Testing... Testing...1,2,3

A friend of mine from my kickball team is having trouble with the latest direct mail piece for his chiropractic practice.

The postcard he’s using is nice- it looks really professional. It’s glossy, has nice images of his target clients, all his contact information, a testimonial, and even a call to action. He spent a little over $2,000 to have 4,500 copies made. During his first mailing, he used a 2000 person mailing list… but he’s had no calls from new patients.

“Why isn’t the phone ringing?” he asked me over coffee yesterday. “I copied the style of an ad I saw in a magazine. What should I do differently?”

If marketing were an exact science that anyone could learn with ease, then every business in this country would be flourishing. To use a kickball analogy, in marketing if you do everything right, sometimes you get a home run, but more often then not you bunt to first or get a double which is usually more than good enough. Sometimes, you strike out completely.

That is why, whenever launching a new marketing initiative, it is important to test it out and measure the amount of response or new patients that you get.

For many of us, the word “test” is a little scary. After all, tests are used to see if we are sick or if something is abnormal. Tests are used throughout our school years to gauge our aptitude and knowledge retention. Now, as professionals and practice owners, testing can be equally (if not more) important - especially in the world of marketing. Testing can be a powerful tool to move your marketing program forward. Testing can also help you move from, “I don’t know what works” to “It works for us”.

When testing the elements of your marketing pieces, like the call to action, one time is often not enough to draw conclusions. I usually start with 2 different versions of a piece and compare the response. Sometimes, you may need to test more elements but it will be dependent on your business and the type of initiative you are working on.

It’s important to only test one element at a time so the results do not get muddled. The most common tests are:

Timing – Are you always mailing during a holiday season or when people are away for the summer? Vary the timing of your offer to gauge open rates.

Headlines – The headline is often the most important part in hooking the reader. Make sure you are speaking directly to your target demographic.

Calls to action - Are you including strong or passive calls-to-action? Think about things that influence you to act on something and try to incorporate those ideas.

Images/graphics – Is the image you’ve chosen in sync with the message you’ve created? Does it create an experience or inspire emotion for the reader?

Idea for today: Get out there and start testing! What are you waiting for?Stay tuned for ideas on how to measure your marketing coming soon…