How to do image testing for advertising correctly
In most cases, the reason for making changes to creatives or creating new ones is to conduct image testing. In this case, the main parameter for such analysis is the conversion rate to the target action, taking into account its cost and quantitative characteristics. However, this approach is considered by experienced professionals to be insufficient to evaluate the effectiveness of the image.
Designers receive little information to improve their designs when advertising banners are tested as described. As a result, new creatives may also fail to work simply because a particular factor has not been considered. An image contains a specific set of elements, each of which affects the result of promotion. And if the banner did not bring the desired result, you can not say it was ill-conceived.
A promotional image includes:
- the format of the image, it can be a photo, a video, or an illustration;
- background color;
- the text part.
A mistake can be made in the design of each of these elements. For example, a poorly chosen background: if it’s too faded, it may be overlooked by users. At the same time, the text and image are well chosen. In this case, there is no point in creating a new banner from scratch. Just change the background shade.
Testing images in advertising
When analyzing the effectiveness of creatives, special attention should be paid to their relevance to the product and the target audience. The elements depicted should have a certain meaning and evoke emotion in the target audience. In addition, different people are influenced differently by the style of copywriting: an aggressive appeal or a soft suggestion. Each component can affect conversion differently, meaning they need to be analyzed in more detail to understand their effectiveness.
When testing images in advertising, you need to break them down into elements and analyze their impact on the funnel. For this purpose, utm tags are used, which are included along with the application in a CRM or analytics service. Most often, the naming of ads serves as such tags.
After comprehensive A/B testing of images, the designer understands which component has been chosen unsuccessfully and what needs to be redone. The analysis helps to identify the patterns that affect the effectiveness of the creatives. And such a test does not take much time. Setting up the process correctly is essential, and everything happens automatically. All elements of adverts need to be entered for testing. Otherwise, you might miss a problematic component.
This approach will optimize designers’ time and resources, and most importantly, it works for the long term. Errors can recur in every creative, and identifying them will significantly increase the effectiveness of the promotion without making numerous changes to the banners.
