Marketers Who Neglect A/B Split Testing Are Losing “millions of dollars,” MarketingExperiments.com Reports

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. – Online marketers routinely leave large amounts of money on the table every time they launch Web and/or email marketing programs because they rely on intuition instead of empirical testing.

That’s the essence of the clarion call found in the A/B Split Testing research brief just issued by MarketingExperiments.com (MEC). The research brief is currently available for free in The Marketing Experiments Journal (www.marketingexperiments.com).

“Many of the best marketers in the world rely exclusively on their instincts,” said Dr. Flint McGlaughlin, director of MEC Labs and editor of online research journal MarketingExperiments.com. “Unfortunately, those instincts are often wrong. As we demonstrated at MEC Labs in our most recent research brief – ‘A/B Split Testing’ – marketers who do not rely on A/B split testing are leaving money on the table every time they launch a new Web or email sales/marketing program. In fact, some companies are losing millions of dollars by not testing new marketing campaigns.”

A/B Split testing evaluates the impact of a Web page, email, letter or other promotional material by creating two or more alternatives of a specific message or product to determine which is more successful in maximizing conversion, click through, sales completion or other measurable objectives. Incoming traffic among the multiple versions is divided equally. Customers’ behaviors, as seen through key performance metrics, are tracked to determine which version works the best. This process may be repeated over and over until optimum performance is achieved, or a diminishing returns threshold is reached.

The research brief outlines three specific A/B split tests conducted by MEC and examines how the findings can be used to create more effective promotional materials. The results also show that the outcome of one test will tend to inspire questions that stimulate further testing and result in the best possible marketing efforts and materials. In addition to its empirical findings, MEC’s research brief also discusses proper testing protocol to help beginners get started with A/B split testing within their organizations.

“We all know businesses rely on effective marketing strategies to achieve long term success,” McGlaughlin said. “That’s why it is so imperative that promotional materials get the messaging right; and we know that the way to do this is through repeated testing. This is why our consistent message to marketing professionals is: Take the time to research and test. It is worth it.”

MarketingExperiments.com, an online research laboratory, has been named one of 2005’s best online marketing sites by KnowThis.com and is dedicated to discovering “what really works” in Internet marketing. MarketingExperiments.com tests every conceivable methodology to determine which online strategies and tactics are the most successful to improve conversion, drive traffic and sell product. Results of its experiments are published online in The Marketing Experiments Journal.

Those interested in finding out more about A/B Split Testing in their Web and email marketing programs can visit: www.MarketingExperiments.com.

About MarketingExperiments.com
MarketingExperiments.Com (MEC) is an online marketing research laboratory dedicated to discovering “what really works” in Internet marketing. MEC engages in primary and secondary research and publishes results in The Marketing Experiments Journal. To conduct relevant, practical experiments, MEC partners with clients such as the New York Times, Reuters News Service LLC, and USA Health Care. MarketingExperiments.com is a member of the MEC Labs Group and a division of Digital Trust, Inc. For more information, please visit www.MarketingExperiments.com.
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MarketingExperiments.com Media Contacts:
David Politis, Politis Communications, 801-523-3730(work)/801-556-8184(cell), dpolitis@politis.com or
Rachel Atkinson, Politis Communications, 801-523-3730, ratkinson@politis.com