing is part art and part science. Testing is strongly rooted in the science side of things.
This is where our scientific mind comes into center stage. Testing, whether A/B or multivariate, is where our team focuses on getting meaningful data. Just like in a science experiment you may have done in high school, it’s important to keep a few things in mind.
Think Like a Scientist
Staying objective about design is not the easiest thing. However, as the best scientists and marketers know—it’s all about the evidence. Staying objective allows you to remain clear-headed about changes in a specific design, layout, or set of words.
Evaluate Website Traffic
If you have a small amount of website traffic, a multivariate test is not appropriate. You don’t have a significant enough number of people to get meaningful data. In this case, you should go with A/B testing. When you have a larger amount of traffic, then it makes sense to move forward with multivariate.
Embrace Precision
In all testing, you have to be extremely precise. Change one thing at a time. This can be as small as switching a period for an exclamation point. It may be a tiny shift, but it can change the level of interest for the viewer. While being precise may not seem wildly creative or flamboyant, it will give you exact data that guides key design decisions.
Don’t Fall in Love
This is often not so easy. As creative people, we are passionate. We fall in love with color, shapes, photos, designs, and words. Yet, for the sake of testing, it’s vital not to fall in love with a specific design. Testing will give you the answers about determining which performs better—and converts. When you know this, you’ll be smiling and happy.
Test Everything
Sometimes it seems like you’ve “been there and done that.” But, not so fast. Test everything. Test the call to action. Test the placement of text. Test images. Test button colors. Test different pages. Test with different audiences. There’s no shortage of what you can test when you are seeking to understand what is most engaging to your users.
Let’s Test for Success—Together
As graphic designers and marketers, at Innovision, we are artists and scientists. We’re passionate about graphic design, advertising campaigns, testing, and marketing trends. We work with clients in all industries to get results.
We like to call ourselves the Anti-Agency because our focus is listening to our customers.
Let’s talk about how we can work together to test for success, connect with your target audience, stand out from competitors, and communicate value. We can even help you determine whether A/B testing vs. multivariate testing is right for your strategy.
We can’t wait to meet you. Please get in touch today.
