Testing Publication Ads

Business people often spend thousands of dollars on Yellow Pages ads, Newspaper ads, billboard ads etc. A serious mistake is to to publish an untested ad in an expensive publication. Never place a large Yellow Pages or magazine ad, or half a page in the New York Times unless it´s thoroughly tested. Why waste your money on something that hasn´t been proven? Refunds done´t come easily!

Plan ahead so you have time to do thorough ad testing. A week before the Yellow Pages ad deadline is not the time to start testing ads. Do a test run of a smaller version of the ad in a newspaper or relevant industry publication.

But a word of caution: Make sure you target the ad. An ad for computers under the Yellow Pages heading "Computers," is targeted and will naturally attract prospects who are looking for your services. So consider this principle when using "test ads."

Don´t just throw them in any newspaper where your audience is not targeted and complain when few results are delivered. Keep the testing environment targeted.

If you place your various test ads for computers in the local paper under the computer section, you´ll have a clear indication of how effective they are. Test a few variations of the ad so that the best responding one can be used when you do the final draft for a major more expensive publication.

Read the Whole Article: "Test Cases"

Mail Order Test

If your copywriting is for mail order be very careful before sending out hundreds or thousands of letters. To do a response test, send an amount in proportion to what you are planning to send in the final mail out. For example: If you are planning a mass mailing of say 1000 or more brochures, leaflets etc, send 150 test copies.

You may have three great headlines that you are torn between, and various approaches to the offer that are all very good. Through this information you may have compiled three very good pieces of completed copy which are hard to seperate. Send fifty of each variation to test their effectiveness. Which ever one of the three sample gets the most responses then naturally you will use it for the final mass mail out.

Money Well Spent

The only way to know if your ads are working is to consistently test them. If you are only running one ad on a weekly basis then testing is very easy. But if you run multiple ads then you need to know where the most leads are coming from. Ads that don´t work need to be disarded, modified or placed in a different publication. An advertisements success can only be monitored by testing.

Many business people have no idea which ads are doing what. They could be wasting possibly thousands of dollars by persisting with ads that just don´t return good leads. Or they could be wasting golden marketing opportunities by not upgrading or increasing ads in successful publications. Testing is a key to successful advertising!

Caution

When testing your ads by asking people to give their opinion, take the time to evaluate what they are saying and don´t implement changes straight away. Think through the comments and criticisms. Some people may give favorable comments on the most "clever" or the "brightest" ad. Yes always listen to what they say, but analize all comments in the light of good copywriting principles.

Get Others to Check Your Ad

If you have friends or business colleagues who have a reasonable knowledge of copywriting it´s good to get their opinion as they may have some valuable insights. But the readers of your ad will possibly have no idea about the technicalities that make a good ad.

However, they are the ones who will make or break what you are trying to sell. After all, they sign the checks and use their credit cards! A prospect may have no idea of what makes a great ad but they respond to great ads. So don´t be afraid to ask those who don´t know about the technical issues in writing ads to read your copy. If they criticize your copy, listen to what they say even though it´s unpleasant.

Ask them if your offer would appeal to them if they were seeking that particular product or service. Would it inspire them to purchase or pick up the phone? Are the benefits strong enough to prompt action? Is the message communicated clearly? These are questions that you need to ask them as most prospects will think the same way.

Basic Testing

The first way to test your advertisement or newsletter is to put it aside and check it a day or two later. Never write an ad or direct marketing copy and send it out immediately after a brief check. By waiting and re-checking your copy, you´ll always find ways to improve it.

When your mind is absorbed with the writing procedure it´s easy to miss things. Completely forget about it and occupy your mind with other thoughts and projects. After a good break, a clear mind will help you to easily spot mistakes that weren´t so obvious when you were engrossed in the copy. Plus you´ll also find ways to improve the copy overall.