Do You Test Your Marketing?

When it comes to marketing, I'm a fanatical tester. I test the color of my blog. I test font styles and sizes. When I write articles and ads, I test headlines and copy. I test website analytics for accuracy. I test domain names for catchiness, and mailing list services for efficiency. In a nutshell, I test virtually everything.

Why? Because I discovered a long time ago that testing allows me to put my best foot forward. Or in the words of singer Pat Benatar, testing allows me to "hit you with my best shot!"

Testing is crucial to your overall business success. I can't emphasize that enough. In my opinion, you should test everything. Your advertising, copywriting, marketing. Everything.

Can you still be successful if you don't test? Sure you can. But you'll probably end up leaving a boatload of money on the table. Why take that chance - especially in today's economy?

Test various headlines in your sales copy. Test different colors on your website. Test different advertising mediums like offline magazines and direct mail. Test different software programs for maximum efficiency.

But don't just test blindly. Closely monitor and record your results, so that your findings are as accurate as possible.

A lot of my colleagues rely on software exclusively to test various aspects of their marketing. That's fine for them, but I prefer the human touch. So, I use real live people to do my testing as much as possible.

So, who do I use to test my marketing? I use my clients, my subscribers and my family. These are the people I trust to tell me the truth - to give it to me straight. Obviously, I can't use people to test everything. For example, I use software to test various analytics programs. Or if I want to reinforce my copywriting results, I use split-testing software.

Bottom line is this: Regardless of how you choose to go about doing it, be smart about your business. Get into the habit of testing.

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