Is Testing Necessary?

Is testing necessary

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Many marketing managers whose companies use leaflet distribution to advertise their goods or services often wonder if there is a way to calculate if their campaigns are giving them the best possible returns on their investments.

Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast answer to is testing necessary. Marketing and advertising are not exact sciences. In fact, many advertising people would claim they are not sciences at all.

There is no way of knowing if the latest campaign achieved the best possible results in sales. There will always someone in the company (usually someone from finance) asking if it could not have been more successful.

The answer to their question will always be just out of reach, but that does not mean they should stop trying to find it.

The only way they can do this is by testing. Testing, testing and keep on testing.

Different businesses test their products in different ways. Restaurants and takeaways will approach their testing in different ways than home improvement companies.

A good example of a takeaway test comes from Domino’s Pizza.

Our local Domino’s advertises a two for one offer every Tuesday. Now, why have they picked Tuesday for this offer?

They may have hired a psychologist or an expert in anthropology to work out the best day for a two for one offer. But, my money is on they tested most of the midweek days against each other until the results proved Tuesday to be the day we all want half-price pizzas.

I am aware that Domino’s Pizza is a large organisation and can afford multiple testing’s. However, smaller local businesses such as restaurants or hairdressers could adopt similar methods.

They could put different days for discount offers each time they do a leaflet distribution, or split the same distribution with different days for their offer and roll out the best one on the next run.

Companies selling expensive items should also look at ways to keep testing their leaflets.

Many companies test by splitting the distribution with leaflets carrying alternate headlines and different discounts or offers. The accepted way is to split the delivery on a 50/50 basis. However, some companies will send their control leaflet, the one they are testing, to half of the delivery and split the balance in two 25% drops. This way they can test two alternative offers against the control.

However, alternative offers and headlines are not the only way of testing leaflets. Why not try some of the following:

  • Changing the size of the leaflet for half of the campaign could be tried.
  • Testing a double-sided leaflet against a single-sided one.
  • A single page leaflet against a four-page folded leaflet.
  • Changing the design completely

Changing the shape and size of the leaflets are just some of the ways of testing.

In their dreams, many marketing managers achieve that impossible 100% response to their door drop campaigns. Unfortunately, that is where that response will stay, in their dreams.

However, that does not mean they should stop trying. And the only way to do that is to keep on testing, testing and testing again.

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