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How Testing Your Marketing Can Improve Your Bottom Line

Written by: Paul Tobey

Article Overview: No one knows for sure if any marketing idea is going to work until they try it, yet many business owners get an idea and implement it. While taking action is an important contributor to success, this approach can be costly.

How Testing Your Marketing Can Improve Your Bottom Line

No one knows for sure if any marketing idea is going to work until they try it, yet many business owners get an idea and implement it. While taking action is an important contributor to success, this approach can be costly.

I recently ran a direct mail campaign for a new product I was launching. I was excited about it. I had thought through all of the details. It looked like a winner to me.

I decided not to worry about testing. It was relatively inexpensive, but the sample was large. I could have easily broken it down into several groups. Each one receiving a different offer. However I was impatient I wanted to get on with it. After all, I had done this many times, I was sure it would work.

Guess what, it bombed! How could I have been so wrong?

I received one of the worst response levels I have ever had. I could have mailed a test to a small sample of the list I used, measured the response and tweaked my mailing for the next round. Now it is too late. I have spent the money and have nothing to show for it. The mailing cost more than I received in orders.

Do this on a large scale and it can break the bank. Especially if you do it often. (Perhaps I qualify as a Marketing Moron.)

So what should I have done. One of the biggest advantages of direct mail is that you can test your offer on a small group of your target prospects. If it works, you can then mail to a larger group and it is reasonable to expect similar results. On the other hand, if your test does poorly, you shouldn't bother mailing that offer to similar lists.

So, what should you test? Here are two suggestions that can significantly impact your profitability:

1. Test your mailing with and without certain elements. You may find that you get a much better response with one headline versus another, or you may find a mailing without a brochure out-pulls one with a brochure included. Wouldn't you want to know that before spending the big bucks on mailing a more expensive package?

2. You can try different prices. For example if you are selling seminars, you can offer one group a price of $279 while offering another group $349. You may be surprised to find that the lowest price does not always create the best response.

There are many other elements you can test: your envelope, your offer, your list, response mechanism, personalization…

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Re: need pricing help please - here's my opinion that was derived from the person I heard it from (Russell Brunson) I view internet Marketing products as a Ladder. At the bottom of the Ladder is ebooks and at the top is One on One Coaching. so the ladder would look like this starting from the Top ($$$) to Bottom($) One-to-One Coaching ($$$$$$) Workshops ($$$$$) Teleseminars ($$$$) Video($$$) Audio ($$) ebooks ($) I agree with this methodology mainly because of the convenience factor and value from the customers point of view.
Re: All the Secrets to Getting a Lot of Traffic Using Google AdW - Thanks, Zeke. Testing is required for any campaign. Tanny, let us know how you make out. I will try to get started with MSN during the next week. I have a bit to learn yet as it's different than Adwords. Alan
Re: THE Most Important Concern At Startup - That's true brokemet. Following through, implementing and testing your ideas is so important. Too many times people fall in love with their initial idea and myself included, will get stubborn with them. Testing is the only way of really finding out what works and what doesn't.
Re: Web Business Podcast is LIVE! :) - Bottom of each post would be good. That way they either already listened to the podcast or they have decided they aren't going to, and might click the ads.
Re: What is your Business? - We are running a Online Marketing Firm and we have some good clients to which we are offering a complete Digital Marketing strategy like Search, Mobile Marketing, Branding and Design. I think in Online Marketing company online presence can be a wining factor for the success of the company.


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