Using Digital Printing to A/B Test Your Marketing Campaign

Did you know that digital printing can help you fine-tune a print marketing campaign before it’s launched, saving you money and improving response rates? You may believe that A/B testing exists only in the digital world but, thanks to today’s digital printing technology, now it exists in the print world as well. And it can be a game-changer for maximizing your marketing ROI.

The Value of A/B Testing

A/B testing is the process used by web development pros and online marketers to compare two versions of a website or landing page, to see which one performs better. Sometimes called split testing, A/B testing helps web designers provide their customers with sites that convert, i.e., achieve their goals. It’s also used sometimes with digital advertising, for the same purpose. A/B testing never gained any ground in print marketing and advertising, however, because it wasn’t cost-effective. Today, all that’s changed.

How Digital Printing Can Help

Print marketers have rarely had the opportunity to perform A/B testing because the cost of traditional offset printing or lithography was prohibitive. Due to the setup time and effort required for offset printing, it has never been cost-effective to do a short run. But, to do A/B testing for print marketing, you’ll need a short run of both the A and B versions of your flyer, brochure or directing mailing design. Enter digital printing, to save the day. Digital runs require virtually no setup and short runs are highly cost effective with quick turnaround.

Best Practices for Digital Printing A/B Testing

Once you have both versions of your design, order two short digital printing runs. Identify your A and B group targets and send design A to the A group and design B to the B group. You will need a way to differentiate between the two groups, such as using a discrete offer code for each version. You could also use a two different QR codes, two landing pages or two phone numbers. However you choose to design your A/B test, ensure you can track your results accurately. With direct mail, you will have your test results in just a few days because most targets respond almost immediately – if they’re going to respond. And, if you’ve chosen your targets with demographic limiters, you will gain invaluable insights about the effectiveness of your campaign. Once you know which version elicits the better response, order a large offset printing run for the lowest possible per-piece cost. In Utah, Sun Print Solutions provides a full line of printing services to our customers across the U.S. Contact us today for a price quote for all your offset and digital printing needs.