Should I be testing before running paid ad campaigns
The short answer is yes! Is it always necessary? No… There are recommendations and use cases for both sides of the argument.
If you’re a business that feels confident enough that it knows its target audience. You may not need to gather the extra insights.
That said, I recently had a conversation with another brand development specialist. The discussion was about how marketing and sales is an ongoing process. It is not a set it and forget it thing. There are new trends and market shifts happening on a regular basis. I’m one for being ahead of the curve and proactive overreacting. It takes more effort and works to catch up than it does to stay up to date.
What are the benefits of testing before running paid ad campaigns?
Small to Mid-size businesses are working with a limited marketing budget. It is best to wisely spend that money. ROI is of the utmost importance.
By testing before a campaign, you’re operating with more of a sense of certainty. You’ve already done your due diligence. Testing with free posts and gathering feedback and analytics from the engagement.
Feedback in the sense of approval that you’ve identified a pain point. Identifying issues. Issues that resonate enough to get someone to stop scrolling through their feed.
Marketing is about getting a prospect to pay attention. Getting someone to pause and take a closer look at what it is that you’re talking about.
What are things a marketer and brand should be testing with their posts?
The list is long but let me lock in on some things that are overarching. Different industries and businesses have their own specific needs. But there are things that overlap.
You can/should be testing not only headlines but the visual as well. Looking beyond the text posts that may or may not have read. When you add in the visual aspect to posts. You increase your opportunity for getting a prospect’s attention.
The work and effort that you put in up front by testing. Changes what you’re paying for when you run a paid campaign for your business.
When you test the headlines for what works. You’re paying for the pause in the feed first. When you test out the visual ad copy. You’re paying for the visual stimulation that catches a prospect’s eye and makes them want to take a closer look.
By taking the time to test what works and identifying the why behind it. It changes the planning and approach to a marketing campaign. You’re eliminating the guesswork.
The focus changes from getting them to stop and take notice to what happens after they do.
How do you get them to read more? How do you hold their attention after the headline and visual catch their eye?
You can shift your focus to the part of the process that has the real Return on your investment. The action that they take after they stop scrolling.
What strategy are you going to go with as a starting point? What strategy will use to continue the conversation after they click? Where does that click bring the prospect?
Are you setting the campaign up to target people in different phases of the customer journey? Or is it set up for anyone and everyone that may find what you’re talking about interesting.
If you’re not narrowing your audience at the ad level. How are you segmenting it on the landing page? How are you personalizing the experience to the individual who clicked on your ad?
What is the plan for segmenting the audience? What segments are you using? How are you processing the information that you’re gathering?
This is something that you want to be doing from the moment they arrive on the landing page?
These are questions that you can think through. Gain a clearer answer for when you test a campaign before you run a paid ad campaign.
What are the results of testing before running paid advertising campaigns?
Having the answers or at least more clarity is where you can save & protect a marketing budget. Fine-tune your approach and set attainable goals.
You’re not flying blind hoping for the best. There is a method to the madness. You’re looking to recreate the results you’ve already received but on a larger scale.
The return on the investment and results change. Because now your desired learnings aren’t about what is going to resonate. It’s about how did it resonate with a larger audience. What were the differences in the response?
The differences in the response lead to asking more clarifying questions. Questions that lead you to a new target audience. Which in turn can lead to identifying where people fall within sales funnels.
This allows you to prepare better for the customer journeys and how to segment the prospects. The smoother the transition and segmentation. The better the user experience and flow from prospect to client. At the very least it brings an increase in brand recognition. Potential conversations about your brand.
As a brand, you’re shooting for it even if they don’t become a customer. They become a fan of your brand. One that says “it wasn’t for me but for this reason.” It opens the door for word-of-mouth referrals that don’t have that same issue.
The importance of testing before running a paid ad campaign conclusion
Bringing this back around to the original question and point. By testing, you set yourself and the business up to answer more clarifying questions. The ability to gain more insights. Insights that you can use to your advantage to run smarter more specific campaigns.
This can lead to more specific forecasted results. A way of steering and guiding prospects through their customer journey.
You’ll qualify more leads and spend less money doing so…
This is an inkling of the advantages of testing before running paid campaigns.
Happy to go into more detail and customize it to your business if you have questions.
You can set up a time to talk through your situation and questions. Lockdown some time on my calendar by clicking here.
