Last updated on Jul 6, 2024

How do you test and experiment with different channels and campaigns?

Multi-channel marketing is the practice of reaching and engaging your target audience across various platforms, such as email, social media, web, mobile, and offline. But how do you know which channels and campaigns are most effective for your goals and budget? How do you optimize your strategy based on data and feedback? In this article, we'll show you how to test and experiment with different channels and campaigns using a simple framework and some best practices.

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1 Define your objectives and metrics

Before you launch any channel or campaign, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you will measure it. For example, do you want to increase awareness, generate leads, drive sales, or improve retention? Depending on your objectives, you will need to define relevant metrics, such as impressions, clicks, conversions, revenue, or retention rate. You will also need to set a baseline and a target for each metric, so you can compare your results and evaluate your performance.

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2 Choose your channels and campaigns

Next, you need to decide which channels and campaigns you want to test and experiment with. You can use various criteria to select them, such as your audience preferences, your budget, your resources, your competitors, or your past performance. You can also use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, or email marketing software to analyze your existing data and identify your most promising channels and campaigns. However, don't limit yourself to what you already know or do. You should also explore new or emerging channels and campaigns that might offer new opportunities or challenges.

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3 Design your experiments

Once you have your channels and campaigns ready, you need to design experiments to test them. An experiment is a controlled way of comparing two or more variations of a channel or campaign to see which one performs better. This could include different headlines, images, offers, or calls to action on your landing page, or different subject lines, content, or timing on your email campaign. To design your experiments, you need to formulate a hypothesis – a statement that predicts the outcome of your experiment – and define your variables: the independent variable that you manipulate and the dependent variable that you measure. Additionally, you must choose a sample size and duration that are large and long enough to ensure the validity and reliability of your results. You can also use randomization – assigning your audience to different variations randomly – and segmentation – dividing your audience into smaller groups – to reduce bias and noise in your experiment and target specific segments with relevant variations.

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Júlia Vidigal Munhoz

Head of Multichannel Marketing • PUCRS Professor & more ♡ • Speaker • Columnist at Economia SC • Mentor at Awalé and Abstartups • Branding • Design • Communication • Events • Journey and Experience • Management
My tip is to continuously and iteratively test different channels and campaigns using market research, pilot tests, consumer feedback evaluations, and performance metric analysis. Conduct tests before launching to validate messages and design, during the campaign to adjust and optimize elements like copywriting and distribution channels, and after the campaign to gain valuable insights for future strategies. Collect consumer feedback and make real-time adjustments to ensure campaigns align with audience expectations and behaviors.
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4 Run and monitor your experiments

After you have designed your experiments, you need to run and monitor them. Running your experiments means launching your variations of your channel or campaign and exposing them to your sample size. Monitoring your experiments means tracking and collecting data on your metrics and variables. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, or email marketing software to run and monitor your experiments. You should also check your experiments regularly to ensure that they are running smoothly and that there are no errors or anomalies.

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5 Analyze and interpret your results

Finally, you need to analyze and interpret your results. Analyzing your results means using statistical methods and tools to compare the performance of your variations and to determine if there are any significant differences or trends. Interpreting your results means using your logic and intuition to explain the meaning and implications of your results and to draw conclusions and recommendations. You can use tools like Optimizely or Google Optimize to analyze and interpret your results. You should also document and report your results to share them with your team and stakeholders.

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6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you test and experiment with different channels and campaigns?

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1 Define your objectives and metrics

2 Choose your channels and campaigns

3 Design your experiments

4 Run and monitor your experiments

5 Analyze and interpret your results

6 Here’s what else to consider

Multi-channel Marketing

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