Testing variations of marketing and advertising tactics is the key to understanding what works and what does not. For example, comparing two similar email campaigns with different subject lines can reveal the best subject line to use in the full scale campaign.

Once the top performing tactics are identified, further testing will reveal the subtler changes that boost performance even more.

Understanding how to properly create, execute, and analyze tests is obviously very important.

Multi-variant tests, where multiple aspects of the marketing tactic are changed at the same time can be complex and require a sound methodology to be effective.

A/B testing is more straightforward and is an effective method for many situations. The folks over at KISSmetrics have written an excellent series on A/B testing that our readers are sure to enjoy.

A/B testing is a fantastic method for figuring out the best online promotional and marketing strategies for your business. It can be used to test everything from website copy to sales emails to search ads. And the advantages A/B testing provide are enough to offset the additional time it takes.

There are many advantages to interactive marketing, including the flexibility to test and modify messages and calls to action. Any business that is serious about exploiting interactive technology should include testing as part of the marketing process.