A new report out by Forrester says, “Revenue, not leads, are the end goal for any CEO.” Therefore,  “marketing and sales teams must work together to generate revenue and reduce sales and marketing expense.”

Additionally:

Forrester recommends that technology marketers realign so that marketing departments are accountable for revenue rather than just lead generation, as is often the case.

Of course this isn’t a new concept, it’s something conversion-focused marketers have been doing for years now. Online testing has provided marketers a somewhat unique opportunity to not only measure their marketing efforts against revenue or quality of leads generated, but also provided the ability to optimize campaigns for higher conversions.

Online testing & optimization: A/B, MVT, and the Endless Test

If you haven’t already gotten started with online testing, there’s no better time than now. You’re heading into a brand new year, and have the opportunity to kick things off with a bang.

There are two major types of testing you’ll want to learn about when jumping into online optimization:

A/B testing is all about testing two different pages against each other. In an A/B test you have the opportunity to find big winners because you’re trying completely new ideas.

Multivariate testing (MVT) occurs when you vary a number of elements on a single page to see if it generates any conversion lift.

An “Endless Test” is one where it will take far too long to reach statistical significance for the test to be of value. We believe strongly in a constant cycle of innovation & iteration, but there are times when incremental landing page changes are useless. Don’t get caught in an endless test; it can derail your entire campaign. 

Whether you decide to start with A/B or MVT (we recommend starting with A/B), you’re sure to learn a lot about your campaigns and increase your conversion rates when you start online testing. 

Ready to start holding yourself accountable for your marketing efforts? Check our out Guide to Online Testing to get started!