How Best-in-Class Testing Drives Engagement and Revenue

Anyone working in the digital marketing space has likely heard some variation of the mantra, “right channel, right message, right time.” But with customers’ attention spread across more channels and brands than ever before, how do we know what “right” really means? There’s no crystal ball that will tell us exactly what combination of copy, offers, send-times, and channels will lead your customer to engage and convert—but we do have tools that can help us make the most informed decisions possible.

Finding what’s “right” for your customers

It really comes down to technology that can test your options to optimize outcomes. A/B and multivariate testing can help you to understand which variants of your campaigns resonate most with consumers and lead them to engage or convert. For example, you might test whether customers are more likely to open and act on a message sent first thing in the morning versus lunch time; or, you might test to see if they respond better to emojis or GIFs.

While human creativity and curiosity are important, your technology is going to have a massive impact on your ability to build tests and campaigns, gather data, and optimize based on your learnings. Consider tools like:

• Campaign builders: Do you have a 360° view of your campaign? Is the interface easy to use and understand? Are you satisfied with the segmentation capabilities?
• Intelligence tools: Are you enlisting AI to reduce the manual time and manual labor of testing? Are you able to choose certain variables based on an individual customer’s first-party data?
• Data streaming: Are you processing data in real time? Are you working from a pool of consumer data that is relevant and valuable?

Having the right tools in place can lead to higher open-rates, more conversions, and even more brand affinity. Let’s paint a picture of how testing has boosted results for some of oo

KFC Ecuador Boosts Revenue

KFC Ecuador found that customers were downloading coupons in their app, but not ordering. To encourage customers to redeem unused coupons, they designed a test that would assess the best channels to reach customers, as well as the appeal of value-add offers like free delivery or free menu items.

The brand leveraged our customer journey orchestration tool to build out flows that tested whether customers responded more to messages sent via email or push notifications. Additionally, they tested whether freebies made them more likely to redeem. To ensure that each customer received these messages during their unique high-engagement windows, they relied on Intelligent Timing, which ultimately supported stronger engagement with the outreach. Through this test, KFC Ecuador was able to define new segments in its customer pool and reach customers with the best targeted messaging, which led to decreased coupon abandonment and increased revenue by 15%.

How Freeletics Drives More Conversions

Freeletics is a health and fitness app in Europe renowned for its highly personalized health and exercise programs for customers. Even with their success, they knew they needed a plan to stand out for the biggest commerce event of the year, Black Friday. Their focus? Personalization and testing.

They started off by creating user segments based on a number of factors, including premium subscription status, individuals’ activity and other habits. From there, they built out campaigns using a combination of in-app messaging, push notifications, and email with different messaging flows depending on user behavior and engagement patterns. To make sure the messaging was just right, they used A/B testing to understand which subject lines and other copy elements resonated with customers.

Ultimately, they saw a 200% increase in conversions year over year and a 5% increase in email deliverability—even in the most congested time of the year for their customers’ inboxes.

Time to Get Testing!

Smart marketers will adopt an always-learning mentality when it comes to their messaging strategy. When strong teams are supported by the right technology, they’re able to test with curiosity, agility, and the ability to scale—ultimately unlocking new highs in revenue and engagement.

If you’re ready to master the art of campaign orchestration, from design and delivery, to testing and measurement, check out our Mastering Modern Orchestration Guide.