7 Best Practices for Testing and Targeting

Testing is one of the most important factors in driving conversion and elevating customer experiences. It turns insightful data into useful information. The e-tailing group and Amadesa recently conducted an online survey of 160 merchants, Testing Ready: The Merchant's Cheat Sheet for Testing and Targeting, to try and help them improve their testing experience.

The survey revealed that 38 percent of respondents test every once in a while, 33 percent actively test and 28 percent test monthly. The main reason given for a lack of testing? Budget issues.

In order to improve testing and enhance merchants’ experience, the report outlined seven best practices for testing and targeting:

1. Try it. Testing benefits both large and small businesses, and neither can afford not to test (despite any budget restraints they may have). Get started with testing and keep learning along the way. Nike's "Just Do It" campaign serves as a great example here. The report suggests the following steps:

• keep a comprehensive list of testing ideas and share them with your team;
• start small by looking for quick wins rather than more complicated strategies;
• reach out to industry peers for advice; and
• adapt to changes along the way.

2. Think big, start small. Reach for the stars, but start with your feet on the ground. The marketing power of testing shouldn't be underestimated; a lot of thought should go into the plan you're going to put in place. The report suggests dedicating the following resources:

• establish a testing budget for a realistic plan;
• integrate an approach into e-commerce time lines;
• gain support at the highest levels of your organization, ensuring everyone is on board with your plans; and
• pull together internal resources to support development through analysis.

3. Seek short-term wins. Testing can become a drawn-out process that's made harder than it needs to be. Start with short-term wins that deliver real results. Be ready to react to the results you get based on strategic goals. This can be done by testing your most trafficked pages — e.g., your shopping cart, homepage, product pages, "add to cart" buttons and call-to-action messages. The study suggests the following:

• Start small with a limited number of tests and know the variables that will make a difference in a campaign.
• Review results and build visibility; doing so will help your credibility.
• Save anything from your testing queue, including creative.
• Be specific in the way you design your test. The more specific the better.
• Individually test items.

4. Process and timing matters. Testing usually comes in four waves: the first wave is launching the test, wave two is analyzing the results, wave three is optimizing the results and wave four is fine-tuning the results. In the first step, find the areas of your site that will offer details of user behavior, and focus on small changes. In the second step, review the results of your tests and share them with your team. Share with your team new areas of opportunity and any other testing ideas you may have. Step three is to verify the results, approve the winning combo, and design and implement new tests. Plan a long-term testing strategy in step four, incorporating lessons learned from other tests. Consistently test; you can never test too many times.

5. Target wisely. The survey showed that merchants find targeting merchandise and promotions by segment redeems a better consumer experience. Testing by segment should yield better results than just testing alone. For best results, the study suggests doing the following:

• use website analytics to find your initial segments;
• find which segments (e.g., geolocation, time of day, visitor history, etc.) are most influential and focus on them first;
• start with a small list of important segments and improve tests accordingly; and
• test a range of different promotions and merchandising tactics.

6. Build a long-term testing vision. When starting to test you want to think of short-term wins. However, it's long-term testing that will ultimately get the job done. Build on your short-term wins in order to turn them into long-term goals. The report suggests trying the following:

• build initial tests that gain credibility;
• suggest trying and implementing new technologies via your testing platform;
• showcase tests that have been run, highlighting valuable information learned; and
• conduct constant testing reviews, making adjustments as you see fit.

7. Select the right partner. You didn't think you'd be doing all this testing by yourself, did you? The report provides some guidelines to help you pick the right partner in this endeavor:

• Figure out how accessible your IT team is. Their availability will help you determine which integration method is best.
• Decide who will be in charge of the testing process, and be sure that you get feedback and guidance.
• Create an appropriate budget, factoring in vendor technology, professional services and creative costs.
• Your partner must enhance the testing process by sharing industry insights and best practices. It must be invested in understanding your product merchandising and the triggers that drive revenue.