RubenCorbo
Operating a business over the Internet is no different than running a mortar and stone shop. The process demands utmost customer satisfaction. And this can be done by delivering services or products that appeal most to the customer's specific preferences.
This is why the most successful entrepreneurs are those who constantly solicit for customer feedback and suggestions. After all, it is the buyers that liquefy the flow of profits towards the biz.
(Photo credit: Bruce Clay)
In an online setting, surveillance of the buyers’ inkling can take place through forums, digital questionnaires and e-mailing services. While these are usually effective, they can have major lapses – only visitors with enough time to spare in formulating messages for the company can participate in the discussions.
Plus, there is not guarantee on the objectivity of the reviews submitted. For all you know, some of the items in the site may have been written by the competition to mislead proprietors. This is an unruly ploy, but it does exist in the World Wide Web.
Fortunately, there’s a better alternative in studying the purchasing motivation and partiality of the consumers: multivariate testing.
Snippet of Information About Multivariate Testing
Multivariate testing is an experiment conducted by marketing experts to assess how certain website components are performing in terms of traffic and conversion.
In essence, it mimics the process of holding out two equivalent products and asking the consumers which of the items are more likely to be bought.
Web developers would then create two different versions of a web page and then checked which among the variants provide favorable results in terms of hits, sales and engagement.
Multivariate testing is different from A/B testing in that more than one element can be tested at the same time. Still, web visitors participate in the experiment unconsciously. The variants will be displayed in their screens, and their online activity will be recorded.
Among the things that entrepreneurs can monitor include:
- Click out rates towards links,
- Number of views on the landing page,
- Volume of items sold,
- Number of users who signed up for subscription,
- Etc.
It actually depends on the metric used for the test, and the primary goal of proprietors in conducting the experiment.
How Multivariate Testing Contributes to Online Success
Multivariate testing satisfies various principles in marketing that can guarantee triumph in the industry. For one, it gives businesses a clear direction on how to please their niche. Results from the test practically maps out the most viable steps that they can take to deepen the engagement of web visitors and boost revenues.
At the same time, multivariate testing helps in accelerating optimization process. Given that multiple components can be tested together, they can quicken the pace of coming up with designs to implement for the site. The very same reason allows entrepreneurs to enjoy liberty of dry-running their ideas.
Limitless elements for testing defy the boundary of evaluating ideas.
When these benefits are rolled together, they pave the way for endowment of competitive edge that may not be possible to acquire from any other means.
Multivariate testing increases the chance even of small businesses to have continuous flow of income amidst the tight competition. Given that adopting structures and designs can lure audiences into making an action, multivariate testing is the sharpest tool in slicing through company rivalries and bringing highest possible conversion rates.
Most Effective Ways in Doing Multivariate Testing
Before Multivariate Testing…
1. Assess the performance of the website – Prior to the experiment, it is best to step back and analyze the strengths and weaknesses of the site including plusses and glitches. Focus on design and web content. Then determine the areas of improvement.
2. Prepare for the test – Multivariate testing may be straightforward, but it is not a mere push of a button. Make a list of all the elements that can be tested and rank them according to priority. Test the most important components first. You may also consolidate the elements and separate those that need to be tested individually.
3. Bridge disparities – Come up with a goal (usually concentrated on addressing pressing problem of the site) and formulate hypothesis (probable solutions to the troubles).
4. List all the possible combinations of the elements to be tested.
5. Craft the variants and finalize them before running the test.
There are actually loads of programs that you can use to carry out the test. Most of the software can automate the redirection of users towards certain variants, even the generation of potential combinations and recording of data.
But this doesn’t spare them from technical hitches. Always be hands-on during the period of the test. Make sure that the test is running simultaneously and is within the expected timeline. Otherwise, you'll end up with a bunch of raw data that leads to no definite conclusion.
Then interpret the data wisely after the testing period.
Remember that your skills and knowledge is the most major determinant of multivariate testing success. Have a fill of information about the procedure going through with it. Only then can you have the right armor to thrive in the cyber marketplace!
This post is by Ruben who writes for Maxymiser. Get more info about Ruben on the author box below.
Some very savvy information. Marketers of all types of businesses would do well to read this post and develop testing strategies for their businesses that will give them qualitative information and results.
@Martin Casper, Yeah exactly, a master piece. I am a marketing executive and reading this article was amazing. Thanks Ruben.
@Martin Casper,
Hi Martin, I must agree with you there. When I first saw this article that was just my reaction: “this is something everyone must read!” I really do hope that more and more marketers will see this and read it. This is really different from what we have heard about tracking and testing. Kudos to Ruben.
Thanks for the comment.
Hi Martin,
You have an amazing post here indeed. I will call it split testing and that is one thing I’ve been planning on doing for some time now but have never given it a shot.
Another tool i know that can be used to track the result is Google Analytics.
Split Testing will be one of the things i will include on my TO-DO list next year.
Thanks for sharing dear.
@Theodore Nwangene,
I resonate with you on that, I’m one who has tried many times to do this but have not really brought it to a conclusive end! However, what Ruben is talking about here is not split testing. Like he said in the post, A/B testing (split testing) takes care of one element at a time but in multivariate testing you can handle different elements in your test at time.
Btw. the post is by Ruben Corbo and not Martin 🙂
HI Chandrack
Though I have not reached the stage where I could start doing the split testing and see the results. I think multivariate testing is enhanced version of split testing.
Thanks for sharing the great knowledge.
Sapna
@Sapna,
You are definitely right there. With split testing only one element is taken into consideration at a time but with multivariate testing, just as the name indicates (multi-) you can take two or more elements at once. What this means is that you can arrive at a conclusion much quicker than when using split testing.
Thanks for the comment.
Thank you everyone for the kind words. Sorry I hadn’t responded earlier but I was on vacation for the past couple of days. I should be having more information up soon enough, but yes this is definitely crucial as an internet marketer. Test test and test!
@Ruben Corbo,
It’s a pleasure to see that around. Looking forward to seeing you feature here again. Thanks for such inspiring post.
Hi Ruben,
Great post. As you say this is something that every website owner should be doing but many of us never seem to get around to it. I have done a bit of split testing but never done any multivariate testing. The problem I have is know how big the sample needs to be to get accurate results? Do you need bigger samples for multivariate testing?
Also do you have any recommendations for software to use and what would be the cost?
Many Thanks
Roger
Hi Ruben,
A fascinating post, I’d heard of split testing but not multivariate testing – so I’ve learned something new today. It’s a little too advanced for me to consider doing at the moment, but it’s certainly something I’ll want to try in the future.
You say there are lots of programs that do this kind of analysis – I wonder if there are any you would particularly recommend?
Sue
@Sue Neal,
I actually went what, multivariate testing? When I first saw the post because it was the first time I also heard of that. I’m personally looking forward to using this tactic for my website testings. Thanks for the comment.