A/B Testing 101: The Easiest Way to Improve Your Click-Through Rate
It sounds like a complicated science experiment, but it’s actually just common sense. Here is how to make your ads better, one step at a time.
"A/B Testing."
It sounds intimidating, doesn't it? It sounds like something data scientists do in a lab with white coats and clipboards.
But in marketing, A/B testing is actually very simple. It just means comparing two things to see which one works better. If you aren't testing, you are leaving money on the table. You are paying more for clicks than you need to.
Here is the simple, jargon-free guide to testing your LinkedIn ads.
The Golden Rule: Change One Thing at a Time This is where most people mess up. They create Ad A and Ad B, but they make them totally different.
Ad A: A blue picture of a laptop with the headline "Buy Now."
Ad B: A red picture of a person with the headline "Learn More."
If Ad B wins, you don't know why. Was it the red color? Was it the person? Was it the headline? You have no idea.
To run a real test, you keep everything the same except for one variable.
Test 1 (The Headline Test): Keep the image exactly the same, but try two different headlines.
Test 2 (The Color Test): Keep the headline exactly the same, but try a blue background vs. a red background.
What Should You Test First? Don't sweat the small stuff yet. Start with the big changes that make the biggest difference.
The Hook: Try asking a question vs. making a bold statement.
The Visual: Try a photo of people vs. an illustration or graphic.
The Social Proof: Try including a customer quote in the image vs. just your value proposition.
How Long Should You Run a Test? Don't stop the test after one hour. You need to give it time to gather data. Usually, you want to wait until a few thousand people have seen the ads.
Once you have a clear winner (for example, if Ad A has a 1% click rate and Ad B has a 0.4% click rate), turn off the loser. Now, try to beat the winner with a new test.
Testing Made Easy The hardest part of A/B testing is the grunt work. It takes a long time to manually create 5 variations of an ad where only the headline changes.
Stirling makes this effortless. You can generate 5 variations of an ad instantly. You can ask Stirling to "Give me 5 different background colors for this ad," and it’s done in seconds. This removes the hard work so you can focus on the results.
Start Your Experiment Stop guessing what your audience wants and start knowing. Create your A/B test variations instantly.
Go to TryStirling.com to get started.
