A/B testing – Learn about Lean Startup methodology

“The goal of A/B testing methodology in a start-up is to make your service or product impactful to the user or visitor. It is a magic tool which can change the values of your revenue, if used in the right way.”



You might have heard about the lean startup testing terminologies such as Split Testing, Digital Optimization, Conversion Rate Optimization, or Landing Page Optimization. All these concepts are quite similar in nature and fall under the A/B Testing Methodology in a startup.

For example, if a company wants to launch a new feature to its website, the company considers four variations for startup testing. The visitors are allowed to interact with these variations. During the experience cycle, some visitors may have a good experience for a particular variation and some may not. Finally, a variation that receives the highest impact is carried forward for launching.

The basic objective of the lean startup methodology is to compare a particular variable. And further test it for better performance and impact, so the visitors have a better user experience.

Microsoft Bing’s Case Study

The importance of this startup testing can be explained in a case study done for Bing which is a search engine operated by Microsoft. Bing wanted to launch a simplified feature to increase their digital optimization. This feature was one amongst many ideas and was discarded for some reasons. After a couple of months, an engineer observed the simplicity of the idea and decided to test it. In few hours of the test feature launch, the revenue grew up to 12%. And this was only because of A/B testing.

This one test variation increased Microsoft’s revenue by more than $100 Million. This simple feature became Bing’s most revenue-generating model. And this is where the benefits of A/B Testing come into play.



What can A/B Testing do to your product?

The case study makes it clear how A/B testing can increase revenue growth. A company that has experienced a revenue lift with the help of this lean startup testing knows how powerful it is as a tool.

It increases revenue and conversions.

It causes rapid iteration. Iteration is an action of repeating steps in programming. In simple words, rapid iteration makes updating quickly and helps gather accurate feedback from users.

One can learn what works and doesn’t work for its users.

Influences production and investment decisions in a positive direction while the decisions are data-driven.

The visitors don’t know they are a part of the test. Hence the feedback from the digital experience is unbiased.

Where to Do A/B Testing?

A/B testing can be done for homepages or landing pages of your product website or application to measure its conversion flows and signups. It is used to improve paid advertisements by testing Ad titles, content, and thumbnails. A/B testing methodology in a startup is also used for testing mobile applications to increase the user experience.

You can improve your marketing campaigns by performing A/B testing and digitalizing your lean startup ideas. It can also be used for testing email formats and to present the email content in such a way that it impacts the visitor to take purchase actions.



What are it’s Application in Startup Testing

The lean startup methodology can be used to test all the visitor touch points present in your startup. But what can you test for the visitor touch points? Well, you can test anything right from site pages, flow, pricing to testimonials, and all other elements that help visitors have a better experience.

You can not only test these elements on your website or application but can also apply A/B testing for your business model. For example, you wish to add the “Refer a Friend and Earn Rewards” feature to the mobile application of your startup. By applying the lean startup methodology, you can estimate the revenue growth you can achieve by launching that feature.

You can study and learn about the usefulness of the feature to your, startup. Through lean startup testing you can also study the consumer behaviour towards your newly launched product in a marketplace. You can introduce the new products as a part of your test and observe the impact of the product on the users. This procedure will allow you to judge the short term and long term endurance of the product.



You’re 10 Steps Away From Doing Your A/B Testing

1. Find a Testing Tool

There are many testing tools available such as Optimizely, Convert Experiences, and Google Experiments, etc. You can get these tools for startup testing with subscriptions of paid or free nature. The charges and packages may depend on the phase of your startup, revenue, and number of users.

2. Define The Metrics You Wish To Achieve

Frame clear success metrics for your testing purposes. For example, you can set metrics such as increase your revenue per visitor or increase your website conversions.

3. Define The Idea You Want To Test

After deciding your success metrics, decide for which idea you wish to conduct the test. For lean startup testing, you need lean startup ideas. So frame high-level questions to get feasible ideas that can generate revenue and conversions. And when you have a handful of ideas, screen them according to your desired parameters.

4. Define The Variations For The Idea

For a particular idea which you have decided for final execution, create at least two variations for it. The variations must be distinguishable. To make better variations, think from your visitors’ perspective and imagine their responses to it.

5. Map The Outcomes For Each Variation

After planning the variations you need to prepare a process flow on what will happen if either of the variations wins. Deciding the outcomes will ensure your decisions for the launch.

6. Create the Variations

You might need creators, developers and coders to bring the variations into reality. Creating variations will lead to changes in the site experience.

7. Measure And Activate

After designing the variations, you will need to find a measurement pathway that leads to your success metrics. These measurements will ensure easy tracking and systematic results. The variants need to be activated to measure their impact.

8. Analyze The Results

After activation and observing the measures, do a comparative analysis for the selected variants. The final variant will be decided based on its relative impact on the visitors.

9. Document Learning & Ideation

This can be considered as a surplus step. In this step, the probable outcomes are documented and discussed with the team for further testing. Based on the outcomes create new ideas that can be utilized in future lean startup testing.

10. Repeat

Repeat the procedure, as A/B Testing is a tool for continual growth. The ideas documented from the conclusions can be screened for the next startup testing.

Improve Your User Experience With A/B Testing!

If you wish to focus your potential towards a particular target which can attract more users to your product, you must execute A/B Testing for your startup. It is an experimental tool turn endless ideas into revenue-generating, plans.