• Which of our creative ideas resonates most with the target consumer?
• Do different ideas perform better with different customer segments?
• Is one execution significantly more effective at driving purchase intent?

Why Use Multi-Cell Testing?

What Defines a 'Cell' in a Test?

What’s the Key Difference?

Use A/B Testing When:

• You’re deciding between two very similar creative elements
• You have clear hypotheses about small tactical changes (e.g., button color, headline wording)
• The research needs to be quick and narrowly focused

Use Multi-Cell Testing When:

• You are exploring diverse creative concepts or campaign directions
• You need to evaluate performance across different consumer segments
• The project supports early-phase development of campaigns, not just refinement
• You want more nuanced feedback across multiple messages, visuals, themes, or formats

Why It Matters for Business Decisions

Experts Can Help You Choose the Right Method

If you're exploring how to use Dynata for creative testing, getting the setup right is your first critical step. Multi-cell testing, which allows you to compare multiple creative versions with different target audiences or messaging, offers more nuanced insights than a simple A/B test – but it also adds complexity.

Here’s a straightforward guide to set up a multi-cell creative test in Dynata while keeping your marketing experiment controlled, efficient, and reliable.

1. Define Your Objectives First

Start by identifying what you want to learn. Are you testing different ad designs? Taglines? Calls to action? The clearer your objective, the easier it will be to structure your creative cells and collect meaningful consumer insights.

2. Build Your Creative Cells

A 'cell' in multi-cell testing refers to a unique combination of creative content and audience segment. For example, if you’re testing three ad versions across two demographics (e.g., Gen Z and Millennials), you’ll need six individual test cells.

3. Design Your Survey

Using Dynata’s DIY research tools, you can create your own survey or upload your questionnaire template. Incorporate metrics like ad appeal, brand fit, message clarity, and purchase intent to measure the performance of each creative variant.

4. Select Your Audience

Dynata offers access to large, segmented sample pools. During this stage, you need to assign the right audience group to each creative cell. If you're comparing performance by demographic, for example, make sure each cell correctly maps to its intended segment.

5. Randomize and Route Creatives

Dynata allows you to display different creatives to respondents using randomization logic. This ensures that each participant only sees one creative version and eliminates bias. Use routing tools to assign creatives accurately according to cell configuration.

6. Test & Launch

Double-check each test cell before launching. Use preview tools to view how each version will appear to respondents. Once you are confident in the setup, launch your creative test and begin gathering responses in real time.

While Dynata’s interface supports DIY testing, even a small setup error – like misrouting audience exposure – can lead to flawed results. That’s why many companies bring in On Demand Talent to validate methodology and ensure confidence in test configuration.

One of the most common mistakes in creative version testing is uneven exposure across test cells. If one creative is shown to three times more respondents than another, your comparisons can easily skew – and the whole test may lead to misleading conclusions.

This is why balancing audience exposure is non-negotiable in any credible multi-cell test.

What Does 'Balanced Exposure' Mean?

In market research testing, each creative cell should ideally be shown to an equal number of respondents within the same audience segment. This ensures a fair comparison on metrics like ad engagement, brand recall, and message impact.

Best Practices for Balancing Exposure in Dynata

• Use sampling control settings: Dynata allows you to dictate how many completes (responses) you want per cell – take advantage of this to ensure cells have equal sample sizes.
• Automate creative assignment: Use Dynata’s logic functions to automatically assign respondents to a randomized cell. This prevents any one version from being overrepresented.
• Monitor daily response rates: Sometimes, cells fill at different speeds. Track each group and pause those that are overfilling while catching others up.

Keeping Demographics Consistent

In addition to volume, ensure each cell matches your target demographic evenly. For instance, if all your younger demographics get just one ad version, you won’t know if performance differences are due to creative content or the audience itself.

When Exposure Is Intentionally Unequal

Some marketing experiments may choose to deliberately assign more exposure to a preferred creative – for example, to test its tolerance or determine saturation fatigue. When doing this, clearly document the rationale and adjust your analysis methods accordingly.

For research teams unfamiliar with these technical nuances, our On Demand Talent professionals can step in to oversee audience balancing. From setting proper quotas to ensuring demographic consistency, they help protect the integrity of your research insights – even within DIY tools like Dynata.

DIY market research tools like Dynata have made it easier than ever for brands to run creative testing in-house. But having access to the tools isn’t the same as having the expertise to use them effectively.

That’s where SIVO’s On Demand Talent shines – providing flexible access to seasoned insights professionals who specialize in optimizing DIY platforms, refining methodologies, and delivering results you can trust.

Why Expertise Still Matters

While Dynata handles much of the heavy lifting – sourcing respondents, maintaining sample integrity, and technical survey deployment – there’s still plenty of strategy involved:

• Choosing the right test design (multi-cell vs. A/B testing)
• Structuring comparative cells correctly
• Ensuring balanced exposure across creatives
• Framing research questions for deeper insights
• Interpreting results in a way that informs decisions

Each of these steps can make or break the ROI of your creative test. And if your internal research team is stretched thin or new to these tools, risk of error goes up.

A Better Alternative to Freelancers or Consultants

Unlike agencies that take full control or freelancers who might lack broader rigor, SIVO’s On Demand Talent professionals are embedded partners. They work with your in-house team, bringing structure, oversight, and deep technical know-how – without long-term overheads.

Need temporary support for setting up test cells? Looking to train your team on balancing exposures in future studies? With On Demand Talent, you get precisely the support you need, when you need it – from professionals who’ve done this many times before across industries and business sizes.

One fictional brand example: A mid-size CPG startup wanted to quickly test digital banner ads using Dynata without waiting weeks to onboard a new hire. With SIVO’s On Demand Talent stepping in, they were able to design a robust multi-cell test in under a week, reduce biases in audience routing, and improve insight quality compared to previous campaigns.

Build Capability While You Gain Results

As more companies adopt consumer insights tools and experiment with automation and AI, having the right human expertise becomes a strategic advantage. On Demand Talent doesn’t just get the job done – they build your team’s long-term capability to do it themselves. That’s research leadership in action.