If your mobile site is not ready for Cyber Monday, don’t worry—there are things you can do any time to get started on the road to optimization success. Even with the different technical requirements of mobile devices, it is possible to easily and effectively increase mobile engagement through multivariate testing. In fact, mobile optimization using A/B and multivariate testing and targeting has been proven as one of the most effective and immediate methods to increase visitor engagement, mobile application adoption, and content consumption. Here are a couple of tips to get you started:
1. Test your mobile campaigns. With relatively little in the way of best practices for the mobile channel, it can be difficult to know beforehand which content, user interface element, or aesthetic will be most effective with your audience. Make sure you test your mobile offerings before launching them so you can discover which content your users prefer on their mobile devices.
Discover what works by testing elements such as image size, image choice, specific words or phrases, placement, design, graphical elements, headlines, colors, variations in functionality, and dynamic content.
Use mobile multivariate testing as a marketing strategy to learn how to better influence and persuade visitors to:
- interact with a mobile brand, content, and functionality;
- adopt mobile site features in order to get information on the go;
- click-through to mobile ads and geo-aware offers;
- register for mobile accounts; and
- download digital products such as ringtones, wallpapers, apps, etc.
2. Continuously improve. Use mobile multivariate testing as a platform for continuous improvement. The testing process reveals not only what works and should be implemented, but also what doesn’t work and should be avoided.
Every new mobile idea, whether content, functionality or campaign related, should be put to the test to determine if it helps or hurts the visitor experience.
While some new ideas encourage engagement, others fail—sometimes significantly. But even with these failures, there is definable knowledge gained about what to avoid the next time. The ability to test a new idea and “look before you leap” is an unmistakable advantage that breaks the constraints on mobile marketing innovation.
What’s important to understand about mobile multivariate testing is that it not only shows you which combination of elements your visitors prefer, but it reveals which individual elements influence visitor behavior versus those that do not. For example, did variations in product image influence visitor behavior more, less, or the same as the copy?
Understanding how each mobile site element influences the visitor experience is the essence of a “test-learn-repeat” process that marketers can use to prove (or disprove) the effectiveness of new ideas and continually improve their mobile site’s ability to achieve—and exceed—their marketing goals.
It’s only when a solid testing capability is in place and the impact of any change is able to be quantified, that can marketers truly optimize their mobile site’s effectiveness.
3. Technical tip: Test non-intrusively. Many mobile devices do not support JavaScript or accept cookies, effectively rendering them invisible to tag-based optimization solutions. So, in order to test all of your mobile content and target all of your mobile visitors, look for a solution that will enable you to non-intrusively test and target without JavaScript.
Armed with these tips about mobile optimization, and the concept of the “test-learn-repeat” process, marketers can use, or disprove, the effectiveness of new ideas and continually improve the ability of mobile sites and campaigns to achieve and exceed marketing goals—all while saving precious time, money, and resources.
Kim Ann King is CMO of SiteSpect.
