# Maximize your social media efforts

Social media has become a marketing must for companies large and small, from Coca-Cola to your local mom-and-pop shop. With multiple platforms and endless user scrolling, **social media provides 24/7 marketing to draw consumers towards your business.**

For agents to get the most out of their social media campaigns they must be studied and adjusted to reach their full potential. This is where social media A/B testing can help. But first, let’s get into what exactly A/B testing is and the benefits for agents.

#### What is social media A/B testing?

A/B testing, also known as split testing or conversion optimization, is a method of **testing two independent variables to reveal which social media message is most effective**. A quasi-natural selection method of testing where only the strong survive, a social media campaign that is. With A/B testing, you will send two different marketing campaigns to a small percentage of your target group(s). **The winner is the campaign producing more success data**, be it clicks, opens, or consumer feedback. The winning message is then sent to the remaining target audience which hopefully will result in increased site traffic and conversion rates.

#### Why is social media testing important?

**Feedback from consumers is the greatest resource in today’s insurance marketplace**. Social media testing is important as it can answer questions such as:

- Which messages are most engaging for my target audience?
- What online content is driving the most traffic?
- What times of the day and week are most effective for pushing social media marketing?
- How are hashtags and/or images impacting my marketing campaign?

**A/B testing is focus group testing in real time**, users providing data on different campaign versions without even knowing, making needed tweaks to increase traffic and direct sales opportunities. A great method to test out new ideas without the downside risks.

#### How can I introduce testing in my social media campaigns?

##### Identify your goal

Whether it is increasing online traffic, improving website conversions, or opening direct sales channels, every social media campaign has a specific goal. This should be the same mindset when it comes to testing digital marketing strategies. Without a specific goal, testing lacks the structure whereby **collected data can be converted into actionable intelligence to improve agency social media sites**. Once a specific goal is decided, agents can then look to which audiences they want to focus on for the testing. This provides a clear path on why we are testing, what we are testing, and who we are testing these strategies on.

##### Pick your audience

A/B testing is a great tool to try out new marketing campaigns on an array of target audiences to get a feel for what works and what does not. Insurance agents have the freedom to target any audience they feel could bring additional business in the door. **Agencies can focus on audience variables like location, age, education, occupation**, or any other number of variables to test out consumer reactions to social media campaigns. A great strategy is to **choose a target audience that is close but not identical to your current customer base**, as this audience may be the easiest to convert to your brand. Strategically picking the target audience will allow the A/B testing to produce data that can assist in tweaking digital marketing campaigns to attract new consumer bases.

##### Act on the testing data

Testing is only worth its weight if the collected data is acted upon. If a test variation performs better than the original, it is important to know why and to tailor ongoing campaigns to this style. **Data is only valuable if it leads to process optimization and greater conversion rates.** The end goal for agents’ online presence is to increase brand exposure and get potential customers in the door. Taking advantage of A/B testing data is the only way you can take your social media campaigns to the next level.

#### Wrapping Up

Independent insurance agents are using social media more than ever drawing in new consumer bases and increasing brand exposure. A/B testing social media campaigns is a great way to increase conversion rates, turning scrolls into clicks, clicks into sales. A few simple steps can turn social media presence into clear sales channels for agents, displaying a clear link between digital marketing and return on investment.