#13. Interview with Convert
“A/B testing tools are hammers; the end result depends on the skill of the person wielding it”
Hi friends.
Happy September. This week’s post is a special one. Below, you’ll find an interview I conducted with Convert – a company that provides A/B testing software for agencies and eCommerce companies.
Thank you for reading!
Recently I created a website to promote my book using Squarespace. See: Practical A/B Testing.
Squarespace is nice because it takes less than a day to spin up a site since the platform can both host and enable you to build the site itself. Sure, I could have opted for Dreamhost for basic hosting, written some HTML, imported Bootstrap, etc. Is that the best use of a Sunday afternoon? Nah.
But what would be the perfect utilization of a Sunday afternoon? Configuring A/B tests on my own personal, unique, humble…website. Which is why I started looking into third-party A/B testing software.
Back to Squarespace.
Squarespace does have very high-level built-in analytics, but it also offers easy integration with Google Analytics 4. You can install GA4 on Squarespace with Google Tag Manager or the measurement ID. Your first thought may be Google Optimize – which is nearing its depreciation date.
So what third party products are available to integrate with GA4? There are many but one in particular that integrates well with GA4 and is a fairly comprehensive replacement for Google Optimize is… Convert!
Convert’s platform enables classic A/B tests, including targeting and segmentation features, and more complex evaluations, such as multivariate tests. The kind folks at Convert lent their time for an interview because here, at Experimenting, the Newsletter, we only ask hard-hitting questions.
What follows is an interview I had with the team at Convert, a company that provides A/B Testing software.
Hope you enjoy the interview!
Q: A/B testing is hard because it requires technology, process and culture – how does the Convert tooling and platform make A/B testing easier?
A: Convert is built to support the growth and scaling journey of companies of all sizes.
Technology: A/B testing tools are hammers; the end result depends on the skill of the person wielding it. A hammer can be used with intention, or it can be used with impunity.
Convert Experiences as an A/B testing solution is built with intentionality at its core. We believe that experimentation is human nature. We observe, we repeat, we draw conclusions to understand causation, and make better decisions. The same spontaneity (in experimentation) should apply to businesses and organizations. Recognizing the financial constraints that often limit experimentation, we’re offering enterprise features at self-service pricing. We know those 100k USD annual contracts hold back true testing program maturity, which should come from hiring a great team.
Our lean features suite includes the freedom to test anywhere (with the full stack offering starting at $499/mo), safeguards like SRM checks and collision prevention, and advanced targeting and goal engines.
Process: Convert Experiences is built for testers in the trenches, with 90 one-tag integrations to adjust to an ambitious tester's tech stack. With Data Sources, users have the ability to trigger tests based on dynamic data in other apps, like lead scores in your MAP. We also have a secure, powerful API that extends the capabilities of Convert Experiences to your ecosystem.
Culture: The biggest roadblock to ongoing experimentation is culture. From securing buy-in to keeping buy-in to not prioritizing a data informed culture, there is a lot that can dampen the enthusiasm of testers. Convert Experiences is an affordable introduction to relatively mature testing. Our monthly plans provide all the features you need to maintain experimentation rigor without exorbitant contracts. We encourage teams to spend more time testing and less time grappling with admin. Our support team is 10x faster. We have a 10-step onboarding baked into all plans (except our current community plans, which will no longer be available to purchase come 1st October 2023). This ensures you have the tracking code installed right, and your A/A test goes off without glitches. Trusting the tool and data is key to a data informed culture.
Q: Similarly, what do you think is the hardest part about starting from scratch with regards to experimentation in an organization that does zero experimentation?
A: We’ve had the privilege of speaking to dozens of experts about this. They across the board agree that in the absence of any experimentation, the toughest challenges are:
Convincing team members that simply collecting data (without processing and acting on it to activate insights) isn’t the bedrock of a data informed culture.
Preparing teams for the fact that when they analyze data and open up decisions to the large-scale “traffic voting” of A/B tests, they will be frequently proven wrong. This isn’t a bad thing. In fact, John Ostrowski says that holding the humble card is the most valuable trait a tester can possess.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a voice of change and introduce A/B testing into their product workflow - where their current workflow includes zero a/b testing and they just ship features to production?
A: This applies to both web testing and product testing. Instead of trying to sell the C-suite on what testing can add to the business—which makes it sound like a channel like PPC or SEO and sets entirely the wrong expectations—show them how testing could have prevented poor decisions and feature rollouts which affected the user experience. This positions testing (and the sentiment of experimentation) as a decision making tool—which is where the value of the exercise lies. Better decisions can be employed in the service of more revenue, improved KPIs, and greater efficiency—everything an organization needs to fulfill its mission.
Thank you Convert! If you’re curious, you can find more info on their platform here. Happy Experimenting.