One trend that I have been following for the past few years is multivariate testing (MVT). In statistics, multivariate testing is a way to test a hypothesis on a complex, multivariable system. In internet marketing, multivariate testing is a way to test several different elements at once in a live environment. A webpage has many different elements to possibly test:
- Imagery: ie. using human vs. product imagery for example
- Headline: the text headline is often the most important element when it comes to conversions
- Navigation: there is a lot of debate about how navigation can be used in terms of increasing end-actions
- Themes: how do you state your products selling points?
- Offers: the quality and appropriateness of the offer can make or break a campaign.
My experience with MVT (while I worked on the client-side) has been where the content of the website is served up in equal amounts through a dynamically generated website. By randomly generating different variations of the website, you can find out which iteration performs the best in terms of conversions. Some tests can be huge, with over 1,000 variants (if you remember from statistics, a half-dozen elements with a number of version shown in all possible iterations, can end up to have a very large number of total variants).
I like this type of testing, since it allows consumers to vote with their clicks. Seeing which variation produces the best end-action is often surprising for marketers. Some get their teams to bet on which elements will be most successful before the campaign starts, and they almost always get it wrong. Isn’t it better to let the consumers make the choices, instead of just making educated guesses? This information can then be used in other marketing methods as well.
Multivariate testing is just so exciting to me, since it uses the web to its full extent possible. Print brochures, or direct mail would not realistically allow 1,000 iterations, with such a clear view on what produces end-actions. The trend towards this shows that the web is coming into its own in terms of marketing, since instead of simply copying brochures or other traditional marketing methods, it is developing into something that has never happened before.
If you are interested in reading further on Johnathan Mendez has an excellent 5-part series.
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