Why A/B test?
A/B testing can take your marketing from good to great, as you’ll get to know your audience better one test at a time. A/B testing allows you to:
- Prove a hypothesis: Confirm what actually matters to customers in your flows. Test new, creative ideas to uncover which ones increase engagement and revenue.
- Craft the right flow message: Use flow message engagement as a source of truth. Test copy, incentives, images, and more to find out what matters most to your recipients when timed right.
- Improve flow pathways: Determine the time delays, number of messages, and content type (e.g., email vs. text message) that drives conversions; thus, optimizing the flow of your flow.
How to A/B test your flows
It’s time to test; log into Klaviyo to start experimenting. In the dropdowns below, follow along to test an individual flow message or a full flow pathway.
Note: Only test 1 element of your flow at a time.
A/B test a flow message
What to test
- Email subject line or preview text
- Written copy
- Images, GIFs, or emojis
- Call to action
- Discount amounts or incentives
- Colors, fonts, or styling
How to test
- Select the flow message you would like to test.
- Click Create A/B test in the sidebar that appears.
- Adjust one component of each variation; for instance, the subject line of each email.
- Determine the percent of recipients who should receive each variation (e.g., 50% for an even split of 2 messages).
- Set your A/B test to either: select a winning variation automatically once statistical significance is reached (i.e., when Klaviyo mathematically determines that a variation produced improved performance), or manually return to choose a winner once you feel you have enough data to assess performance.
A/B test a flow pathway
What to test
- Time delay
- Number of messages
- Type of messages (e.g., email vs. SMS)
How to test
- Navigate to the flow you want to A/B test.
- Drag in a conditional split.
- Select Random sample as the condition.
- Select a percentage of your audience to go down the YES path (e.g., 50% for an even split) and edit each pathway. In the example below, you’ll see one pathway will send 2 messages and the other will send 1.
- Set each path live.
- Once you feel as though you have enough data to determine a winning variation, return to your flow and click Show Analytics in the top right of the flow builder.
- Determine which branch leads to higher opens, clicks, and conversions.
- Click on the conditional split.
- Set the percentage of recipients going down the winning path to 100%.
- Set the branch's emails into draft mode for whichever branch is no longer in use.