How to Conduct A/B Testing in Google Ads

A/B testing is an important part of a successful marketing plan that can help you understand how users interact with your content.

What is A/B Testing?

It’s a method of research that compares two versions of marketing content to determine which option provides better responses or results from your target audience. That information informs you how to adjust your marketing efforts to meet your audience’s preferences.

When to Apply A/B Testing

A/B testing is suitable for business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing. Use it to optimize:

• Email campaigns
• Ads
• Newsletters
• Web pages
• Mobile apps

A/B Testing Paid Search Ads and Display Ads

Using A/B testing with Google paid search and display ads can improve your digital advertising results. It lets you see which strategy is more effective at driving conversions, such as clicks and form submissions.

Here are a few ways to use A/B testing to gauge the effectiveness of your Google campaigns:

Bidding options: Various bid strategies can help you achieve optimal performance. Bid strategies include maximizing clicks, conversions, impressions and cost-per-click (CPC). Some strategies are automatic, while others require manual administration.

Targeted keywords: Keywords are one of the most important elements of a paid search campaign. Incorporating keywords in your content connects it to your target audience based on the terms they use to find information, products and services. Explore keyword variations or change match types to see which produces quality traffic.

Match types include:

• Broad match: Search terms that are somewhat related to your keywords
• Phrase match: A narrower search that uses a specific portion of your keyword phrase
• Exact match: Results that include word-for-word matches

Ad copy: You could test different versions of the same ad copy using different tones, including informational, casual, sales-focused, or encouraging with a call-to-action. You can also test headlines and images. A/B testing provides you with answers to see which version appeals most to your audience.

Landing pages: When your audience clicks your online ad, they should arrive at a focused web page that addresses the specific need or offer described in the ad. That landing page should encourage a next step, whether it’s submitting a contact form, subscribing to an email campaign or scheduling an appointment. You can evaluate the effectiveness of your landing pages by implementing A/B testing with different content and calls-to-action to bring in more leads.

Audience segmenting: When creating display ads, audience segmenting gets your ad in front of the right people. Experimenting with your target market and retargeting similar audiences allows you to evaluate which consumer will perform your desired action.

Let TouchStone Digital Teach You About A/B Testing

Optimizing your digital marketing campaigns helps you use your marketing budget more effectively and improve the chances of reaching your marketing goals.

Schedule a meeting with the digital marketing experts at TouchStone Digital to discuss how A/B testing can provide valuable insight into which content is the most compelling to your consumers.

Call us at 419-299-9000 to learn about all our digital marketing services.