Certain marketing aspects, like testing, always seem to grab more attention when it comes to online business growth. This data-driven approach isn’t limited to marketing; it seems like most of society now relies on data for decision-making. While data is incredibly valuable in marketing, it’s not everything. Marketing is much more than just numbers.

Image source You can’t have data without first having marketing campaigns. The creativity that drives results is like the chicken that lays the egg, providing the data that informs future decisions. This post will guide you through A/B testing in paid media, when it’s necessary, and when human skills like creativity, intuition, and common sense are essential.

What does “testing” actually mean?

Marketing encompasses various forms of testing, such as multivariate, usability, and content testing. However, in paid advertising, we’ll primarily focus on A/B testing. A/B testing involves creating two versions of an ad or landing page with just one element different, allowing you to determine which version generates more conversions. You can test elements like ad copy, button colors, creative components, landing page length, and much more.

The better-performing variant needs to achieve statistical significance, which Investopedia describes as “the likelihood that a result from testing or experimentation is not due to random chance but rather a specific cause. A high level of statistical significance suggests that the observed relationship is probably not random.” Typically, a 95% confidence level is desired to consider a change or variant statistically significant.

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When is the right time to start testing?

Many marketers adopt an overly “scientific” approach from the outset, meticulously analyzing every impression and click, and conducting countless micro-experiments with minor tweaks to ad copy and visuals. However, this approach can be limiting, as it involves fixating on small details too early. Successful paid media doesn’t always yield immediate, high-quality feedback or results. Channels like Google Ads require patience and observation to understand which adjustments to make. You might create an ad or make a change and then wait a week or two to see its impact. Additionally, there’s the algorithmic learning curve to consider.

So, when is the optimal time to start testing? It varies for each business depending on their growth stage, available creative resources, and industry. In paid media, everyone starts from scratch at some point. The initial promotions and strategies often influence the trajectory of your paid advertising accounts. In my experience, testing should commence once you start seeing some traction and desired results. For instance, if your goal is lead generation through form submissions, begin testing after you start getting some leads. Now, you might wonder, “What if I’m not getting any results and need to test to achieve them?” In that case, distinguish between testing and experimentation.

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Testing vs experimentation

In paid marketing, testing involves comparing a control against a variation. You “test” a new variant against an existing one to determine if the changes are statistically significant. Experimentation, on the other hand, is about using your creativity to craft various ads or promotions for your target audience to identify what resonates most.

It’s important not to confuse experimentation with Google Ads experiments, a feature within the platform. While some might consider this testing, I believe it’s less scientific and restrictive. Once you gather sufficient data and feedback, you can pinpoint what works and test within that framework.

Effective experimentation strategies

During the experimentation and exploration phase, having a strategy is crucial. On paid social networks, I prefer to create the ideal customer persona as accurately as possible, followed by designing 3-4 ads tailored to that persona. These ads should align with the client’s objectives, whether it’s conversions or web traffic. Additionally, I usually create a retargeting audience to test on visitors already familiar with the brand. From there, we might introduce more ad variations, experiment with copy and visuals, and let the campaign run its course, collecting data along the way.

This stage helps us understand how the audience responds to different messages, and the data ultimately guides us on the path forward. For instance, we helped one client increase their lead-to-sales conversion rate by over 15% simply by discovering that certain language and creative elements resonated better with their target audience. We arrived at this conclusion not by being overly strict with testing early on but by allowing the ads to run and then analyzing the results. The key takeaway is that the purpose of experimentation is to establish baselines for setting realistic expectations and goals for improvement. This will transition you from the experimental phase to the testing phase, where you can develop a testing model that allows for gradual performance improvements without the risks associated with trying completely new promotional strategies.

Transitioning from experimentation to testing

To simplify the experimentation and testing process, here’s a breakdown of the stages of growth within a paid advertising account and the recommended actions for each stage, based on my experience:

Early stage: Experimentation only

When starting a Google Ads campaign or account from scratch, focus on setting up proper tracking, implementing pixels, and other foundational elements. The crucial aspect of this phase is clearly defining your overall advertising goal and ensuring that your website and CRM are accurately tracking these results, whether they’re website visits or conversions.

Once you’ve established your primary goal, start building campaigns to enter the experimentation phase. For paid search, create campaigns targeting your branded search terms and, based on keyword research, some of your most relevant terms. Begin with something highly likely to produce the desired outcome, and then expand from there once you’ve established some baselines. You can find a guide on setting up conversion tracking in Google Ads here. In paid social, follow a similar approach but focus on website remarketing and a well-defined target persona. Establish your desired goal and test various promotions aligned with that goal. You can find instructions on setting up your Facebook Pixel here.

Consider setting up the Facebook Conversions API for more comprehensive tracking.

Middle stage: Time to start testing

The middle stage is when you’ve experimented with different offers, identified what seems to work, have baseline costs for these promotions, and are ready to start A/B testing variations of this offer more scientifically.

Growth stage: Refining your testing

At this stage, you have a clear understanding of what drives business within the account. The goal is to find ways to grow while staying within the framework that has already proven successful. Test very rigorously, making only minor changes to variations to minimize the risk of negatively impacting performance. Isolate larger, riskier experiments to their own testing campaigns, separate from those currently driving business.

Patience is key in campaign testing

The main takeaways from this advice are to be more flexible with new and early-stage paid advertising than some might suggest. While immediate success is always desirable, practicing patience is far more beneficial for your paid accounts and your development as a marketer. By not being overly reliant on data for early decision-making, you can be more creative and push boundaries with your marketing skills. Being open to new ideas early on will ultimately save you time that you would have otherwise spent testing minor variations of a single idea. For long-term advertising success, taking calculated risks is essential for establishing a stronger foundation for the future.