Increasing value and conversion through multivariate testing

You might well have come across multivariate testing techniques before in your explorations into customer experience measurement, but for the uninitiated, here is a brief definition that puts the methodology into context.

Multivariate testing, or MVT, is an experimentation process by which a series of possible design variables are tested at once to see what effect, if any, they have on website performance. It’s a complex form of split, or A/B testing, employing algorithm-based software and constant monitoring of web analytics data. Small changes are made to single variables (such as the position of a menu, the colour of a background) and the impact of each change is measured. From series of changes, optimum design configurations can be narrowed down as a result of measurable evidence. With MVT it is also possible to experiment with structural, business rule and database driven elements, as well as cosmetic changes. We can even employ advanced rule-based targeting capabilities, including targeting by geographic location, traffic source (such as search engine versus email campaigns), cookies, and more.

Ultimately of course, MVT is all about converting ‘lookers’ into ‘bookers’ (or buyers, players, subscribers… dependent on the business being conducted).  We want to help our clients make their sites work as hard as possible, increasing transactions by fine-tuning conversion strategy. We can do this by ensuring user experience has both a strategic and data-driven focus, and by conducting an ongoing measurement process that ensures sites are truly customer driven.

One obvious way of doing this is to use experiments that identify which parts of a given site detract from bookings, and which contribute to higher conversion rates. Foviance typically employs three concepts in its multivariate testing: variables, values and combinations. Variables are the actual elements that are tested, eg. buttons or banners. Values refer to the different permutations of those variables, such as colours, or shapes. Combinations refer to a set of variables together, and by using multivariate testing we can discover what particular combination of variables lead to the greatest conversion rates. Simple!

One of our roles as a customer experience consultancy is to add real value to raw methodologies such as MVT. We wrap the technology in many years of knowledge of users, interfaces and best practice to ensure that we deliver better results, more cost-effectively. Because we have in-depth experience to fall back on, we are able to dramatically cut the time and effort invested by our clients, reduce test variables, tie in MVT with real business objectives and actual user behaviour, and apply rule-based targeting, personas and scenarios. Also, because Foviance is technology agnostic, we can cherry-pick technologies that best suit our clients real-world needs, and have often succeeded in unlocking ROIs of 10:1 or more.

Following thorough MVT work, a business can be sure that it is targeting its online marketing budget in line with measurable data, and not simply as a result of opinions or gut feelings. Creative types within organisations may sometimes worry that testing is stifling, but are much happier if they are presented with clear data that helps guide them in their work and saves them duplication of effort. Of course that is also how higher management views such decisions too. MVT testing helps our clients develop seamless online journeys for their customers, and increased conversion is the ultimate measure of their customers’ satisfaction – not with the business’s products and services, but with the digital journey that finally convinced them to make those all-important purchasing decisions.

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