The Importance Of Testing Your Adverts

Few people, even the experts, get their advertising spot on the first time around. There are so many variables that affect the response you get that you need to experiment and test different options to find out what works best. You wouldn't order merchandise from suppliers and pay for it without checking the order would you? So why do that with your marketing and advertising?
What Is Your Advertising Return?
The main test for advertising is: Is it giving you a return on your investment? Is the advert making a profit? For example, if I look at one form of advertising and I see its costing me £400, I may think that's a lot of money. But if it shows that that advert is in fact bringing in £2000 worth of business, then the cost is worth it. If, however, it brought in less than £400 worth of business, then I may need to rethink it.
If you are considering a new publication or advertising medium then you need to work out what return you need to break even. If you have an offer for say £59, how many do you need to sell to cover the costs of your advert? It's simple maths. If the advert costs £300, then you would need to make at least five sales. You also need to ask yourself the questions: What if I don't make that many sales or none at all? Do I then still have the money to pay for the advert? Can I afford to waste the money if the advert doesn't work? Keep in mind that you need to be able to absorb the loss if it doesn't work out. Whenever possible, try to avoid taking risks that could damage your business.

Tips for testing your adverts

• Shortlist a few different advertising mediums that you would like to work with. Then work out how much each will cost you and how many sales you need to break even.


• Have an idea of what marketing budget you have to work with. If your adverts don't work out, can you afford to lose that money?


• Get to know what kind of return you can expect with different mediums. This will help you work out how many sales you need to make in order to get a return on your advert. For example, with direct mail a good response is considered 2%. Personally I get disappointed if I get a 6% return or less on my direct mail campaigns.


• Test different aspects of the advert. There isn't always a need to redo the entire advert. Try different headlines and different wording. Also experiment with different offers.


• Start out small. Only invest in bigger advertising opportunities when you have an advert that you know gives you a good response. Remember the purpose of testing is to see what works before investing large sums of money.

Testing is a very important part of creating successful advertising campaigns. Through trial and error you can build on what works and discard what doesn't. In the long run it will ensure that you get the response that you want and that your advertising is profitable, rather than simply being an expense.