At Loud Rumor, we love Facebook advertising. It’s quickly become the #1 way to get our fitness studio owners tons of leads! (with Instagram being a close 2nd) One of its best features (when done right), is AB testing!
Facebook Ads are a great way to reach a huge number of ideal customers, but not every Ad is a home run… yet. To get the most out of an advertising budget, AB testing is crucial.
This is where we run different Ad elements at the same time to figure out which one (“one” is important and I’ll explain why in a bit) works best. Or, better yet, which one generates the most, highest converting leads. Let’s dive in.
What’s So Great About AB Testing Anyway?
AB testing is when we run 2 similar Ads simultaneously, with one twist.
Our goal is to analyze which Ad performs better. But why? Doesn’t that cost extra in Ad spend?
Actually, it optimizes your Ad spend.
AB testing is how the best marketers experiment with various aspects of a campaign to find out the best possible way to advertise. In other words, which one resonates with your audience, causing more people to:
- Fill out your Landing Page form
- Book an Appointment at your Fitness Studio
- Hand over their credit card and sign up for a Membership
AB testing allows us to compare Facebook Ad images, Ad text, CTAs, and more. But as I referenced earlier, we’ll only test one of these at a time. I’ll break down why and the right way to do it in the section below.
Avoiding Happy Accidents With Your Facebook Ads
It’s great when an Ad performs well! You know what’s better?
When you know WHY that Ad performed so well. Once you get to that level, you’ll more consistently create Ads that sell—which dramatically saves you money with your Ad spend.
On top of that, you’ll spend less time throwing ideas and concepts up against a wall to see what sticks. You won’t have to anymore… because you’ll already know.
See, AB testing usually starts out as a slightly informed trial and error process. But when done right, it provides valuable data that clarifies where more advertising budget should be spent. It creates Ad spend efficiently!
If Ad “A” is clearly performing much better with your audience than Ad “B,” then you know to invest more of your Ad spend into Ad “A.”
To get even more technical, Ad “A” then becomes your control and you can create a variety of Ad “B”s to see if you can strike gold and outperform Ad “A.” (giving you a new “control” Ad).
We AB test Ads for every campaign that we run. Every single one.
Here’s what it looks like in practice…
Quick Fitness Studio AB Testing Case Study
In a campaign for one of our fitness studios, we tested Ad “A” against Ad “B” with one audience.
The Ads’ audience and budget are identical.
After just a couple of test runs, we found the best performing image, and the best performing Call-to-Action (CTA).
The difference?
Ad “A” earned 55 clicks with the new image and new CTA, while Ad “B” only earned 5 clicks.
When this happens, you have two options. (1) Keep testing to see if you can beat Ad “A.” (2) Disable Ad “B,” put the entire budget into Ad “A,” and milk it for all its worth.
The Right Way To Do Facebook Ad AB Testing
Any part of a Facebook Ad can be tested. This includes the Ad headline, target audience, images, font size, color to the Ad copy, etc. An image in Ad “A” can even be tested against a video in Ad “B.”
The key is to constantly experiment…
Does large text work better with a specific audience than small text?
What happens when the background is changed from orange to green?
Does the audience respond better to images with many faces or just one?
…these are all things that AB testing uncovers.
Again, the key is to test one thing at a time. Here’s why:
If you run two Ads against each other and they have completely different images, videos, headlines, CTAs, and copy all at once, you’ll never know WHY one is performing better over the other.
AB Testing Simplified
Here’s the order I recommend you go in to find your perfect, highest performing “control” Ad:
- Image/Video (aka “Creative”)
- Headline
- CTA
- Copy
So, first test 2 different images or videos against each other, but have your headline, CTA, and copy all be the same in both Ads.
Then, have that image in both your “A” and your “B” Ad, and test 2 different headlines. Take the best performing headline and use it in both Ads before your next test. You now have an image that works best and a headline that works best.
Next, test 2 different CTAs… and you continue this process until you’ve dialed-in the best performing Facebook Ad.
Final Thoughts on AB Testing
Testing too many elements muddles the results.
Think of it as a science experiment: You have a “control” group that remains untouched (Ad “A”) and a test group that is altered (Ad “B”).
If you test too many things at once, it’s difficult to tell which adjustment actually caused the change in performance.
There’s a lot more that goes into an effective Facebook campaign, but it starts with AB testing your Ads. When done right, this kind of testing can bring in some serious results… like 400+ leads in 1 month.
If you’re not sure how to AB test Ads for your fitness studio, Loud Rumor can help!
