Social Media Tips for Veterinarians: A/B Testing

Social Media Tips for Veterinarians: A/B Testing

It might seem like marketing is more art than science most days, the truth is far more mathematical. With the right social media tips, every veterinarian can come out ahead of the curve. A/B testing is one of the most valuable tools in your marketing arsenal. A combination of creativity and mathematics, A/B tests are the machinery behind your marketing tactics. But what are they and how can you actually put them to use?

A/B Test Basics

The basics of a standard A/B test are based on some simple scientific principles. Do you want to know what your clients will respond to better? You're going to need to ask them. Here's the kicker though: you can't exactly ask people whether they like the blue logo or the green one, can you? Instead, you'll need to ask without asking.

So what are some tips veterinarians can use pose the question on social media?

A/B tests rely on splitting your potential customers into 2 or more groups and altering a single aspect of their user experience. For example, it's common to have multiple versions of ads or marketing materials to perform A/B tests on wording and aesthetics.

When it comes to multi-platform social media marketing, the options you'll need to A/B test continue to grow. From the time of day you post to the types of posts you make and everything in between, you need to optimize your social media engagement for your exact crowd.

Necessary A/B Test Tools

As with many useful instruments in marketing, A/B tests are only as good as your ability to track and interpret your results. What that boils down to is the need for meticulous record-keeping. While there are plenty of exquisitely designed analytics programs out there (Eric Siu has a useful list), a spreadsheet really will do the trick. You can keep track of the content you're testing and you'll have full control over the inner workings of your A/B tests.

The other critical tool is going to be a way to measure your outcomes. Maybe this is as simple as counting your sales of a given product. Perhaps you'd like to know if people are clicking on your links. Most social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, have the information broken down for you in easily digestible pieces. The biggest social media tip for busy veterinarians here is to not get overwhelmed with all the fluff that comes with it. If you don't care about your overall reach, only focus on your click throughs. If you're looking to build an email list, you should be focusing your efforts there and your metrics should follow suit. You can build out from there to include the more complex like influence and share of voice.

A/B Testing Never Ends

It's so easy to fall into this trap of thinking that what works now will always work. The reality is that A/B testing never ends for a successful enterprise, though. Your target audience will change over time, and you need to be prepared to change with them. This could be because new set of clients are aging into your demographic range. Perhaps changes in the social and political climate are driving shifts in how people perceive advertisements. And remember, this also means that what hasn't worked in the past may in fact work in the future. Don't be afraid to A/B test previous failures occasionally.

Whether you've just started marketing your business through social media or you're an old hat at this, A/B tests allow you to move with your audience in ways that keep your competitive edge sharp.