Microsoft Debuts A/B Testing Option for Advertisers

Microsoft has tapped its experience of helping business to test the impact of IT changes, to develop a campaign testing service called Experiments, to be offered shortly to users of its ad platform.

Thus, Experiments allows marketers to monitor the effect of changes by creating a duplicate version of a campaign and running an A/B test, in the same way IT professionals implement a full duplicate to test software before going 'live'. As reported on www.mediapost.com , features that can be tested include changes to ad wording and calls to action, different landing page URLs, and bidding tactics for allocating budgets.

Microsoft Advertising Program Managers Subha Hari and Piyush Naik said in a blog post that users should start with a clear hypothesis about the test cycle, apportion 50% of the campaign's daily budget and ad traffic for the 'Experiment', and run for two weeks so as to validate that performance is not different in any statistically significant way, before switching half to the experimental mode (A/B). In all, the firm recommends allowing four weeks for testing. Hari and Naik believe that users 'can run a true A/B test within a campaign to determine whether a particular update will work well for you and your business'.

Previous survey tools developed by the software giant have included self-service option Pulse for Market Research (pictured), launched four years ago this month and Video Pulse, which helps measure the recorded reactions of audiences and customers to ads, political campaigns or other digital content. The company also offers an analytics package, Dynamics 365, which integrates CRM and ERP capabilities including advanced data analytics and machine learning.

Web site: www.microsoft.com .