When it comes to insurance agency web marketing, Split Test is an important tool, providing powerful insights into campaign optimization and conversion effectiveness. A/B split testing is also used in traditional marketing and advertising, although for the purposes of this article, we will focus on a specific aspect of web marketing split testing, i.e. e-marketing for insurance agencies. A/B split testing is an experimental approach used to ascertain the optimal conversion rate (click rate) for a website, landing page, banner ad or email campaign.
In the case of insurance e-marketing, two versions of the e-mail (versions A and B) are created, and then compared for effectiveness. The emails are usually identical except for one tweak that could, or at least in theory, affect your conversion rate. For example, Version A might contain one call to action, while Version B includes two calls to action. Or, version A may contain 3 bullets and version B contain 5 bullets. Differences can be completely overt or subtle. Insurance agents can also test fulfillment options. For example, which matters most to prospects, video on demand, live webinars, case study, blog entry or newsletter. Split A/B tests can test the copy of the outgoing message and/or the interpolation used for the call-to-action. Insurance marketers can then measure the fundamentals of important marketing campaigns including open rate, unique click-through rate, and overall click-through rate to name a few key metrics. Let’s review an example email campaign.
Maybe your insurance agency has a database of 4,000 potential clients, and you decide to create an email campaign offering a PPACA or Play Penalties webinar on payment compliance. Email version A, uses a short subject line. Email copy B is identical, but notes the speaker’s name in the subject line and email copy. The split test is sent to 2,000 potential customers each. All other elements of the email and layout are identical. Your agency can then measure which campaign had the highest success rate by analyzing the response fundamentals of each campaign. Let’s look at some hypothetical analytics.
Let’s say campaign A has a 20% open rate with 100 unique clicks and 150 clicks in total. Campaign B had an open rate of 28% with 140 unique clicks and 265 total clicks. The results of the A/B split test are straightforward in this case, although in other cases the results can be inaccurate, or the split test can determine that there is no effective difference between campaigns. The important aspect of split testing, assuming your agency has the skills and resources to implement and measure results, is that it allows the opportunity to experiment and improve with modest incremental effort.
Multivariate testing is similar to A/B testing, but it tests multiple duplicates of an email at the same time. For agencies seeking to test more email items at the same time, they can arrange two or more tests simultaneously to segment leads. For example, in the above scenario, the agency could run two A/B tests with four emails per 1,000 nodes, and then measure the results. This will provide more accurate results in a shorter period of time. It is also important to note that split tests do not need to be sent to the entire database. It can be sent to a statistically significant sample, and measured for improvement. Let’s assume that version B outperforms all other versions, and version B can then be sent to the balance of the list.
A/B split testing or multivariate split testing allows agencies to optimize their insurance marketing efforts. It allows them to analyze click and open rates, subject lines, email copy, layout, and call-to-action options. It is a great opportunity for agencies to measure, optimize, and improve their insurance agency marketing initiatives, to generate more insurance agency clients.