Better Fundraising Results By Using A/B Split-Testing

I went from having difficulty in creating lead-generation funnels that did not convert to finally cracking the code using A/B split testing. By using Google Content Experiments for split-testing, I was able to track user behavior and preferences in order to create highly-successful and professionally designed landing pages that converted well and smoothly transported the user through the marketing funnel; in turn, achieving better fundraising results.

I want to share with you just how to do this for your organization, too.

So, let’s go ahead and get started.

Choose a goal that emphasizes builds on your strengths. Through this, we are able to measure your success by over the next month. Do you want to focus on the amount of relationships you develop? Do you want to focus on the amount of donations you receive? Do you want to focus on building brand awareness? Do you want to focus on better fundraising results?

Decide on a numeric goal that correlates with your measurement of success. You would want to make sure it feels realistic as you are getting started. Over time, you can change the numbers. Now, go ahead and set an end date for this goal. One of my biggest tips is to reverse engineer your goals. Start with your end date and end result in mind and work backwards.

In order to measure your goals, you should watch your page visits, SEO strategy and views through Google Analytics. (You can also set up a Facebook Pixel and include it on your pages for further tracking).

Through the use of A/B Split Testing, you will be able to measure the success of your landing pages, donation form and user engagement. Remember that this is where you collect your data, evaluate your data and immediately apply your data so you can see better fundraising results.

I’m going to walk you through it step-by-step so you can implement this strategy right away. This can have immediate effects on your fundraising success and has played a major role in converting leads, engaging your audience and moving your community members forward through the fundraising funnel in order to change from prospect to donor.

And, it’s free. Did I mention that? It’s totally 100% free.

In order to improve your conversions on your landing pages and donation pages, you need to set up your split-tests using Google’s Content Experiments.

First, you need to make sure that your SEO is set up and Google Analytics is installed and ready to go. From there, log into your Analytics Account and look for the Content Experiments tab towards the bottom of your left-hand menu.

Your next step will be to create three different landing pages or donation pages on your actual website – your control page, your variation page and your success page. You can duplicate your control page and make variations to save time.

Once you have your pages set up, look for the section for Goals. The next step will be to create a conversion goal.

Click New Goal, give it a name, and select the Destination Type option. Make sure that the Funnel option is turned off on the settings. For the link for the Destination Page, include the link for your Success page. From the drop-down menu, choose the Begins With option for your Destination Page link.

After you save, go to the Behavior section next on your left menu and choose Experiments. Name your experiment and the select a metric, choosing the goal you just previously set up in the earlier step. Keep your default settings.

Next, you will be asked to configure your experiments. Enter the information for the control page and the variation page. You should receive the code to embed on each page. Proceed to add the code snippets to their respective pages.

Save your changes and publish out your pages in order to verify in the next step.

Send your traffic to your control page. Click Start Experiment to begin testing. Some of your visitors will see your variation page instead and Google will collect data, enabling you to analyze the results. Give your tests at least two weeks to collect results and keep an eye on which pages are doing better in your Google Analytics Dashboard.

Here’s a tip. Making small variations gives you the opportunity to isolate and pinpoint exactly what your audience responds better to. It may be a variation in color that creates stronger conversion, or it also may be a change in text.

Keep measuring which page is working best for you and make adjustments based on what your audience is reacting to. If something works, excellent. Celebrate! If you need to adjust, do so – again and again and again – until you get the response you want.

Have questions? Want to learn even more about split-testing and how to get better fundraising results? Reach out to us and we’ll help you out.