There’s no doubt that A/B testing is paramount to any app’s success. With data-based insights, app businesses can iterate faster and know that they’re making sound decisions. And today, there are tools to make A/B testing even easier for you.
In turn, you can concentrate on proven strategies for better retention, monetization, and revenue. You won’t be left spinning your wheels and wasting valuable time and resources on messaging, campaigns, and app features that bring less-than-ideal results. In the last of our blog series, we discuss the critical role A/B testing can play in enabling your teams do more with less.
How to test without a data scientist
You may not have a resident data science expert — but what’s good is that you can still run successful tests without one. Multichannel mobile platforms can help you figure out everything from what tests to run, sample sizes, and calculating results.
Platforms like Leanplum factor in audience size, data points, and elements you’re trying to optimize to run tests. This includes safeguards to stop testing from going too long.
These tools can analyze statistical significance among a wide range of metrics. Using them, you can see where there are notable changes over your starting point. You can also gain insights into the downstream effect on metrics over time and how those changes influenced your KPIs.
In the end, simplicity is key. Keep your tests limited to one to three aspects that you’d like to assess and optimize. At the same time, having a minimal number of tools for setup saves you from having to send your audiences through a bunch of different systems.
Practical applications and use cases to get rid of the guesswork
You can apply A/B testing to messages and campaigns across your customer journey. Everything from onboarding, engagement, upgrades, special offers and promotions, and abandoned cart recovery can be tracked, tested, and refined.
A/B testing can also test hypotheses and improve features across the in-app experience.
Release new features with confidence
When new features are preparing to launch, you can roll them out to a specific audience segment. These segments can include anything from customers registered in the last three months to a random subset of 10% of your audience.
During testing, collect feedback from your customers and make changes as needed. Once you’re sure about the feature, you can make it available to the rest of your users.
Improve the purchase funnel
Experiment with your paywalls. Subscription apps can test which features to include behind a paywall for premium users. At the same time, you can strike a balance with what you offer free users to entice them to upgrade.
Look at different options for how and when to introduce the paywall to maximize subscriptions. For instance, you can offer users a premium upgrade when the customer takes actions indicating the need for a paid feature. Or vary the length of trials and subscriptions and compare results.
Mobile retail apps can make product recommendations, while on-demand and mobility apps can look at different use thresholds. Customer behavior patterns and context need to be factored in as well.
Identify the best price point
Consider trying different coupon values to find the best ROI for different user segments. Testing price points, discounts, and formulas can help you determine which are most effective. Does a discount of 10% or 20% bring more conversions? And what effects do your messaging and content have?
Real-world examples and results by industry
Let’s look at how app businesses have optimized their customer journeys with A/B testing.
Give users what they need when they need it
A/B testing can help you learn what, when, and how your customers need different types of content. You might, for instance, see if your onboarding flow gives new users the best starting point for continued engagement. Check if you’re including the right content and using the best channels for your product promotions.
Find a winning offer for mobile games
GameDuell used A/B testing to identify one offer package that stood out above the rest — at a whopping 87%. They tested three offers: gems (the game’s currency), gems and boosters (to aid progress), and gems and collectibles (special in-game items). The offer using only game currency (gems) performed best.
Subscription apps gain higher retention, LTV, and revenue
Teltech combined the power of CRM and A/B testing to enhance the Robokiller customer journey. First, they optimized their top-of-funnel activities. Then, they moved on to testing reactivation, monetization and paywall, and retention. Teltech came up with solid insights into popular features, points of friction, and product performance.
Fuel higher usage for on-demand and mobility apps
Via used A/B testing to engage users into taking rides more often — bringing 27% more riders back to their app. They tested lifecycle campaigns to see which ones resulted in customer retention. Coupling these campaigns with targeting by user attributes and advanced segmentation made it possible to create reactivation campaigns with relevant content and messaging.
Mobile retail and finance optimize the purchase flow and increase revenue
Tesco wanted to improve monetization and revenue. They used A/B testing to remove friction and determine ways to get customers to add more items to their carts. The company tested different Add to Cart button variations to see which worked best. In the end, their findings led to a 3.3% revenue increase and continued A/B testing to drive sales.
Spend more time on the right things with A/B testing
Your time and resources are limited and valuable. Why waste what you have on messaging, campaigns, and app elements that don’t deliver results?
A/B testing can guide you and your team to greater success. Nowadays, technology can make testing faster and much simpler for you without requiring extensive data science expertise.
So, you can spend time on the initiatives that’ll improve your users’ experience — increasing retention and revenue in the process.
Want to learn more? Check out these additional resources.
- Watch our APS London session, More Than Just Messaging, to optimize the user experience for mobile growth.
- See case studies showcasing how apps use Leanplum’s A/B testing capabilities. Check out GameDuell, Robokiller, Via, and Tesco.
- Read our blog on ways to measure, improve, and level up your mobile game experience.
- Check out our webinars on A/B testing: The Impact of an Actionable Mobile A/B Testing Strategy and A/B Testing Experiments – How Failure Can Be Winning.
- Take our Product Tour for an inside peek at how Leanplum can work for you.
- Schedule a complimentary personalized Product Demo to see Leanplum in action.
