Don’t Guess—Test
Oct 05 | Brian, Director of Marketing
Some believe that the beginning of a great marketing campaign begins with design. Some think it is a great strategy. Others think it is a great offer. I believe that all of these can be part of a truly successful marketing campaign. But one thing I know for sure, without measurable goals and a testing plan, all these beliefs will just be good guesses.
Why should I Test My Marketing Campaigns?
The primary reason for testing is to determine the effectiveness of a campaign. The more you understand what your target audience is responding to, and acting on, the better you will be in developing effective campaigns. However there are many variables that can change what your target audience will react to, therefore ongoing testing is recommended to help predict and develop campaigns that will yield greater results.
How do I test my Marketing Campaigns?
There are many ways to test your marketing campaign from focus groups, keyword based ads to unique URL’s, landing pages and 800 numbers. This should be determined during the development of your marketing strategy and goals.
Example 1 – E-mail Campaign
You are running an e-mail campaign. Split your e-mail list in half and send the same e-mail with two different subject lines, or two different offers, or two different calls-to-action. After a few days look at the data and figure out which subject line, offer, or call-to-action produced the best results. In the next e-mail, split your list again and try two variations of the version that won the last time.
Example 2 – Pay-Per-Click Campaign
You are running a pay-per-click campaign. Each keyword you’re bidding on should have at least two different ad variations going at all times. Get creative and once you see that one of your variations is getting more clicks, turn off the other one and add a new one that varies on the better performing version.
Example 3 – Online Banner Ads
You are running a banner campaign. The campaign will consist of multiple banner designs, on multiple sites, in multiple sections of each site. Tag each banner with a unique ID, drive them to a specific landing page, and measure the click performance all the way through to the goal.
What Type of Marketing Campaigns Should I Test?
With the current tools and technologies you can test just about every type of traditional or non-traditional marketing campaign to determine the effectiveness and return on your investment. The following is a list of some campaign types you can test:
TV Ads
Print Ads
Radio Ads
Direct Mail
Online (PPC/Banners/E-mail)
Coupons
Videos
Web sites
Billboards
Give Patterson/Bach a Test
If you would like improve the effectiveness of your marketing campaign, contact Patterson/Bach.