In Marketing, we have this term called “A/B Testing.” Basically, it’s when you send one person a bit of language (let’s call that “A”) but send another person a variation (“B”) of that. Or similarly, you might change the creative approach overall, or expand a data source for one of the groups, etc. When all is said and done, you look at the results from both and see which works better. Like many things, there’s more to that you can do but that’s the simplified version of “A/B Testing.”

Here at Good Marketing Group, we’re a little obsessed with words, images and data. We’ve been known to spend hours looking at a design or get hung up on one paragraph, or a section of a home page, switching things around until we get it where it belongs. That level of perfectionism is usually why most clients like what we do right out of the gate.

However, perfectionism only lives in a bubble. When it gets out into the wild, things normally must change. And what was put on your website last year, might not be connecting with your customers this year.

So, we need to A/B Test. We need to see what connects with customers and what falls short. We need to know what words customers are searching with and we need to use that language in our marketing.

However, it goes beyond just Marketing. Think of customer service. You’ve got a possible customer walking into your location and you immediately ask: “Good morning. What can I do for you today?” This is the beginning of a normal conversation that could lead in a variety of ways.

But what if you said, “Good morning.  I’m working on {insert menial task here} but give me a yell if there’s anything that I can help you with.”

Now, we’ve got an A/B Test:

(A): “What can I do for you today?”

(B): “Yell if there’s anything that I can help you with.”

There are pros and cons to both approaches (A puts the customer on the spot while B is a little more relaxed), so really it’s a matter of trying this test out and seeing which works.

Businesses should be A/B Testing everything from the way they talk to customers, way staff dresses, music that they play, layout of retail locations… you name it! At the end of the day, the worst thing that’s going to happen is that you are going to find out that the way you’re doing things is the best way. The best thing that could happen is that you increase sales and customer engagement.

My question to you is: what parts of your business do you currently A/B Test?