Chapter 1

How A/B Testing Helped Win the White House—Twice: The $57 Million Button

First published: 02 January 2012

Summary

This chapter discusses the advantages of A/B testing technique that has been deployed during presidential campaigns. A/B testing is a website testing tool, which is considered as an easier and faster online testing and optimization method. The concept of A/B testing is to show different variations of the website to different people and measure which variation is the most effective at turning them into customers. A/B testing has gone from a secret weapon within the purview of only a handful of tech companies to an increasingly ubiquitous and critical part of doing business online. It is pointed out that this sea change in the way companies are conducting online business and marketing is perhaps best illustrated by taking a glance at the election cycle that came next: the 2012 presidential race. Anyone can conduct A/B testing, and it can affect—and infect—an entire organization.

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