How to Use Testing for Breakthrough Marketing
Results
BY YANIK SILVER
Advertising is expensive. And it costs
you the same amount of money to run an ad (or mail a letter) that brings
in 2 customers as one that drives in 20 customers. So that difference is
in your ad (or letter).
Let’s say you’ve come up with
what you think is a good ad (powerful headline, good offer,
sizzling copy, etc.), now you’re ready to test.
Testing will help you:
- Save yourself a bunch of
money.
- Improve any results you’re
currently getting.
- Stop guessing about what
works.
I’d say those are some pretty
good reasons to learn all about testing and how to apply it to
your business. So before spending loads of money on your new
ad you can (and should) do a few low-cost/no-cost tests:
The Sleep On It Test
First, you should let your ad
sit for at least a day. Then the next day you can come back to
it with new eyes and a fresher perspective. You can find
errors that weren’t apparent before. Also, your chances of
writing a good ad are significantly improved with rewriting.
(I will rewrite an ad or letter 3, 4 or 5 times before I’m
done.)
Reading Aloud Test
I don’t know what it is about
reading something aloud versus reading to yourself, but you’ll
pick up lots and lots of insight into how good (or bad) your
ad really is by reading it aloud. All the bumps and rough
spots jump out at you.
Or a variation on this is to
have someone else read it you. This is even better. As they’re
reading it, you should take out a copy of the ad and make
notes on it. One big advantage of this is your reader is
completely impartial. He won’t stress certain phrases or words
to make the meaning clearer. And if the reader is having
trouble you know that’s an area to edit.
Sneaky Opinion Test
This test is really great.
Take your ad off your printer and make a Xerox copy of it.
Then go around to a few people who should be in your target
market and say something like, “Take a look at this, I just
found this in a magazine.” Key point: Do not tell people you
wrote the ad because they’ll just say how nice it is.
You’re gauging their response.
If they say something like, “Did you write this?” or “This is
really good,” what that really means is your ad stinks.
But if you start hearing, “Do
you know how I can get this done?” or “Do you do this?” then
you know you’re on to something good and ready to spend money
on your test.
Opinions are great, but the
only votes that really count are the ones that are paid for.
The first thing you don’t want to do is call every
newspaper, magazine, throw-away, etc. You need to start by
testing small. And that means spending as little as possible
to get accurate results.
Test Small
Joe Sugarman (he sold millions
of Blu-blocker sunglasses) tells how he would test all his ads
in the Southwestern edition of the Wall Street Journal.
Because this was the cheapest and smallest edition of the
Journal to test.
That way he was able to read
results quickly and then decide whether or not to ‘roll-out’
to other editions. So how can you apply this information to
your business?
Easy.
Let’s say you’ve been running
ads in your local paper. Well, usually newspapers have zoned
editions based on zip codes. So instead of paying for your ad
to appear in the entire circulation, you simply put it in one
of the cheapest and most representative zones available.
And by tracking the response
(using a specific phone #, person, extension #, etc.) you can
safely predict what results you’ll get once you go out to the
entire circulation.
One more point: It’s better to
run your test ad in a daily paper instead of a monthly
magazine. Simply because you can ascertain information more
quickly.
Don’t Fall For Your Ad Rep’s Traps
You cannot multiply zero. That
means if there is no life in your ad, kill it before it drains
more money and time from you.
Don’t listen to your media
rep’s BS about repetition and getting discounts for multiple
insertions. Remember, these guys have no clue about how to
create advertising that works. If they did, they’d be running
ads in their own magazines and making tons of money.
Infomercial marketers realize
this point. Imagine spending $100,000.00 to produce
one single 30 minute spot and then buying $400-1,000
in media to test it out. That’s what infomercial companies do.
They know if the phones aren’t
ringing after a couple of TV spots, they’re definitely not
going to ring if they throw tens of thousands of dollars in
media at it, either.
Follow these tips and you’ll
be able to save a lot of money plus increase response. Just
test until you come up with a winner and then keep running it!
 Copyright © Surefire Marketing, Inc.
Yanik Silver is recognized as
the leading expert on creating automatic, moneymaking
websites... and he still doesn't know how to put up a website. He is the author, co-author or
creator of several best-selling online marketing books and
tools, including this updated course for selling high-end
products online,
Instant Internet Profits.
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