Omniture Articles

Staffing For Testing

These days, the question for marketers is no longer “should my company test?” but “how can my company make testing work?”

The evidence keeps piling in: Conversions leap 127 percent on a landing page test! Revenue per visitor soars 21 percent simply by reiterating an offer on a product page! Average order value jumps 8 percent after testing impulse buy suggestions on the checkout page!

So how can your marketing group organize to optimize? Here are a few tips:

  • Make a schedule
  • Think 40, not 4
    Some customers of ours are on track for 50–100 tests/optimizations per year
  • Avoid the “monster”
    Big tests have their place, especially if you are changing significant back–end software. But this should be the exception, not the rule.
  • Think “how can I use testing to increase performance of a campaign or program?” not “when should we test the home page again?”

Most importantly, however, think through the staffing. You do not need a Ph.D., nor does this person have to love on analytics.

Here are the roles we have found to be necessary to run an ongoing testing program:

*Champion*
The champion, or operator, is generally a manager–level employee who plans and sets up the tests, watches results, makes changes, and keeps the program moving forward. Generally, the champion is the program advocate –– the one who knows on a fact–based level the success the program is bringing to the company.

*Content creator*
If you’re going to run a test of four different versions of a promotion, someone will need to create those four versions.

*Technical*
While the technical needs for Offermatica’s testing solution are minor, somebody does need the ability to make sure the interface with Offermatica works.

These three roles, along with that of the business owner –– the head honcho who signs the checks and who cares the most about results –– are all it takes to run a successful testing program.

Better yet, these do not need to be four separate people. Depending on the size of the company, a single person can wear all the hats, handling the role of champion, content creator, and techie. A testing program doesn’t take a Ph.D. to run. In fact, a Ph.D. would likely become mired in the numbers and spend too much time analyzing, rather than testing, tweaking, improving, and moving on (not to mention the six–figure salary you’d pay).

We work with companies who have seen remarkable success in testing using someone who devotes 25 percent of her time working on it. And we work with companies who have two or more full–time employees engaged in the testing process. One company we know compensates their champion based solely on the improvements she is able to bring to the bottom line through testing and optimization.

Look at your staff. Find, or hire, a campaign–focused manager who chomps at the bit to take ideas and make them happen. Then, set him free and let him run with it.