Improve SMS marketing with A/B testing
After crafting a snappy message, you hold your breath and press ‘send.’ Then? Crickets. If your response rate is underwhelming, ask yourself—is my SMS message as effective as it can be?
For an airtight answer, experiment with a variety of concepts using A/B testing. Then use that data to fine-tune your SMS campaigns. A/B testing is definitive, so ditch the guesswork and pull data from your customer’s behaviour.
How does A/B testing work?
The basic idea behind A/B testing is to trial various conversation-starters with your audience, and see which breaks the ice.
To start, create two messages: your original message, called the control, and a variation where you change one element from the original.
Next, send the variation message to a sample cluster of customers, and the original message to the rest. Then, analyse the results to see which message resonates.
Once you’re confident with your result, you can repeat the test with your preferred version and a new variation, until you achieve a success rate you’re rapturous about. The prime perk of testing is—you’re not acting on gut-feeling or someone’s opinion about which message will work best. Instead, you’re making data-driven decisions.
How can A/B testing improve your campaign?
Refining your campaign with A/B testing doesn’t cost much, but the rewards pay off. The right message can lead to improved conversion rates, higher conversion values, lower opt-out rates, and increased return-on-investment (ROI). Testing also promotes a deeper understanding of your customer and improves engagement, which is valuable beyond the campaign.
What can you test?
You can improve many elements of your campaign with A/B testing. Even changing small things can make a big difference.
For example, you may choose to find out:
- Is there an optimal time to send your message? Do you get better results sending your SMS on a weekend or weekday, first thing in the morning or at night?
- Which is the more effective call-to-action (CTA)? Trial various CTAs to see what motivates your mailing list.
- Does personalisation improve your success rate? Personalising your marketing using your customer’s name or other personal details may enhance your campaign. You won’t know for sure until you try it with an A/B test.
- Which offer works best? Try a couple of different offers to see which one your customers respond to.
- Is your copy as compelling as it can be? Fine-tune your keywords and SMS copy; experiment with different ways to word your message.
You can even split-test your landing page to make your mobile marketing campaign more effective.
How to measure success
For the most powerful A/B testing, lock-in a metric you want to improve and set a goal so you can measure whether it works.
Common metrics include:
- Sales and revenue generated from the campaign
- Click-through rate
- Number of phone calls or responses
- Opt-out rates
Although it’s tempting to change more than one element in each A/B test, don’t do it. It defeats the purpose of pinpointing your golden message. Start with the change you think will have the most significant influence on your target metric.
Build stronger customer connections
A/B testing is an easy and reliable way to make the most of your SMS services. Fine-tune your message based on customer behaviour. You’ll soon see more meaningful interactions and increase your ROI.
