12 bold predictions for experimentation in 2022

As the year came to a close, Kameleoon asked 4 experts from around the world for their boldest experimentation predictions in 2022. Here are their top forecasts, which they admit is a mixture of insight and aspiration.

"Understand or die" says André Morys, CEO and founder of konversionsKRAFT

• Not testing will have more consequences. "Understand or die," says André. Companies and management that still haven't learned to harness experimentation will feel the pain in 2022. Companies that "get it" will continue to grow far faster

• Experimenters will move away from the "nerd pole." Experts and consultants who are able to dramatically simplify experimentation, so that it spreads across an organization, will win.

• Trends and buzzwords FTW. "People will talk even more about AI, tools, fancy stuff and PREDICTIONS like we do, it is such an entertaining and nice distraction from a dull and boring everyday life.

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Understand the value of experimentation or you won’t make it, because this is the 20, 30, and 40 percent added revenue—either you have it or you don’t. You cannot just rely on organic growth anymore

André Mory

CEO and founder, konversionsKRAFT

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"No more Faberge eggs" says Juliana Jackson, Head of Customer Marketing at CXL

• Data analysts and technical marketers will move out of the vault. "They're not Faberge eggs meant to be brought out and shown off," says Julia. Companies will stop collecting data scientists and technical marketers and do more to build a data-driven organization in 2022.

• Brands will understand that tools ≠ insights. Companies will realize an abundance of tools doesn't mean an abundance of insights.

• Reporting and tracking improvements will mean more than message testing. Now that experimentation solutions have made it easier to report and track the performance of an experiment that runs across multiple channels e.g. web and email, you'll see an increase in copy testing in 2022, says Juliana.

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I feel bad for my data analyst friends who are at the company just as a trophy—just to show, ‘Look, I’m data-driven. But every time they come with insights, the leadership doesn’t listen because it’s not that quick win they were looking for. I feel, and aspire to, this role becoming more important this year.

Juliana Jackson

Head of Customer Marketing and Community, CXL

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"Less will be more" says Stephen Pavlovich, CEO and founder of Conversion.com

• A recession will drive demand for experimentation. As disposable income goes down, competition for customers goes up, increasing the importance of experimentation, says Stephen.

• There will be a focus on the quality of the experiment. More and more companies are doing experimentation. In 2022, "we'll see an increasing focus on the quality of the experimentation program," he notes.

• Brands will begin to experiment everywhere. More and more companies will start to apply experimentation to other parts of their business, not just look for CRO wins. "We're already seeing many painted door tests," says Stephen.

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Whereas for the last two years we’ve seen a lot of increased demand online […] that’s probably going to shift this year as we see increased competition for customers. I would hope that would, in turn, increase the focus on experimentation.

Stephen Pavlovich

CEO and founder, Conversion.com

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"Winning will mean learning" says Matt Wright, Director of Behavioral Science at Widerfunnel

• We will stop talking about “winning.” Using the winner/loser framing does not communicate the true value of running experiments. We, as an industry, will back off on talking about winning, says Matt.

• As practitioners, we will embrace more ambiguity. We’re increasingly evaluating and making decisions across multiple dimensions, e.g. to support confident decision-making. We won't limit our capacity to affect change by only undertaking experiments where there is no ambiguity, says Matt.

• We will start to understand the applications where personalization provides the most value. No, 2022 will not be the year of personalization. But it could be the year when the experimentation industry begins to accept that there are areas where personalization has real value e.g. retention, customer churn, upselling etc., as long as its first tested.

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I hear people say "personalization”, but how they’re trying to apply it is convoluted, and I think if we can get that right, then it could be applicable to a much border group of people

Matt Wright

Director of Behavioral Science, Widerfunnel

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