Establishing yourself as a trusted partner for platforms can grant you first access to these tests on social, placing your brand at the forefront of innovation by trialling new formats ahead of the crowd.

Before rolling out new formats or features to their users, social platforms carry out alpha and beta tests amongst select groups in order to gauge performance, gather user feedback and iron out any bugs ahead of release.

While alpha tests are usually the last tests carried out by internal teams prior to the features being released, beta tests are carried out by real users in a real environment – the final step before these are rolled out to markets en masse.

As with all testing there are challenges involved: activation bugs, a lack of concrete KPI benchmarks; and associated minimum spends
to name a few. However, if you’re a brand that champions fresh thinking and isn’t afraid to take a little controlled risk, beta testing will not only equip you with the means of cutting through a cluttered marketplace, but also make you an authority on what works well for that format before it becomes widely accessible – giving you a leg up in driving beta performance.

BETA RELEASES TO CONSIDER

YOUTUBE IN-FEED VIDEO AUTOPLAY VIEWS PILOT

PROS

Enables in-feed autoplay across the YouTube Home Feed and Search Feed

Captures 10+ seconds of autoplay as a View, in addition to today’s click-to-play View Definition

Opportunity for increased views and lower CPV

Views will be deduped if a user does both actions

CONS

Reduced guarantee that viewer is engaged

Minimum spend applies

TIKTOK INTERACTIVE ADD-ONS

PROS

Impactful ad display methods including Shake Gesture and Story Selection

Opportunity to increase dwell time and engagement with ads

Have been available in Alpha since Q1 2022, so initial bugs are likely to be ironed out

No minimum spend

CONS

Can only be tested as part of Reach & Frequency buys, where a TikTok rep is required

PINTEREST SHOP & CHECKOUT

PROS

The ‘Shop’ tab will make it easier for consumers to browse products via brand profiles

Pinterest Checkout simplifies making a purchase and allows the audience to buy in-platform

Removes unnecessary steps in the user journey to help drive more purchases

CONS

Only available to select merchants

May reduce site traffic as consumers won't need to leave the platform

Checkout will be available in the UK by H1 2023

DOES BETA TESTING ACTUALLY GENERATE BETA RESULTS?

Being partners with all major social platforms allows eight&four insider access to both alpha and beta format testing, something we were able to make the most of in a recent campaign for Sandals Resorts, promoting the reopening of their Royal Bahamian resort.

Our close relationship with TikTok saw us become one of the first UK agencies to activate the platform’s beta Countdown & Vote Stickers – two brand new interactive features which we ran alongside a gamified Instant Experience and Collection Ad (also formats which hadn’t been explored by the brand to date). When it comes to analysing the benefit in creative testing, the campaign results really speak for themselves:

24 RESORT BOOKINGS

$150K REVENUE

1.2M IMPRESSIONS