As an affiliate marketer, maintaining a winning campaign is half the battle. The other half is continuous optimization to ensure long-term profitability and growth. Testing new offers and variations is important, but it can feel risky when you already have a campaign that's doing well. This is because the budget for testing new ideas can seem like it's going to cut into the profits of your successful campaign. The trick is to test smartly, reducing risk while aiming for big rewards.
This is where controlled testing comes in. In this article, we’ll explore the 80/15 weighted rule—a simple and effective way to do split testing. We’ll explain how this rule works, why it’s useful, and how you can use it to keep your campaigns profitable as you scale to other offers.
Understanding the 80/15 weighted rule
The 80/15 weighted rule is a straightforward yet powerful approach to controlled testing. The idea is to allocate 85% of your traffic to your proven winning combination (the control) and the remaining 15% to test new variations.
Breaking it down:
- Control test (85%): This is your current winning combination, whether it’s a specific offer, landing page, banner ad, or a mix of these elements. By directing 85% of your traffic here, you ensure that the majority of your efforts remain profitable.
- Test variations (15%): The remaining 15% of your traffic is used for testing new variations. These could be different offers, new landing pages, alternate banner ads, or any other elements you want to experiment with. By keeping this portion small, you limit potential losses while still exploring new opportunities.
Why the 80/15 weighted rule works
1. Minimizing losses
Directing 85% of your traffic to a proven winner ensures that most of your efforts generate profit. Even if the test variations don’t perform well, the impact on your overall profitability is minimal.
2. Allowing for optimization
The 15% allocated to testing variations provides a controlled environment to discover potentially better combinations. If a test variation outperforms your control, you can promote it to your new control, continuously enhancing your campaign.
3. Gathering statistically significant data
While 15% might seem small, it’s enough to gather statistically significant data over time. This data helps you make informed decisions about which variations to keep, modify, or discard.
Implementing the 80/15 weighted rule
To effectively implement the 80/15 weighted rule, you’ll need a tracking platform that allows you to control traffic distribution. Here’s how you can do it:
Step-by-step guide:
- Identify your control test: Determine which combination of variables (offer, landing page, banner ad, etc.) is currently performing the best. This will be your control test.
- Set up your test variations: Create the new variations you want to test against your control. These could include new offers, modified landing pages, different banner ads, or other elements.
- Configure your tracking platform: In your tracking platform, set up the split test and allocate 85% of your traffic to the control test and 15% to the test variations. Most platforms have features that allow you to specify this percentage distribution easily.
- Monitor the results: As the test runs, closely monitor the performance of both the control test and the test variations. Focus on key metrics such as conversion rates, click-through rates, and overall profitability.
- Analyze and optimize: After collecting enough data, analyze the results. If a test variation outperforms the control, consider making it the new control and continue testing. If the test variations underperform, either discard them or refine and test again.
When to use the 80/15 weighted rule
The 80/15 weighted rule is ideal when you already have a proven winning combination and want to optimize further without taking on too much risk. However, it’s not suitable for every situation:
- Just starting out: If you don’t have a clear winner yet, distribute your traffic evenly across all variations to gather data quickly and identify potential winners without any bias.
- Large budget: If you have a large budget and can afford more aggressive testing, you might allocate a higher percentage to test variations. The 80/15 split is conservative, but you can adjust the percentages based on your resources and risk tolerance.
Conclusion
Controlled testing using the 80/15 weighted rule strikes a perfect balance between maintaining profitability and fostering innovation. By directing 85% of your traffic to a proven winner and using the remaining 15% for testing new variations, you can explore new possibilities without jeopardizing your existing success.
Remember, the key to effective controlled testing is a solid tracking platform that allows you to control traffic distribution. By setting up your tests correctly and monitoring the results closely, you can make data-driven decisions and continuously improve your campaigns.
The 80/15 weighted rule is just one approach to controlled testing. As you gain more experience and confidence in your testing abilities, you might discover other strategies that work better for your specific needs. The important thing is to always be testing, analyzing, and optimizing based on the data you gather.
