A Step By Step Guide To A/B Testing Your Video Ads
By Stanley Meytin
A/B Video Testing
Online advertising can be difficult for some brands to grasp. Whether you need help understanding your target audience or what works on specific social media platforms, A/B testing all of your video ads is the best way to go about this. Discover how to use your analytics to learn what makes a successful video using this step by step guide.
What Is A/B Testing
A/B testing, also referred to as split testing, analyzes two versions of an advertisement in order to determine which one performs better. The difference between the two ads can be something small like using an alternative video thumbnail or something more significant like an entirely separate video.
The Importance Of A/B Testing Video Ads
It’s important to perform A/B testing video ads because likely you’ve spent a lot of time and money developing them. If they aren’t using the right call to action or keywords, then no one is watching them, and it all ends up being for nothing. Your goal is to get people to watch your video advertisements in its entirety, and performing A/B testing will let you know which ad people are more likely to engage with.
Determine What’s Most Suitable For Your Different Channels
While you might share a two-minute video to your company’s YouTube channel, that won’t necessarily work across all of your social channels. You have to edit and cut down your video content so that it’s most suitable for each channel you plan to share it on. Keep in mind that each social media platform has different guidelines for sharing videos as well. If you haven’t filmed your content yet, go back and create a video strategy to determine which segments would be most suitable across all of the different channels you plan to share it on.
Step 1: Set A Variable
There are a seemingly endless number of factors that you can run variables on when preparing your video ads for A/B testing. While even one difference can affect the ad’s success, you’re more likely to have better results if several factors vary between the two. Some variables, referred to as external elements, impact a viewer’s probability to play the video while internal elements influence how long they watch the video and what actions they perform.
When setting a variable, consider these elements:
- Video Thumbnail
- Title
- Description
- Call to Action
- Platform
- Target Audience
- Video Content
- Subtitles Font
- Video Length
- Music
- Video Filter
- Transitions
Step 2: Create Variations Of Ads According To The Variable
After you’ve decided which variations to set, the next step is to create the separate videos. While A/B testing refers to using only two video ads, you can ultimately make as many videos as you want, however it will be more complex. If this is your first attempt at online marketing with videos, you might want to start off testing just two ads until you get the hang of it.
Step 3: Run And Test Each Ad
The next step is to simultaneously run each of your video ads for a predetermined amount of time. You don’t want to put too much money behind these advertisements, as these are just test runs. Depending on what website or social media channel you perform A/B testing on, you might have to set up analytic measurements through a third party source as they don’t all have it built in.
Facebook allows you to perform A/B testing right in Facebook Ads Manager by simply checking the split test box.
YouTube
YouTube doesn’t offer a feature that measures results of A/B testing and requires a third party app like TubeBuddy.
The best way to perform A/B testing on Twitter is through a third party app like Hootsuite and Buffer.
Website Or Blog
Use Google Analytics to best see the results of A/B testing on your blog or website.
Step 4: Analyze Data
Once your video ads have finished running, analyze the data to determine which variables work the best. Not all data points will be relevant though. Based on what goals you want to achieve with your advertisements will determine which data points to focus on. These are some of the essential data points to take note of:
- Views
- Conversion Rates
- Post Engagements
- Shares
Step 5: Make Appropriate Changes
After you’ve taken the time to review your results, you should have a better idea of which variables work best. If you’re satisfied with the success of one of your video ads, then you can put more money behind it and run it for a prolonged period of time. However, if you aren’t satisfied, you should then change the variables and run further testing. Retarget your ad until your video is producing the results you’re looking for.
Reading Time: 4 minutes
By Stanley Meytin
A/B Video Testing
Online advertising can be difficult for some brands to grasp. Whether you need help understanding your target audience or what works on specific social media platforms, A/B testing all of your video ads is the best way to go about this. Discover how to use your analytics to learn what makes a successful video using this step by step guide.
What Is A/B Testing
A/B testing, also referred to as split testing, analyzes two versions of an advertisement in order to determine which one performs better. The difference between the two ads can be something small like using an alternative video thumbnail or something more significant like an entirely separate video.
The Importance Of A/B Testing Video Ads
It’s important to perform A/B testing video ads because likely you’ve spent a lot of time and money developing them. If they aren’t using the right call to action or keywords, then no one is watching them, and it all ends up being for nothing. Your goal is to get people to watch your video advertisements in its entirety, and performing A/B testing will let you know which ad people are more likely to engage with.
Determine What’s Most Suitable For Your Different Channels
While you might share a two-minute video to your company’s YouTube channel, that won’t necessarily work across all of your social channels. You have to edit and cut down your video content so that it’s most suitable for each channel you plan to share it on. Keep in mind that each social media platform has different guidelines for sharing videos as well. If you haven’t filmed your content yet, go back and create a video strategy to determine which segments would be most suitable across all of the different channels you plan to share it on.
Step 1: Set A Variable
There are a seemingly endless number of factors that you can run variables on when preparing your video ads for A/B testing. While even one difference can affect the ad’s success, you’re more likely to have better results if several factors vary between the two. Some variables, referred to as external elements, impact a viewer’s probability to play the video while internal elements influence how long they watch the video and what actions they perform.
When setting a variable, consider these elements:
- Video Thumbnail
- Title
- Description
- Call to Action
- Platform
- Target Audience
- Video Content
- Subtitles Font
- Video Length
- Music
- Video Filter
- Transitions
Step 2: Create Variations Of Ads According To The Variable
After you’ve decided which variations to set, the next step is to create the separate videos. While A/B testing refers to using only two video ads, you can ultimately make as many videos as you want, however it will be more complex. If this is your first attempt at online marketing with videos, you might want to start off testing just two ads until you get the hang of it.
Step 3: Run And Test Each Ad
The next step is to simultaneously run each of your video ads for a predetermined amount of time. You don’t want to put too much money behind these advertisements, as these are just test runs. Depending on what website or social media channel you perform A/B testing on, you might have to set up analytic measurements through a third party source as they don’t all have it built in.
Facebook allows you to perform A/B testing right in Facebook Ads Manager by simply checking the split test box.
YouTube
YouTube doesn’t offer a feature that measures results of A/B testing and requires a third party app like TubeBuddy.
The best way to perform A/B testing on Twitter is through a third party app like Hootsuite and Buffer.
Website Or Blog
Use Google Analytics to best see the results of A/B testing on your blog or website.
Step 4: Analyze Data
Once your video ads have finished running, analyze the data to determine which variables work the best. Not all data points will be relevant though. Based on what goals you want to achieve with your advertisements will determine which data points to focus on. These are some of the essential data points to take note of:
- Views
- Conversion Rates
- Post Engagements
- Shares
Step 5: Make Appropriate Changes
After you’ve taken the time to review your results, you should have a better idea of which variables work best. If you’re satisfied with the success of one of your video ads, then you can put more money behind it and run it for a prolonged period of time. However, if you aren’t satisfied, you should then change the variables and run further testing. Retarget your ad until your video is producing the results you’re looking for.
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