Can you guess the winner in this A/B test?

I’ve been following the site Anne Holland’s* “Which Test Won?” for a while, and was particularly intrigued at this test, for several reasons.

As you’ll read if you take the test, one achieved a better email open rate and click-through-rate, while the other was more effective at inducing purchase.

Can you guess which is which, and why?

I guessed correctly. One would hope, given my background. You can read my rationale in the comments section, which becomes available once you vote. Don’t be disappointed; at least when I took the test, a clear majority guessed incorrectly.

Full disclosure: Sony Creative Software — and Kevin St. Angel, their director of ecommerce extraordinaire — was a client of mine in a “past life.” My policy of never talking about client work in this blog doesn’t come into play here.

It’s not that they are no longer a client. That wouldn’t matter. But since Sony has made this test public I feel free to discuss it and encourage further discussion on Anne’s site.

Good luck taking the one-question test!

* If Anne Holland’s name sounds familiar, it’s because, among her other accomplishments, she is the founder of Marketing Sherpa.

3 Replies to “Can you guess the winner in this A/B test?”

  1. Surprise, surprise. I guessed wrong on the A/B test – but I appreciate Anne Holland’s point: “just goes to show, you have to measure tests beyond the click.”

  2. As I mention, Keith, most people do get it wrong. And based on tweets and comments on my Facebook post of the link (plus the comments below the test results), even when people are warned it’s tricky they still follow incorrect assumptions.

    I appreciate your comment.

    (I even got a rare tweet out of it from the usually social-media-silent Keven St. Angel. It was his 10th tweet!)

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