Aug 01, 2023
UPDATED: Mar 07, 2025
Optimizely and Adobe offer two options enterprises might consider when it comes to experimentation software: Optimizely Web Experimentation and Adobe Target. However, it can be difficult to choose between them.
These experimentation tools are crucial to the modern martech stack. They allow marketers to leverage data to help them select the most appropriate messaging or campaigns to entice customers and boost revenue.
In this article, we'll compare Adobe Target and Optimizely Web Experimentation so that you can choose the best option for your organization.
Meet the Contenders: Adobe Target & Optimizely Web Experimentation
Optimizely Web Experimentation and Adobe Target both implement A/B and multivariate testing to test different aspects of your website, such as web pages, images, content offers, and more. This helps determine your target audience and what they find most compelling before making a purchase, as well as making UX and other design-related decisions.
Adobe Target
Adobe Target is a rule-based testing and targeting tool that is part of the Adobe Experience Cloud digital experience platform (DXP). Previously known as Test & Target, it can help brands customize and personalize customer experiences. It can also be integrated with other tools in the Adobe Experience Cloud suite, such as Analytics, Experience Manager, Journey Optimizer, and more, to provide reports on marketing offers, personalization, and UX testing performance.
Optimizely Web Experimentation
Optimizely Web Experimentation is the testing and experimentation solution within the Optimizely One digital experience platform (DXP). A/B and multivariate testing capabilities were the cornerstones of the Optimizely solution before it was acquired by Episerver in 2020 and remain key elements of the current Optimizely One DXP.
Adobe Target vs. Optimizely Web Experimentation: Feature Comparison
Let's compare the different features between Adobe Target and Optimizely Web Experimentation with some help of real customer reviews:
A/B Testing
Optimizely Web Experimentation offers robust A/B testing capabilities for creating and managing experiments. Along with a user-friendly visual editor, it is equipped with features such as exclusion groups, which allow you to run multiple experiments on the same page safely, and Performance Edge, which speeds up experiment speed with the help of a CDN.
One Optimizely Web Experimentation user said that the platform helps "[solve] the need to launch and learn from A/B tests, it helps us set easy redirect tests too (for marketing/landing page tests), and it ensures we have a central place to look at results."
Adobe Target allows you to A/B test your entire experience, including graphics, copy, UI, and more, to find the best option. The testing method in Adobe Target is designed to examine multiple variations of web, mobile, IoT, and other applications on both the client and server sides and A/B testing is made more efficient with the help of Adobe Sensei. A G2 reviewer talked about how easy it can be to implement A/B testing. He said, "A/B and testing can be easily achieved through Adobe Target."
Multivariate Testing
Multivariate testing is a method for testing a hypothesis that involves changing several variables instead of just 1 or 2, like with A/B tests. It aims to find the variation combination that performs the best overall.
Optimizely Web Experimentation multivariate testing enables comprehensive experimentation, allowing businesses to change multiple page elements simultaneously to uncover valuable customer insights and create a high-performing experience quickly. It includes Section Rollups, allowing users to analyze individual sections' performance across all combinations.
Alex B, a G2 reviewer, was impressed with the platform's ease of editing test variations. She said, "What I like best about the Optimizely platform is the ease of editing the variations to test in the visual editor. It makes it possible to run tests for those of us who do not have extensive coding knowledge."
Adobe Target supports full-factorial multivariate testing, allowing users to test multiple elements simultaneously, such as images, layouts, background colors, and copy, to identify the most effective combinations. It also provides detailed reports on how each tested element contributes to the success of the combinations. A G2 reviewer mentioned that "one of the best aspects of Adobe Target is its ability to easily create and run A/B and multivariate tests across various channels."
Personalization
Optimizely Web Experimentation helps personalize the customer experience with proven insights into where your customers are coming from and what they will most likely do next. Detailed audience segmentation and targeting facilitate the delivery of personalized experiences to specific user groups. A G2 user mentioned, "It scales according to the needs; you can create personalization for different user segments easily."
Adobe Target has an automated personalization capability that lets you automate targeting and provide personalized content based on real-time data. Additionally, it uses rule-based criteria to define interactions for audience segments.
The Unified Visitor Profiles feature consolidates data from various sources into a single profile. At the same time, Category Affinity Targeting captures user interests in specific categories and uses this information for future targeting and segmentation.
A user review on G2 said this about Adobe Target personalization: "One of the most remarkable features of Adobe Target is the ability to offer a different web experience based on users' profiles, which allows segmenting your clients depending on their shopping behavior, geolocation, and many other customer types."
Analytics
Optimizely Web Experimentation provides detailed reports and insights into experiment performance, including metrics filtered by custom data. It also integrates with various third-party analytics tools to enhance data analysis and reporting. One G2 review mentioned, "[the] depth of analytics and insights dashboards/associated tools keep us on track with KYU (know your user)."
Adobe Target integrates with Adobe Analytics to deliver comprehensive analytics and reports about experiments and personalization campaigns. A G2 reviewer mentioned that "it offers excellent detailed reports as it can be integrated with Adobe Analytics, which can help create an accurate marketing plan for customers."
Artificial Intelligence
Both Optimizely Web Experimentation and Adobe Target leverage artificial intelligence to improve their experimentation capabilities.
Optimizely Web Experimentation includes the Optimizely Opal assistant, which can help users with any Optimizely product. Additionally, the Stats Engine algorithms help reduce errors and get faster experiment results, while the Stats Accelerator machine-learning algorithms manipulate traffic distribution and minimize the time to statistical significance. A multi-arm bandit (MAB) intelligent algorithm identifies top-performing variations and funnels more visitors to the best-performing variation to drive higher conversions.
Adobe Target offers advanced AI capabilities supported by Adobe Sensei, Adobe's AI and machine learning framework. This framework helps power features like Auto-Target, Automated Personalization, and Personalized Recommendations.
Why Choose Optimizely for Web Experimentation
Some of the reasons why customers opt for Optimizely Web Experimentation
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Ease of Use: Optimizely Web Experimentation offers a user-friendly interface and shallow learning curve, which makes it easy to perform various experiments and tests.
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Flexible Pricing: Optimizely's flexible pricing model is cost-effective and appealing for SMBs and mid-market enterprises.
Why Enterprise Opt For Adobe Target
Areas where Adobe Target stands out include:
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Multichannel Testing: While other testing tools only test web or mobile interfaces, Adobe Target can test across multiple channels that span the entire customer journey.
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More Advanced AI and Personalization: Adobe Target offers more advanced AI capabilities through Adobe Sensei, which enables more sophisticated personalization and automation.
Things to Note Before Choosing Between Optimizely Web Experimentation or Adobe Target
Optimizely Web Experimentation
While Optimizely Web Experimentation is perfect for 1 or 2 channels, it doesn't offer the same multichannel testing and experimentation capabilities as Adobe Target. Additionally, the AI capabilities, personalization, and analytics functionality are less advanced.
Adobe Target
Adobe Target offers more advanced capabilities than several competitors, including Optimizely Web Experimentation. However, its higher costs make it more suitable for large-scale enterprises. To get the most out of Adobe Target, it is best used alongside other products in the Adobe suite, including Experience Manager, Analytics, and Journey Optimizer.
Choosing the Best Experimentation Tool For Your Martech Stack
Optimizely and Adobe Target are proven testing and experimentation tools. They are powerful A/B testing and personalization tools that can help companies improve their online presence and increase conversions. However, while these tools offer robust functionality, enterprises often require additional support to get the most out of them.
Oshyn is an Adobe and Optimizely partner with decades of experience building engaging digital experiences. We can help you select the best tool for your specific use case and requirements and provide implementation, upgrade, and maintenance support to ensure your experimentation platform continues to perform as needed.
If you're interested in getting started with web experimentation, contact us to see how we can help.
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