Mar 18, 2016 Written by Rob Neff
I know the advice is usually Always Be Closing, but I think testing your marketing not only comes first but it's a critical element in bringing people to the table so you can close them.
User testing is a best practice in marketing. No element of the plan or facet of execution is exempt from the drive to find a better way. So unless you're considering a better way to present your plan to management or a way to connect people with the right content sooner you may be overlooking a better way to better results.
I'm all for user testing. As an agency copywriter I worked on Fortune 500 accounts. User testing gave us precise data on what worked for them. Commercial formats were described by the test-winning techniques, plots and actions they contained. Another highly targeted B2B company restricted colored headlines and concept graphics for ground breaking announcements figuring if they used them for everything they would use up the high scoring magic. My requests to test something new were put off in place of tests that combined known winning elements such as a bigger graphic plus a colored headline.
User testing is a best practice in marketing. No element of the plan or facet of execution is exempt from the drive to find a better way. So unless you're considering a better way to present your plan to management or a way to connect people with the right content sooner you may be overlooking a better way to better results.
I'm all for user testing. As an agency copywriter I worked on Fortune 500 accounts. User testing gave us precise data on what worked for them. Commercial formats were described by the test-winning techniques, plots and actions they contained. Another highly targeted B2B company restricted colored headlines and concept graphics for ground breaking announcements figuring if they used them for everything they would use up the high scoring magic. My requests to test something new were put off in place of tests that combined known winning elements such as a bigger graphic plus a colored headline.
As a corporate marketing leader I made use of the traditional testing methods and employed the knowledge gained from standard marketing testing and the analysis. I've applied results from a data-driven perspective with a unified set of principles to guide decisions. But with knowledge of our buyers and services and our competition I suspected that no matter how good we were a small change in one element or another could produce big returns. And I believed we should also stretch to see what a wild redirection might yield. No matter how good the automation got, I knew the human factor was important too. You may feel that way too.
You can do like I did. Add a wild cell to your testing once in a while. Call it a real test or a pilot program. Set your definition of success, and give it a reasonable time. Soon you'll know one way or the other. Set up the test to learn something. Try speaking more directly to your demographics or base a copy point on that interesting focus group comment. You might test a competitors positioning or your theory that prospects will become loyal customers based on Zoolander humor on a landing page.
Your marketing plans should always include user testing
This wild cell is the place to test alternate pricing and adjusted margins before you move to larger more visible tests. Will moving selected key customers to an account based program increase your share of business or allow you to sell in a line extension? Test it to find out. Are you sure an industry based rep sales structure is better than fast response geographically based account lists? Follow your hunch and test it.
So what happens if you're wrong? Well be assured you've asked and now you know no one wants uniforms in fashion colors on the factory floor, and you're pretty sure customers won't join your loyalty club unless you enrich the offer? Now you can search for answers elsewhere. As Thomas Edison said about all the testing he did for the lightbulb, I haven't failed, I've just found 10,000 things that won't work.
What if you're right and you get a bump in results. It's a reason to study more, but because you put your hunch to the test you could be on the way to new sales, reduced sales costs, more margin or a more effective sales force and satisfied customers.
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