Website experimentation is an integral part of digital marketing success. For many companies, Oracle Maxymiser was a critical component of A/B testing efforts. With the Maxymiser sunset on the horizon, many teams are left in a tight spot having to choose a new A/B testing platform.
We went through this in 2023 with the sunset of Google Optimize. When your testing platform is deprecated or doesn’t have the testing capabilities you need to grow, you’re left with the daunting task of finding a new solution.
Between evaluating new A/B testing platforms, onboarding and learning a new platform, and creating a new testing roadmap, there are several things you need to consider to avoid pitfalls and ensure you’re set up for success.
One thing we can say for certain: The Maxymiser sunset (or the sunset of any platform) doesn’t mean you should end your website experimentation efforts! Let’s walk through the steps to continue generating A/B testing wins on a new platform.
Evaluating New A/B Testing Platforms: What to Consider
Before diving into the specifics of onboarding a new A/B testing platform, let’s break down the key factors that should influence your decision. Think of this as your strategic blueprint to optimize your testing practices and drive meaningful results.
User Limits
Some platforms are priced by tiers of monthly or yearly tested users. This refers to the number of users on your site who will meet the conditions to be bucketed into tests over that month or year.
Paying by tested user is often more cost-efficient. If you choose this route, make sure you go with a plan that includes an ample number of users. Monitor your usage so that you’re not forced to choose between ending tests early or paying overages when you run out of tested users before the next billing cycle.
Other platforms allow unlimited testing and are priced based on your site’s average monthly unique visitors. These plans usually come with a higher price tag but remove user-based limits and allow you to scale the number of tests you run over time.
Integrations
Assess the integrations you need to make the most of your existing tech stack. Virtually every platform has a connection to GA4, but do you use Adobe Analytics or another analytics tool instead?
Some questions to ask yourself are:
- Will you be able to send test segments to your analytics platform to perform advanced segmentation?
- Do you need to integrate with a UX tool like Contentsquare, Quantum Metric, or Hotjar to see what users in the Control and Variant are doing on your site?
- Do you want to work with a testing platform can pull data from your CRM and serve truly personalized experiences to your customers?
This is just a sample of what can be possible with tech stack integrations.
Platform Capabilities
Every A/B testing platform will evenly divide your traffic and serve the Variant to a subset of users. Beyond that, there’s a wide range of bells and whistles available to you, depending on the testing platform.
Consider what your needs are now, but also take time to envision the ideal future state of your marketing strategy and what capabilities it will require.
Do you want to explore server-side testing to get around the technical limitations of client-side testing? Do you want to do advanced segmentation of experiment data directly in the platform, without needing to look at test segments in GA4?
Some experimentation providers offer these and other capabilities such as personalization, product recommendations, and built-in UX tools like heatmaps and session recordings.
Training Complexity & Support
Some platforms are more user-friendly than others. Consider how “techie” your team is and what kind of interface they’ll feel comfortable working in. Have a demo with the platform(s) you’re considering and ask as many questions as needed.
Additionally, explore what level of support is included with your account, both during the onboarding process and ongoing. Anomalies or bugs can turn up in test builds, goals, or test data. It’s important to have responsive help from your platform to sort them out.
Onboarding to a New Platform: Mistakes to Avoid
Now that you know how to choose a new A/B testing platform after the Maxymiser sunset, let’s dive into how to ensure you onboard your new platform successfully. Keep reading for some crucial factors you need to consider to navigate your transition successfully, avoiding common pitfalls along the way.
Disrupting Existing Tests
You’ll want to choose your new experimentation platform early enough that you have some overlap between old and new. That way you can allow tests on the old platform to reach their projected end dates while starting new tests in the new tool.
If you don’t plan ahead, you’ll be forced to end tests early when your testing tool sunsets, meaning you’ll have wasted the time they were running because you didn’t reach conclusive results.
Taking Too Long to Migrate & Onboard
If you start your search for a new platform too close to the deprecation of your current one, you’ll likely have a gap period in which you can’t run any tests because you’re still signing agreements and onboarding with your new platform. This costs your company money in lost revenue gains because you’re not testing and discovering revenue-driving optimizations during this time.
Jumping Into Your New Platform Too Quickly
On the other hand, we caution against launching tests in your new experimentation tool too quickly, before it’s properly instrumented.
It’s important to run an A/A test (a test that divides the traffic but serves the Control, or existing site, to all users) first. This will help you ensure that traffic is split evenly, data is collected by the platform, and data for metrics like users and conversions adheres closely to what you see in your site analytics tool or backend.
You should also take the time to configure all metrics you’ll need for your first set of tests. It’s true that most of the time your focus will be on increasing conversions, but you’ll get better insights from experimentation if you’re also set up to track lower-funnel interactions. These can include CTA clicks, visits to certain page types, and usage of features like search and filters.
All the pitfalls above can be sidestepped by starting your search early and taking plenty of time to select and set up your new A/B testing platform.
Creating a Roadmap for Testing Success
The Maxymiser sunset is a good time to start fresh with a new testing roadmap. Follow these steps to create a research-backed experimentation plan with maximum potential to increase conversions and revenue.
Analyze the Data
At ROI Revolution, we advocate for a research-first approach to testing. Your tests will have a higher win rate if they’re tied directly to your customers, their pain points, and their motivations.
There are many data sources that can go into a successful A/B testing strategy, but some of the most important ones are your site analytics, heatmaps, user testing, and customer surveys.
Ideate Based on the Data
Once you’ve gathered your data, it’s time to ideate tests that address the friction points and opportunities uncovered by your research.
Take the time to write out the following:
- The design of each test
- A logical hypothesis
- Your primary metric
- One or more secondary or supporting metrics that you’ll rely on to gain additional insights
Focus on High Impact
At this point, you have a set of promising test proposals. Now, it’s time to create your testing roadmap by prioritizing and roughly scheduling them.
Focus at first on the tests most likely to have an impact. These are the tests that will be run with many users and/or target lower-funnel steps of the conversion journey.
And don’t backlog the “simple” tests. Over our eight years of testing, we’ve found that sometimes small changes can drive as much improvement as complex new functionalities.
Understand Development Complexity
Speaking of complex functionalities, it’s important to take dev bandwidth into account when mapping out your testing roadmap.
For each test, ask yourself if it will be a quick setup in the visual editor or if you’ll need to involve your development team to code the test.
Balance the complexity of tests each month and consider the dev bandwidth required, as well as the lift that will be expected from your own team.
Navigating the Maxymiser Sunset & Migrating to a New A/B Testing Platform
There are many things to consider when making this major business decision. If the stress of making the right choice is overwhelming, we’re here to help.
Whether you are facing the Maxymiser sunset, looking for a new tool with wider capabilities, or just getting started with experimentation, our platform-agnostic team of experts can guide you to choose the best fit platform. Book a meeting now to discover how we can guide you to greater conversions and A/B testing success.
