In order to properly set up an A/B test in Indie Ads Manager, you will need to be able to:
When A/B testing, you can create more than two versions, these tests are called A/B/n tests. Depending on how much traffic you have, you can test as many variations as you need. However, for this guide, we’ll focus on a standard A/B test.
Display Ad A/B Testing
If you would like to test the ad image for standard display ads on your website, follow these steps:
1: Navigate to the appropriate Advertiser record in Indie Ads Manager.
2: Create two campaigns, name them Campaign A and Campaign B.
3: Build your ad items in each campaign, name the ad items Ad Item A and Ad Item B.
4: Assign the newly created campaigns to the relevant Zone. Make sure both campaigns are scheduled at the same weight and priority.
5: Schedule the campaigns to run for the same amount of time.
Email Ad A/B Testing
If you would like to test the ad image for an email ad in your newsletter, follow these steps:
1: To ensure each ad serves to a specific newsletter, you will need to build two zones, name them Zone A and Zone B.
2: In your email platform, insert the zone tags for Zone A and Zone B into your A/B test campaigns. (Lean more here)
3: Navigate to the appropriate Advertiser record in Indie Ads Manager.
4: Create two campaigns, name them Campaign A and Campaign B.
5: Instead of assigning each campaign to the same zone, assign Campaign A to Zone A and assign Campaign B to Zone B. Make sure both campaigns are scheduled at the same weight and priority.
6: Schedule or immediately send you emails. As always, ensure the campaigns run for the same amount of time.
Be sure to check out these A/B Testing guides from your Email Service Provider:
Reporting on A/B Tests
Once your A/B test campaigns are done running, you will need to run a report in Indie Ads Manager to determine which ad performed better. Here's how to do that:
1: Expand Statistics in the left-hand navigation menu
2: Click on Statistic Reports
3: Click + New Report
4: Under the Report section, change the report type to Campaigns
5: Under the Filters section, select the appropriate Publisher and Zones
6: Under the Dates section, ensure you are reporting on all days you ran the A/B test campaigns.
7: Click Save This Report if you’d like to run it again in the future.
8: Click Generate Report
Note: In your email service provider, you'll also find statistics on how many people received the email, how many opened it, and the overall clicks.
Ideally, your audience will be split in half with 50% seeing Campaign A and 50% seeing Campaign B.
If your audience isn’t split equally, the Click Through Rate is the best indicator of which campaign performed better