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Multivariate testing in marketing

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194: 53: 294:: with multiple variations of content in multiple locations on a website, a large number of combinations need to be tested, and medium/low traffic websites can take a long time to get a large enough sample to find statistically significant differences in performance if differences really exist. For example, if three different images are to be tested in each of three locations, there are nine combinations to test. 180:
purchase incentives both individually and in combination with each other. The value of this is that marketers (both traditional and online) can use multivariate testing principles online to quickly ascertain and predict the effectiveness of offers without going through the more traditional multivariate testing methods which take significantly more time and money (focus groups, telephone surveys, etc.).
173:, it is possible to intercept and process all web traffic to and from the site undergoing testing, insert variants and monitor visitor response. In this case, all logic sits on the server rather than browser-side, and after initial DNS changes are made, no further technical involvement is required from the website point of view. SiteSpect is known to employ this method of implementation. 130:). Dramatic increases can be seen through testing different copy text, form layouts and even landing page images and background colours. However, not all elements produce the same increase in conversions, and by looking at the results from different tests, it is possible to identify those elements that consistently tend to produce the greatest increase in conversions. 165:
into the site to inject content variants and monitor visitor response. Page tagging typically tracks what a visitor viewed on the website and for how long that visitor remained on the site together with any click or conversion related actions performed. Page tagging is often done by a technical team
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In addition to testing the efficacy of various creative/content executions on a website, the principles of multivariate testing can and often are used to test various offer combinations. Examples of this are testing various price points, purchase incentives, premiums, trial periods or other similar
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In a nutshell, multivariate testing can be seen as allowing website visitors to vote with their clicks for which content they prefer and will stand the most chance of their proceeding to a defined goal. The testing is transparent to the visitor with all commercial solutions capable of ensuring that
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performed on one page at the same time. A/B tests are usually performed to determine the better of two content variations; multivariate testing uses multiple variables to find the ideal combination. The only limits on the number of combinations and the number of variables in a multivariate test are
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advertising bring visitors to a site and have been extensively used by many organisations but multivariate testing allows internet marketeers to ensure that visitors are being shown the right offers, content and layout to convert them to sale, registration or the desired action once they arrive at
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Testing can be carried out on a dynamically generated website by setting up the server to display the different variations of content in equal proportions to incoming visitors. Statistics on how each visitor went on to behave after seeing the content under test must then be gathered and presented.
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in 2000. Choice modeling models how people make tradeoffs in the context of a purchase decision. By systematically varying the attributes or content elements, one can quantify their impact on outcome, such as a purchase decision. What is most important are the interaction effects uncovered, which
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involves iterations and waves of testings. Optimal design allows marketers the ability not only to test the maximum number of creative permutations in the shortest period of time but also to take into account relationships, interactions, and constraints across content elements on a website. This
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rather than the online marketer who designs the test and interprets the results in the light of usability analysis. Later refinements on this method allow for a single common tag to be deployed across all pages, reducing deployment time and removing the need for re-deployment between tests.
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Multivariate testing is usually employed in order to ascertain which content or creative variation produces the best improvement in the defined goals of a website, whether that be user registrations or successful completion of a checkout process (that is,
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Outsourced services can also be used to provide multivariate testing on websites with minor changes to page coding. These services insert their content to predefined areas of a site and monitor user behavior.
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Multivariate testing is currently an area of high growth in internet marketing as it helps website owners to ensure that they are getting the most from the visitors arriving at their site. Areas such as
493: 437: 117:, multivariate testing is a process by which more than one component of a website may be tested in a live environment. It can be thought of in simple terms as numerous 141:
Some websites benefit from constant 24/7 continuous optimization as visitor response to creatives and layouts differ by time of day/week or even season.
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The second principal approach used does not require page tagging. By establishing a DNS-proxy or hosting within a website's own
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in order to reduce the variations but still give statistically valid results on individual content elements. Taguchi uses
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the most straightforward method whereby all possible combinations of content variants are served with equal probability.
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the amount of time it will take to get a statistically valid sample of visitors and computational power.
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Scientific Web Site Optimization using AB Split Testing, Multi Variable Testing, and The Taguchi Method
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Conversion/Testing: 10 Factors to Test that Could Increase the Conversion Rate of your Landing Pages
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There are two principal approaches used to achieve multivariate testing on websites. One being Page
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Multivariate testing can also be applied to email body content and mobile web pages.
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and what has mutated to become choice modeling is the complex technique that won
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A Nonparametric Approach to Perceptions-Based Market Segmentation: Foundations
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on multi-variable systems, typically consumers on websites. Techniques of
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allows one to find the optimal solution unencumbered by limitations.
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each visitor is shown the same content on every visit.
298:(namely Taguchi orthogonal arrays) can be used in the 517: 161:; a process where the website creator inserts 356:Josef A. Mazanec and Helmut Strasser (2000). 81:. Unsourced material may be challenged and 482:3 Ways to Accelerate Your Learning Process 402:"Experimentation & Testing: A Primer" 235:Learn how and when to remove this message 101:Learn how and when to remove this message 183: 42: 16:Test a component of a marketing campaign 518: 461:: CS1 maint: archived copy as title ( 187: 79:adding citations to reliable sources 46: 13: 14: 547: 192: 51: 536:Quantitative marketing research 384:"What is multivariate testing?" 217:check for citation inaccuracies 501:, by Matthew Roche, 07/26/2004 487: 470: 430: 424:, by Sumantra Roy, 06/05/2007" 408: 404:. Avinash Kaushik. 2006-05-22. 394: 376: 349: 247:Statistical testing relies on 33:statistical hypothesis testing 1: 342: 332:Cultural multivariate testing 304:fractional factorial designs 7: 310: 10: 552: 147:search engine optimization 270:Nobel Prize in Economics 526:Multivariate statistics 388:www.campaignmonitor.com 322:Multivariate statistics 37:multivariate statistics 29:multi-variable testing 300:design of experiments 249:design of experiments 184:Design of experiments 43:In internet marketing 337:Product optimization 75:improve this section 25:multivariate testing 531:Online advertising 506:2007-11-04 at the 115:internet marketing 245: 244: 237: 111: 110: 103: 31:techniques apply 543: 510: 491: 485: 474: 468: 466: 460: 452: 450: 449: 440:. Archived from 434: 428: 427: 412: 406: 405: 398: 392: 391: 380: 374: 373: 353: 240: 233: 229: 226: 220: 196: 195: 188: 106: 99: 95: 92: 86: 55: 47: 551: 550: 546: 545: 544: 542: 541: 540: 516: 515: 514: 513: 508:Wayback Machine 492: 488: 475: 471: 454: 453: 447: 445: 438:"Archived copy" 436: 435: 431: 414: 413: 409: 400: 399: 395: 382: 381: 377: 370: 354: 350: 345: 313: 296:Taguchi methods 292:Taguchi methods 275:Taguchi methods 266:Daniel McFadden 262:Discrete choice 241: 230: 224: 221: 214: 197: 193: 186: 128:conversion rate 107: 96: 90: 87: 72: 56: 45: 17: 12: 11: 5: 549: 539: 538: 533: 528: 512: 511: 495:Webpronews.com 486: 469: 429: 407: 393: 375: 368: 347: 346: 344: 341: 340: 339: 334: 329: 324: 319: 312: 309: 308: 307: 289: 285:Optimal design 282: 279:optimal design 259: 256:Full factorial 243: 242: 200: 198: 191: 185: 182: 109: 108: 59: 57: 50: 44: 41: 15: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 548: 537: 534: 532: 529: 527: 524: 523: 521: 509: 505: 502: 500: 496: 490: 484: 483: 479: 473: 464: 458: 444:on 2008-08-28 443: 439: 433: 425: 423: 419: 418:WilsonWeb.com 411: 403: 397: 389: 385: 379: 371: 369:3-211-83473-7 365: 361: 360: 352: 348: 338: 335: 333: 330: 328: 325: 323: 320: 318: 317:Web usability 315: 314: 305: 301: 297: 293: 290: 286: 283: 280: 276: 271: 267: 263: 260: 257: 254: 253: 252: 250: 239: 236: 228: 218: 212: 210: 206: 201:This article 199: 190: 189: 181: 177: 174: 172: 167: 164: 160: 155: 154:the website. 152: 151:pay per click 148: 142: 139: 135: 131: 129: 123: 120: 116: 105: 102: 94: 84: 80: 76: 70: 69: 65: 60:This section 58: 54: 49: 48: 40: 38: 34: 30: 26: 22: 498: 494: 489: 481: 478:MarketingNPV 477: 472: 446:. Retrieved 442:the original 432: 421: 417: 410: 396: 387: 378: 362:. Springer. 358: 351: 273:neither the 246: 231: 225:January 2008 222: 207:that do not 203:may contain 202: 178: 175: 168: 156: 143: 140: 136: 132: 124: 112: 97: 91:January 2008 88: 73:Please help 61: 28: 24: 18: 327:A/B testing 520:Categories 448:2008-08-20 343:References 171:datacenter 163:JavaScript 39:are used. 205:citations 119:A/B tests 62:does not 21:marketing 504:Archived 457:cite web 311:See also 281:discern. 211:the text 215:Please 159:Tagging 83:removed 68:sources 366:  209:verify 463:link 364:ISBN 277:nor 268:the 149:and 66:any 64:cite 113:In 77:by 27:or 19:In 522:: 497:, 480:, 459:}} 455:{{ 420:, 386:. 23:, 465:) 451:. 426:. 416:" 390:. 372:. 306:. 238:) 232:( 227:) 223:( 219:. 213:. 104:) 98:( 93:) 89:( 85:. 71:.

Index

marketing
statistical hypothesis testing
multivariate statistics

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internet marketing
A/B tests
conversion rate
search engine optimization
pay per click
Tagging
JavaScript
datacenter
citations
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check for citation inaccuracies
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design of experiments
Full factorial
Discrete choice
Daniel McFadden
Nobel Prize in Economics
Taguchi methods
optimal design
Optimal design

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