Learn Before You Launch:  A/B Testing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday

Black Friday and Cyber Monday represent huge opportunities for ecommerce businesses. Unfortunately, lots of brands do themselves a disservice by not testing their headlines, placements, and imagery before the holidays roll around. Here’s why: Black Friday and Cyber Monday can account for the equivalent of 5.4 normal days of traffic, so it’s definitely not the best time to A/B test.

Instead, you need to figure out what works for your ads before the holidays.

The good news is that you’ve totally got this. Here’s your guide:

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Reasons NOT to Run Tests on Black Friday or Cyber Monday

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still tempted to take advantage of your traffic spikes and test on the holidays themselves? Don’t be. Here’s why:

• Skewed Results. Spikes in traffic can skew results while creating fluctuation of numbers from one day to another.
• Risky Testing. Testing is risky. Your good intentions might just lead to a decrease in conversion rate, instead.
• Expensive Traffic. Test over the holidays and you may wind up with costly traffic to variations that might underperform
• Increased Competition. Test during the holidays and you’ll be competing against huge brands and smaller companies who want a piece of the high-traffic pie.
• Ad Costs Increase. Not only this, but you’ll likely see an increase in unqualified visitors, leading to more cart abandonment.

Don’t subject yourself to all of this. Instead, test your ads ahead… like, now! Not only will you get better, more accurate results, but you’ll find yourself more prepared for the big day(s).
 
 

 
 

7 Smart Ways to Boost Your A/B Testing

Now that you understand why good A/B testing is so critical, let’s talk about how to do it before the holidays, so you’re as prepared as possible for the spikes in traffic that come with these major cyber holidays.

1. Increase Your Daily Budgets

 

 

 

 

 

 

Larger daily budgets impact the chances of your ads being served. When you boost your budget, Facebook shows more ads to your target audience. This, in turn, helps you make the most out of your testing period.

2. Create and Test Dynamic Product Ads

 

 

 

 

 

Shutterfly, a popular image publishing service, saw amazing results on account of dynamic product ads to the tune of 20%+ increase in click-through rates. They also said that the multi-product ads provide their business “a clean and engaging way” to showcase a variety of products.

With this in mind, now is a great time to create and test dynamic product ads and see how they work for your company.

 

3. Drill Down on Targeting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you done research on your target audience? If not, now is the time to do it. Hammer out the who, what, and where to ensure your ads perform as outstandingly as possible.

 

4. Don’t Be Too Drastic

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remain on-brand as to not throw off your loyal customers. Remember: you want to keep a consistent voice and brand. Even slight variations can make it hard for people to recognize your content. With this in mind, keep your ads fresh, but work hard to remain recognizable.

 

5. Focus on the Power of Words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Be sure to dust off your ad copy and create ads that are unique, on-brand, and relevant to your target audience. The more impactful your ad copy is, the better it will perform – both now and in the future.

 

6. Test Your Products

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which products catch the most attention? If you don’t know, now is a great time to test them. Not only does this increase your ROI, but it allows you to target your ads accordingly.

 

7. Automate Your Ad Testing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Automation helps you save time and effort. There are plenty of great platforms you can use to automate your efforts and save time. Vantage allows you to test hundreds of ad variations in minutes to streamline your ad creation and most importantly, return on ad spend. Do it now to afford yourself more planning and posting time as the holidays roll around!

 

The Takeaway?

Don’t wait to start dominating your advertising. Instead, start right now and get a jumpstart on the holidays. The more you can A/B test now, the more likely it is that your advertising will work for you over the two biggest ecommerce holidays of the year: Black Friday and Cyber Monday!