A-/B-Test: The basics of strategy

Before we look at the specific applications of A/B testing (or split testing), let’s take a look at the basics. An A/B test, also known as split testing, is a method in which two or more variants of a web page, ad or other element are created and tested simultaneously to determine which variant produces the best results. One variant (A) is used as a control group, while the other variant (B) has one or more changes that are to be tested.

A/B test in social media ads

Social media ads are an important part of many marketing strategies. By using A/B testing, advertisers can find out which ad combinations achieve the best results. This can include the selection of images, texts, target groups or ad formats. By testing different variations, companies can optimize their advertising spend and improve their conversion rates.

What do agencies like us test in social ads?

• Ad texts: Test different ad texts to find out which one achieves the highest click-through rate
• Keywords: Vary your keywords and check which ones deliver the best results in terms of relevance and conversion
• Bidding strategies: Test different bidding strategies (e.g. CPC [Costs per Click], CPA [Cost per Acquisition]) and find out which delivers the best results in terms of costs and conversion rate

Perfect for TikTok Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram Ads and Google Ads.

Simply play out 10 graphics to 10 target groups, each with 10 different texts.

• 10 x 10 x 10 = 1,000 different ads (simply put)

This will help you find the ads that really bring you sales.

A/B test for Google Ads

Similar to social media ads, Google Ads can also benefit from A/B testing. Companies can test different ad texts, keywords or bidding strategies to find out which combination achieves the best results in the online store. Through continuous testing and optimization, advertisers can ensure that their ads are placed as effectively as possible in the search results and that their advertising costs are minimized.

What do agencies like us test in social ads?

• Ad texts: Test different ad texts to find out which one achieves the highest click-through rate
• Keywords: Vary your keywords and check which ones deliver the best results in terms of relevance and conversion
• Bidding strategies: Test different bidding strategies (e.g. CPC, CPA) and find out which delivers the best results in terms of costs and conversion rate

A/B test on landing pages

The landing page is often the decisive factor that determines whether a customer converts or not. With A/B testing, companies can test various elements of their landing pages, such as headlines, call-to-action buttons, forms or the layout. By optimizing these elements, companies can improve their conversion rates and increase the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns.

What do agencies like us test landing pages for?

• Headlines: Test different headlines to find out which one attracts visitors’ attention best
• Call-to-action (CTA): Vary the text and placement of the CTA button to maximize the conversion rate
• Forms: Test different form fields and their arrangement to increase the number of completed forms

Quite simply:

• Change colors
• Change texts
• Change layout
• … and test and compare them against each other!

Reduce CPC with testing

Overall, A/B testing is an extremely effective way to improve the performance of marketing campaigns and reduce advertising costs. By continuously testing and optimizing different variations, companies can ensure that their marketing budgets are being used optimally and maximum results are achieved. Reduce CPCs, CPLs and improve ROI with this strategy!

By the way, you might also be interested in this:

Bidding strategies in online marketing

Google Ads, PPC, maximize your ROI! In online marketing, choosing the right bidding strategy is crucial to the success of a campaign. Bidding strategies determine how much you pay for clicks, impressions or conversions in your advertising campaigns and can have a significant impact on your return on investment (ROI).

• Bidding strategies in online marketing

The first, real Social Shopping Network

As a social network, Instagram has over 1 billion active users every month. This makes Instagram the most engaged network, even ahead of Facebook itself. Approximately 70% of Instagram users are under 35 years old. This is an extremely strong target group, also with a view to the future and the strategic development of their own brand. Products have been linked to Instagram for about two years. That’s why the function has long been an insider tip from our e-commerce agency.

Until now you have to create a Facebook Shop for it. Accordingly, the effort was too high for many people. After all, the own store had to be connected to Facebook to mark products on Instagram. Now everything is much easier, much more present.

Create Instagram Shop in the app, done. Now you can create products and link them in your photos and videos

That is why we wanted to tell you about it directly! Today we will take a first, basic look at the feature together. Most of the time we get very basic questions about Insta Shopping. This article answers all questions step by step.

• What is Instagram Shopping?
• Is Instagram Shopping worth it?
• How does Instagram Shopping work?
• How can you sell stuff on Instagram?
• How much does Instagram Shopping cost?

What is Instagram Shopping?

When you start the app, 5 icons appear in the main menu. One of them is new, the Instagram Shopping function.

The icon is not only present at the start of the app, but also in all subpages. It doesn’t matter if it’s a news stream, your own profile or the search for content and channels. Instagram tries something completely new with it, it becomes a social shopping network. If you open the shopping area, you will find the start page for the area here. From here you can search or navigate by topics. There you will find products, stores and other inspiration marked by users (or brands).

For example, here you can mark Influencer your products (or yourself).

Tip! Product videos instead of photos

As you have already learned in the article Instagram Video Algorithm, Instagram focuses more and more on video content. TikTok is already competing with 800 million users. Dior, for example, uses video to make your products more vivid.

This is Instagram Shopping for users. Now let’s move on to the business area that is important for you as a marketing channel. Under the respective product or store you will of course find further articles from the store.

Key figures: Is Instagram Shopping worthwhile?

The question: “Is Instagram Shopping worthwhile?” we want to look at in a little more detail. Also in relation to social commerce in general, or its potential for the future. First of all, let’s take a look at the question: “Is Instagram worthwhile?

Instagram or… what do companies use?

As described in the introduction, Instagram has over 1 billion active users per month. This makes Instagram the most engaged network, even ahead of Facebook itself. Reach and interaction, you can find both on Instagram. But are companies taking advantage of the Instagram opportunity? 76% of companies worldwide use Instagram. Here you can see the exact percentage of companies using social media platforms worldwide in January 2020.

Social Media Marketing: Advertising expenditure until 2022

The next important question, how are companies’ investments in social marketing developing? After all, this is an indicator of whether companies and brands trust in social media marketing campaigns or rather rely on alternative advertising formats. Here you can see the investments in social media advertising worldwide from 2007 to 2018 and forecast 2022 (in millions of US dollars).

Facebook share: parent company in focus

Instagram has been part of the Facebook Group since the acquisition of Mark Zuckerberg. Looking at the company’s share price, the changed marketing world is reflected. The value of the company increases and increases. Here is a review of the past year (charts from Ariva.de):

In the context of the annual review of the Facebook share, here is a review of the share price development of the last years. Yes, an investment would have been worthwhile!

Direct sales instead of indirect advertising

A look at the advertising investments of companies shows that social media marketing continues to increase in its relevance. The marketing mix will therefore continue to diversify, and in addition to new networks such as TikTok as Instagram competition, there will also be expanded functions, such as the Insta Shopping function.

How does Instagram Shopping work?

To the question: How can you sell things on Instagram? Until now, influencer marketing has been the big topic on Instagram when it comes to marketing products. Now, products can be created directly and marketed in an adorable way. Users no longer have to leave Instagram to browse their own product catalog.

The golden 20’s bring with them completely new marketing opportunities for companies and brands. In social media marketing, this new, extremely present version of Instagram Shopping is of course also worth its weight in gold. But not only for established companies, also new and young brands can present themselves more elegantly. With one click on the icon you are in the world of Instagram Shopping

Over 80% mobile traffic

Proportion of Instagram.com desktop traffic by country of origin in September 2020

Setting up an Instagram Shopping Channel is free of charge. All you have to do is create your own Instagram Channel.

Create Instagram account

1. Download the Instagram app, either for Android or iOS
2. Tip on “Register”
3. Log in with your existing Facebook account, email or phone number and tap “Next”
4. Type in your full name
5. Select a password
6. Enter your date of birth and then tap “Next”

Voila! You have created an Instagram account. With this account you can now set up the shopping function.

TikTok vs Instagram

Currently there are many changes on the Instagram App. The extremely prominent Instagram Shopping feature, as well as a new aspect that we noticed today while recording the Marketing Podcast. The competitive pressure of TikTok is forcing Instagram to change. You should consider this in your social media marketing plan. More about the current competition between TikTok and Instagram, is available here as an update in the article.