HubSpot A/B Testing for Conversion and Leads

Hubspot A/B testing is an excellent way for marketers to boost conversion.

You are familiar with personas and know the best marketing practices. But you still make assumptions about how your audience will respond to your marketing efforts. Such assumptions include:

• What subject line would entice them to read an email
• What landing page design will encourage them to submit a form.

Even educated assumptions indicate that decisions are not based on data, and this is a crucial point. A/B testing provides support for your marketing decisions based on data.

HubSpot provides some excellent tools for facilitating the setup of A/B tests.

How Does HubSpot A/B Testing Work?

To conduct an A/B test, you must develop two copies of a single piece of content, each with a single variable altered. Then, you will present these two versions to two audiences to determine which performs better over a specified period.

A/B testing allows marketers to compare the performance of different versions of marketing content.

How to Convert More Leads with A/B Testing in HubSpot

Open rates and clicks are two metrics that should be considered for A/B testing in email. When designing an experiment, you will want to set your objectives in one of these areas.

1. Email Open Rates

The subject line and preview text are crucial to testing your open rates. These are almost the only two components of the email your audience will see, and their decision to open the email will depend on how engaging and fascinating the subject line is.

Experiment with action-oriented terms and the value your message delivers or promises. Are you effectively addressing a pain issue for your audience? There is frequently a tight line between attention-grabbing topic headings and clickbaits.

Here are three straightforward A/B tests for your topic line:

• Use a question vs. a statement.
• Include a token for personalization.
• Include or omit a term evoking urgency.

Remember to send marketing emails from a real person’s name and email address rather than a generic corporation address to increase open rates. HubSpot’s reporting instantly breaks down the outcomes of your A/B test, allowing you to increase audience engagement.

2. Clicks on Emails

Once you’ve determined the most effective subject line, you must maximize clicks within the email. Most marketing emails are not sent only to convey information; they seek to engage the reader.

While the subject of your email will be the key determinant of audience interest, you may still optimize your clicks with A/B tests.

Attempt these tests:

• Experiment with two various CTAs
• Change header images
• Compare the effectiveness of the long and short versions of the body copy
• Examine two distinct offerings

3. Website and Landing Pages Optimization

Landing pages are developed with one objective in mind: conversion. Any split test should aim to increase your page’s conversion rate, measured by clicks on your calls-to-action or form submissions.

Like the A/B testing tool for emails, HubSpot’s A/B testing tool for landing pages is simple. Your page variants will be distributed evenly throughout your visitor traffic.

Here are four A/B tests that will immediately impact your website, blog, and landing pages.

Images

Images are a wonderful area to begin A/B testing on your landing pages because they impact the visitor’s experience most. Consider what combinations of hero and secondary photos will be most captivating to your audience, and test out several permutations.

Call-to-actions

CTAs are another excellent candidate for A/B testing. Your CTAs are the doorway to your landing pages; therefore, you want them to be as engaging and appealing as possible to visitors.

One quick and easy test is to compare the colors of your call-to-action buttons to find if one color drives more engagement than another. You can also test the copy within the CTA and its placement on the page.

Video or Testimonial

Try a page with and without a piece of validation content, such as a video or a testimonial. While your instincts may tell you that you should always include this type of information on your pages, sometimes the maximum conversion rate is achieved with a basic landing page.

Forms

Some pages are long enough to make the placement of your form a deciding factor. Consider checking whether header and footer forms make sense from an “always available” perspective. You can also test if a form should appear in the sidebar or the main content.

Besides checking the form placement, you can compare the number of form submissions for embedded forms against popup modal forms.

HubSpot A/B Testing Best Methods

Follow these best practices when conducting A/B tests to ensure clean data and accurate results.

• Test one element at a time.
• Avoid mid-test modifications.
• Collect a statistically significant sample size.

A/B testing gives incredible chances to optimize email and landing page conversions. If you are not conducting A/B tests, you miss out on the potential to increase your lead-generating outcomes.

To sum up

HubSpot’s A/B testing provides a high-level explanation of how A/B testing functions in digital marketing. To get started, you’ll need to produce two copies of your marketing content, display them to your target audience, and track the metrics that matter to you.

By A/B testing various components of your website or blog post, you will determine which content lines are successful, which are not, which are more labor-intensive to develop, and which ones do not convert particularly well.

There are two metrics that are important to consider for A/B tests in emails: open rates and clicks. When setting up an experiment, you’ll want to focus on one of these two areas when setting your goals.

A/B Testing for Email Opens

Testing your open rates is all about your subject line and preview text. These are just about the only two components of the email that your audience will definitely see, and their decision of whether or not to open the email will come down to how interesting and engaging your subject line is.

Test out action-oriented words, and also play around with the value that your message is delivering or promising. Are you succinctly addressing an audience pain point? Often, there is a fine line between eye-catching topics headlines and click-bait.

Here are three simple A/B tests to try in your subject line:

• Use a question vs. a statement
• Include a personalization token
• Include/exclude a word prompting urgency

Remember to always send marketing emails from a real person’s name and email address over a generic company email address to boost open rates as well. HubSpot’s reporting quickly breaks down the results of your A/B test and lets you improve engagement with your audience. 

A/B Testing for Email Clicks

Once you’ve identified the best subject line, it’s time to look at maximizing your clicks within the email itself. Most marketing emails are not sent to simply communicate information; they are looking to generate reader engagement.

While the topic of your email will be the primary factor in determining audience interest, you can still work towards optimizing your clicks using A/B tests.

A few tests to try:

• Experiment with two different CTAs
• Vary the header images
• Compare engagement for long and short versions of body copy
• Test two different offers

Optimize Your HubSpot Landing Pages and Website Pages Using A/B Tests

Landing pages are constructed with a single goal in mind: conversion. Any split test should be geared towards increasing your page conversion rate, either via clicks on your calls-to-action or submissions on your forms. 

Just like the email A/B testing tool, HubSpot’s A/B testing tool for landing pages is very easy to implement. Your page variations will be split 50/50 across your visitor traffic. 

Here are four A/B tests you can run on your website, blog, and landing pages that will make an immediate impact.

Images

The visual elements of your website have the largest impact on the visitor’s experience, which makes images a great place to start with A/B testing on your landing pages. Try out different combinations of hero and secondary images, and consider what will be the most eye-catching to your audience.

CTAs

CTAs are another good place to use A/B testing. Your CTAs are the gateway to your landing pages, and you want to make sure they are as enticing and attractive to visitors as possible.

One quick simple test involves comparing the color of your CTAs to determine if one brand color drives more engagement than another. You can also test the copy in the CTA, or even the placement of the CTA itself on the page.

Video or Testimonial

Another great A/B test to run is to try a page with and without a piece of validation content such as a video or testimonial. While your instincts might tell you that you should always include this type of content on your pages, sometimes a clean and simple landing page produces the highest conversion rate.

Forms

Some pages are long enough that the placement of your form becomes a decision point. Consider testing whether forms in the header or footer make sense from an “always available” standpoint. You can also test out whether to include a form in the sidebar or the main body.

In addition to testing the location of the form on the page, you can compare the number of form submissions for an embedded form versus a form that is contained in a popup modal.

A/B Testing Best Practices

When running any A/B test, adhere to the following best practices to ensure clean data and reliable results.

• Test one element at a time.
• Avoid mid-test changes.
• Collect a statistically significant sample size.

A/B testing offers awesome opportunities to maximize conversions in emails and landing pages. If you’re not A/B testing, you’re missing out on big opportunities to improve your lead generation results.