After over two decades in the digital marketing world, we can say one thing for certain: Nothing stays still for long. Platform algorithms shift, audience behaviors evolve, and what worked brilliantly last year might fall flat today. For marketing agencies and companies alike, this fluid environment poses a significant challenge: How can you ensure that your digital campaigns consistently perform, drive return on ad spend, and deliver real value for your brand or client?

The truth is, it’s not about finding the one perfect ad format, perfect targeting strategy, or perfect platform. Instead, it’s a mindset shift to a digital marketing strategy that is designed to learn, adapt, and improve over time. Let’s explore the power of A/B testing — what it is, why it matters, how to do it effectively, and how to foster a culture of continuous optimization within your marketing team.

What is A/B testing?

Simply put, A/B testing is the practice of comparing two or more versions of a marketing element — whether that is your messaging, copy, creative, or delivery strategy — to determine which performs better. And while it’s especially common for efforts like paid social or search, it’s every bit as valuable for email campaigns, landing pages, website content, and even organic content strategies. It also doesn’t require you to always run two versions side by side. Especially in long-running campaigns, A/B testing can take the form of sequential changes — adjusting one variable at a time and measuring its impact before making further updates.

It might sound basic, but A/B testing is one of the most impactful tools available to us. Rather than trying to guess or assume what will work, it’s a deliberate, iterative approach that enables marketers to test assumptions, gather insights, and continuously improve their campaigns.

Why A/B testing matters more than ever

Every marketer is feeling the squeeze — advertising costs are rising, digital noise is growing, and it’s no longer enough to launch a campaign and hope for the best. Every dollar you spend must be justified by performance. A/B testing enables:

• Objective decision making: Rather than relying on gut feelings or outdated best practices, A/B testing gives you real-time data to inform your decisions.
• Reduced risk: Testing allows you to experiment in a controlled way, reducing the risk of wasting budget on ineffective strategies.
• Increased ROI: By identifying what works and optimizing around it, you can continually improve your cost per click, conversion rates, and overall return on ad spend.
• Agility: In a world where platforms and user behaviors change rapidly, A/B testing helps you stay nimble and responsive.

What can you test? (spoiler: everything)

Nearly every component of a digital campaign can be tested. Whether you’re running display ads, writing emails, or launching a new landing page, A/B testing helps you to pinpoint what’s working and what’s not. Here are some of the most common variables we test when approaching a new campaign:

Creative & content elements

• Email subject lines: Short vs. long, curiosity-driven vs. benefit-focused.
• Email body copy: Varying tone, structure, or length; placement and design of CTAs.
• Landing pages: Different layouts, hero images, messaging hierarchy, form placement, and use of multimedia like video.
• Ad copy: Headline length, CTA language, tone of voice.
• Visual assets: Static images vs. video, light vs. dark backgrounds, people-focused imagery vs. product shots.
• Call-to-action buttons: “Buy now” vs. “Learn more,” button color, size, and position.

Platform & audience setup

• Channel mix: Comparing results across platforms (Meta vs. Google vs. LinkedIn).
• Targeting criteria: Testing audience segments by size, demographics, interests, or behaviors.
• Campaign objectives: Different platforms offer different campaign types and objectives. Pay attention to which are driving the results you’re looking for.
• Geography and timing: Are certain regions or time slots producing better results?
• Budget distribution: Adjusting spend between platforms, audiences, or creative formats.

Best practices for effective A/B testing

With so many variables to explore, it’s tempting to test everything at once. But experience has taught us that to generate meaningful insights, you need to isolate variables and maintain a baseline. Changing too many elements at once can muddy your results and make it difficult to pinpoint what’s actually driving performance.

Our rule of thumb is to let each test run for at least two weeks before evaluating results. If your campaign allows, extending that window to three or four weeks can provide even more reliable data — especially for lower-volume campaigns.

And don’t forget to track everything. UTMs, pixels, and analytics tools like Google Analytics or HubSpot are vital to understanding what actions your changes are driving. The more data you collect, the more confident you can be in your conclusions.

A/B testing in action: GigXR case study

To see how this plays out in practice, here’s a quick look at how we helped our client, GigXR, use A/B testing to refine their messaging and drive qualified leads.

GigXR, a global leader in Extended Reality (XR) learning for medical education, engaged us to help launch digital campaigns promoting their latest eBook. With no in-house marketing team, they needed a partner who could test and optimize messaging through A/B testing. We stepped in to manage the campaigns, focusing on generating marketing-qualified leads and delivering data-driven insights to guide their efforts.

What we tested: Nine total ads broken into three messaging cohorts, each with tailored landing page copy and three ad variations, ran side-by-side on LinkedIn and Google Display for 90 days in the US and Europe.

What we saw: Testing multiple messaging strategies gave us a clear insight into what worked best where and on what platform. This allowed us to continuously optimize ad delivery, creative, messaging, and targeting — while providing key takeaways that GigXR could continue to apply going forward. By the end of the campaign, they saw 257 conversions, 130 marketing-qualified leads, and a 10x return on ad spend.

Building a culture of optimization

One of the biggest lessons we’ve learned at Odigo is that insights only matter if they are used. It’s exciting to uncover that a certain phrase resonates deeply with a niche audience, or that creative performs better on a dark background — but if that information never makes it back to the creative team to improve the next campaign, what’s the point? We’ve seen firsthand that the benefits of A/B testing are only fully realized when the whole team is looped in and actively learning from the data. As a lean, collaborative team, we’ve worked hard to eliminate silos so that every insight becomes a shared opportunity to improve. By weaving findings directly into our creative process we’re constantly compounding our knowledge and honing our campaigns. Here are the key practices that have helped us turn A/B testing into a full team effort.

Make testing collaborative

Loop in all perspectives — from copy to design to deployment — so insights benefit the whole crew, not just one corner of the workflow.

Document and reuse learnings

Create a centralized location (such as a campaign testing log or shared folder) where you document past tests, hypotheses, outcomes, and learnings. This library of institutional knowledge can save time and guide future campaign development.

Celebrate wins — and learn from losses

Even “failed” tests are valuable. If Version B doesn’t outperform Version A, you’ve still learned something meaningful. Over time, these accumulated insights help sharpen your instincts and drive better decisions.

Conclusion: Smarter marketing starts with testing

In a digital world that never stands still, A/B testing is one of the smartest ways to stay ahead of the curve. Rather than chasing one perfect solution, the marketers that manage to stay relevant in the long-term embrace a mindset of continuous learning and iterative progress. Every test is a chance to get smarter — and every insight compounds into stronger, more effective campaigns.

Don’t settle for guesswork. Let’s talk about how we can help you build a campaign that learns and grows with your audience.