From subject lines to CTAs: A/B testing tips to grow tour bookings

There are a few questions you may ask yourself when sending out your next email. Which image will increase an email’s click-through rate? Which subject line will get more people to open? That’s where A/B testing comes in. 

A/B testing evaluates two versions of a marketing asset, such as a landing page or email. The purpose of A/B testing is to understand how small differences can influence customer behavior, allowing you to fine-tune your campaigns and maximize the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. 

This guide will cover how A/B testing works, what you can test, and why you should try it. 

How does A/B testing work?

Rather than trying to guess what your customers will respond to, A/B testing allows you to gather actionable data about your marketing campaigns. 

To perform an A/B test, you can select one variable that you want to test, such as the call to action (CTA) or an email subject line. Create two versions of the landing page and show them to segments of your visitors to see which performs better. 

For example,  you’re sending an email to promote an upcoming discount on your kayak tours, and you want to test which subject line would result in a higher open rate for the email. 

Without changing anything else in the email, you create two versions with different subject lines. 

Version A: Book today and save 20% on your next trip! 

Version B: Hurry! Your 20% kayak discount expires soon. 

After giving the email a few days, you go back and review the data and find that version A had a 38% open rate, while version B had a 15% open rate. Looks like we have a winner! 

The good news? Many email marketing platforms can segment and send the winning results for you.

Additionally, you can test CTAs on your tour pages. Test whether a ‘Book Your Adventure Today’ button performs better than ‘Reserve Your Spot Now’ on your snorkeling tour page. 

Here are some things you can A/B test: 

• Headlines
• Copy (length, style, etc.)
• CTAs (text, position, color, etc.)
• Graphics
• Subject lines
• Ad words
• Site speed
• Page layout

Pro tip: Test one variable at a time to get a clear understanding of what worked well. If you completely redesign a landing page, you won’t know what did the trick. Was it the heading, the CTA, the images, or another element?

Why should you A/B test?

A/B testing gives you practical data to guide marketing decisions. Don’t spend your marketing budget on a campaign when you’re not sure what will work for your audience. Conducting these tests gives you the information you need to feel confident that you are sending out the most effective marketing campaign for your customers. 

The benefits of A/B testing include: 

• Higher click-through and conversion rate: Testing out CTA anchor text, button placement and color, and more allows you to increase your conversion rate by choosing the versions that have proved to perform best. 
• Increased website traffic: By testing out blog posts or page titles, you can find the one that drives the most traffic to your site. 
• Increased bottom line: A/B testing gives you clear evidence of what works, helping you focus on the elements that drive the most business.
• Lower bounce rate: A/B testing can also help you identify the elements that don’t work well and that might be sending users away from your site. 

When it comes to increasing revenue, you want to feel sure that you’re making the most informed decision possible. Instead of waiting to find out that your marketing campaign didn’t work as well as you wanted it to, A/B testing allows you to get ahead of the game and feel confident that you’re putting your best foot forward. 

Keep leveling up your marketing strategy

A/B testing isn’t just for big brands with massive marketing budgets. It’s a simple, powerful way for tour operators to fine-tune campaigns and book more customers. 

Every test you run gives you clearer insight into what travelers actually respond to, helping you build stronger emails, smarter websites, and higher-converting ads.

Want more ways to grow your bookings? Explore our collection of marketing strategies for tour operators to keep your business one step ahead.