For those not familiar with the term “Split Testing,” this refers to testing different marketing approaches to determine which strategy will return the biggest ROI. For example, let's say that you’re doing an email campaign, you could split test your subject verbiage. Example: “10 ways to sell more cars” is your split test A and “Who else want’s to sell more cars?” would be your split test B. You send out 500 emails with the A subject line and 500 with the B subject line, and then you measure the results of which email got the higher click-through rate.

Let’s say that B was the winner in that it got more opens. You would then construct another subject line and split test the new subject line versus the winner in the first round. Assuming that B won out again; you keep repeating the process to find which subject line is an all time winner hence maximizing your ROI.

What else could you split test? Well, the email itself could and should be tested. Construct an A and a B email by changing a few things inside the email to see which one is more effective. When you find the winner, construct another email and throw it up against the previous winner and so on.

For those of you that are in the Internet Department, split testing is a must based on the emails that you send out on a daily basis. How do you know what you’re sending out is getting the biggest bang for the buck if you’re not testing it against another possibility?

Same with the BDC department…when you’re setting appointments what are you saying in order to set appointments? (from what I hear it’s “When were you wanting to come in?”) If you’re getting a 40% show ratio with that approach try another word track for the next 100 appointments that you set and compare your show ratio.

What about if you’re in sales? What could you split test? Come up with two different ways to present a proposal and measure the results of which one gets you the best reaction. Then formulate another word track and split test it against the winner. You could even split test your outfits. Are your numbers better when you wear a shirt and a tie or a suit? Do you get better results in a polo shirt?

When you think about it, just about anything and everything can be split tested in any arena. The goal is to maximize every opportunity by figuring out what will bring the highest conversions.

Happy split testing everyone…