Online marketers lose large amounts of money - millions, in the case of large companies - when they launch web and email marketing programs based solely on intuition instead of empirical testing, according to an MEC Labs research brief titled "A/B Split Testing," issued yesterday, writes DM News. The research brief outlines three specific A/B split tests conducted by MEC and examines how the findings can be used to create more effective promotional materials. It also discusses proper testing protocol.

A/B split testing evaluates the impact of a web page, email, letter or other promotional material by creating two or more versions of a message or product to determine which is more successful in maximizing conversion, click-through, sales or other measurable result. Traffic to the various versions is divided equally, and customer behavior is tracked to determine which version works best.