We often think of experiments as something we do in the realm of science, but there is a place for experimentation in business, especially when needed to make data-informed strategic and tactical decisions. For example, you are probably familiar with marketing experiments, such as A/B testing for headlines, copy, or creative as a way to determine which option might be better received by the intended audience. Perhaps you do experiments to determine which channels work best for which customers.
If you are part of a company that intentionally “places bets” for strategic initiatives, then the ability to make smarter decisions is imperative to potential success. Controlled business experiments enable you to test your bets, by leveraging data scientists and being ever more data literate.
Innovation can be risky, whether it is changing up how you engage with customers and prospects, the offers you create, or your go-to market strategy. Rather than relying on experience and intuition to test your hypothesis, initiate a business experiment.
How To Apply the Scientific Method to Your Business
The value of an experiment is that it enables you to collect real-world data you can use to achieve greater growth. The scientific method is one approach for making sure your experiments produce valuable, reliable results. Since it may have been a while since you conducted an experiment, let’s quickly recap the best practice steps associated with the scientific method.
The point of an experiment is to learn something new. Within the context of business, this could be new insights regarding pricing, positioning, strategy, and more. While we’re all becoming more proficient at modeling and predictive analytics, there is still a place for experimentation. Business experiments can provide fast insight into how people will react or respond to changes.
If improving business performance remains a priority for your organization, we hope you’ll consider the merits of experimenting. Need help exploring how you can benefit from experimentation? Let us show you how you can best use the data you have to develop and implement experiments to help you get the results you want.