Testing & Tracking Your Ads

Advertising Is A Science

 Tracking the results of your advertising is fundamental to your success. There is no other way to know how you are doing. This is where it all comes together. Measure the effectiveness of your ads, and double or triple your customer response. Don't measure, and you'll drift endlessly.  

 For example, just by changing the headline of an advertisement, marketers have achieved a 500% increase in response. Same ad, different headline, 500% increase. How did they get that huge increase? They tested different headlines, and measured the results.  

 The exact same logic follows for measuring different offers, copy, media, placement, and promotions. You can test different themes, photos, ad sizes, and where and when your ad runs. 

 And of course you can test mailing lists, envelopes, stamps, and even the difference between using a coma or a semicolon. [Direct mail marketers can absolutely tell you the difference between the two. The comma is more friendly.]

 You want to measure the things that will have the biggest impact on your results.

What to Measure

 Your objective is to achieve the highest return on your advertising investment possible, without spending too much time or money on it.

 Many companies just measure sales, but this is a mistake. This leads to measuring short-term profits at the expense of the future. And it really doesn’t tell you what ad or media is working or why. You need to know what to try and improve upon. Here are some ideas on testing your ads.

 1. Code your coupons. Each coupon should contain a code that tells you exactly where and when it ran. For example, the code 23-08-1018 could be the media [23], the ad [08], and the date[10-18]. If each coupon contains a different offer, you will know what offer works best. If identical coupons run in a different papers, you will know what paper works best.

 2.  Create two [or more] different ads with different offers. Record how many calls come in. How will you know what offer will bring you the most customers if you don't test? And there is no doubt - one of the offers will do better than the other.

 Keep trying different offers until you find the best one. The best offer will pull twice as many customers as the least effective offer, or more. Each offer may be equal in value, but one will generate twice as many customers. And there is only one way to find out which offer works twice as well. Test them. 

 And while you are running these tests, lets save some money. Test your ads in less expensive media. Use cheaper newspapers, smaller ads, or a simple direct mail campaign. When you find the ad that brings you the most customers, spend your budget on more expensive media.

 3. After you find your best offer, test different headlines. Again, you can double the response to your ad.

   4. Find your best ad, or your control ad, and run it in different media. Record how many calls come in. You will find that the right media also can double the response you get [or more].

 5. Test the size of the ad you run. You will never know what size ad will give you the highest return for your advertising dollar if you don't test. Run a series of smaller ads, and a series of larger ads. Which ads give you the best return per dollar spent?

 6. Test different positions in your media. Again, a better position can double the response to your ad - no kidding. Test, and find out.

 7. Test your selling season, and the day of the week your ads run. Better timing can double the response to your ads. 

 8. Test different sales copy, and variations on the design of your ad.

 9.  Use unique extension codes or words in your different ads or media for phone numbers [extension 101 please], addresses [suite 1A], names [Ask for Fred], products [Package A], or wording [Mention this Ad]. Count how many customers do what you told them to do.

 10.  Track your clients by zip code. You know what zip codes you are advertising in, and what it costs you. Ask your customers what zip code they live in, and calculate your return on investment. If you have the right computer program, you can even track your clients by telephone number. This will give you their home address [for mailings] and other demographic information.

 11.   Measure the quality of your prospects. [Please read Generating Better Qualified Prospects.] What is the conversion rate from inquiry to customer? What is the repeat purchase rate? What is the cost to acquire each customer and the lifetime value of that customer? If your ad brings in tons of prospects, but they don't become customers, you probably want to change your offer.

 12. Ask your customers – “Where did you hear about us?”  This tells you what ad brought them in.  

 Is it really true that you can double the response to your advertising - over and over and over? Yes, it's absolutely true, if you carefully test your ads. 

 Testing and tracking your advertising is pretty simple and straightforward. But most companies never bother. If you don't track your customer response rate, you will never know what is really working, and where you are just throwing your money away. 

 The Advertising Calendar will help you to test and track your advertising. And More Effective Advertising has lots of ideas on how to improve your advertising return on investment.

Ask For Help

 As always, Professional Advertising is here to help you. We recommend that you run your work past a marketing professional for assistance or a second opinion. It’s a cheap investment for something that is as important as your entire advertising program. Please contact Professional Advertising for additional help.

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