Testing 1, 2, 3 … Testing Your Marketing
By Martin R. Baird

In my last article for The Capitalist, I wrote about headlines and how important they are to your marketing success. Simply put, having a good headline at the top of your marketing materials is critical.
 
I recently read some research that demonstrates just how important headlines are. The research said 35 percent of the people who actually take the time to read the subject line of an e-mail will open it. If that doesn’t sound impressive, think of it this way. If the subject line of an e-mail you send out doesn’t stop recipients during their busy day and grab their attention, you have missed an opportunity 35 percent of the time. If your e-mail announces that you are offering a FREE ounce of gold but you don’t have a great subject line, 35 percent of the people you send it to will not be aware of your amazing offer.
 
OK, it’s agreed that you must write a fantastic headline. This column is devoted to fine tuning that headline through testing.
 
Most financial advisors don’t test their marketing headlines and that is a huge mistake. I’ve heard an entire laundry list of excuses and they range from not having time, to lack of funds for testing to “we know the headline works.” For the people who “know” what works, you must have made a fortune in the last 16 months shorting the Dow and rolling your windfall into gold.
 
I’m a Chicago Cubs fan. Each year about this time, I just know they will win it all. I feel that way every year. That’s not “knowing.” That’s hope. Many advisors simply hope their marketing will work. They hope that they know from experience what will get their clients and prospects to react and invest more with them. It’s very rare when that hope stands up to real testing.
 
I’ll use price points as an easy-to-understand example. If you offer a service that you charge a set fee for, which of the following will give you the best results in your headline – $39, $59, $99 or $129? Some people would quickly select $39 because it’s cheaper. Times are tough, so $39 will get better results. That’s logical. But I have seen people test different “offers” and find that higher price points not only generated more profit but also outsold lower prices. The why of this is not critical to this discussion. The most important thing is understanding that without testing, you will never know what works best.
 
For the rest of this article, let’s use the example of one of my company’s clients sending an e-mail to prospects inviting them to an upcoming event. (Notice I said “event.” The shindig better be more than a seminar if my client wants people to attend.) My staff and I write several different subject lines (the equivalent of a headline) for the e-mail.
 
In this example, we have our client e-mail 5,000 prospects. If we want to know which subject line works best, we test as many as four different versions. We have four groups, each with 1,250 people on the distribution list. The only difference between each one is the subject line. In some instances, the subject line is only a word or two different. Basically, we’re only testing one variable, the subject line. We code each e-mail with the reply e-mail or a telephone number so we can track which subject lines generate the higher response rates.
 
Then our client leverages the subject line that generates the best response by using it in a new e-mail that invites thousands of other prospects to a different event on a different date. This same subject line can be used again and again in the future to generate the best response. My client can do this all because of testing.
 
Now let’s take this beyond simple subject line testing. Imagine if my client wanted to test five common variables – subject line, location of the event, time of the event, the offer and the signature on the e-mail. It would take months to test each variable one at a time. By the time it was all done, the environment may have changed and what worked before may no longer work. Think back over the last year. A headline that featured oil prices could have been great at one point in time and a complete flop a couple of months later. That happens when the price of crude runs up to $140 a barrel and back down to $40 in what seems like the blink of an eye.
 
The days of testing only one variable at a time are gone. Now we test multiple variables simultaneously. In the above example with five common variables, we may have four different choices for each of the variables. They can be tested to show which are the most important and most effective. For example, in our test, we may find that the headline is not the most important thing. The location, signature and offer are most important, in that order. We also know which location, signature and offer perform the best. With this new knowledge, my client can better plan future events and maximize his results.
 
I know multiple testing can be confusing. Let’s simplify. Let’s say you want to invite prospects to meet you at your office. The eliminates the need to test the location. In this example, you test the headline on your invitation and you also test different times of the day. With testing, you can discover which headline really grabs the reader’s interest and which times of the day work best. Armed with that knowledge, you can now generate better results with future invitations.
 
This is HUGE!
 
Testing helps you understand which part of your marketing is important so you can invest your money where it matters. What if you could save $1,000 by hosting your event at a different location that’s popular and happens to be cheaper? What if a different time (evening rather than afternoon) could generate a 10 percent or even a 100 percent increase in the number of participants? What if simply signing your e-mail with your first name and phone number worked best?
 
At conferences, I’m often asked to tell people what works best. The problem with this question is that it’s like asking how long is string? It doesn’t have a single right answer. If I could predict the future, I wouldn’t work with financial advisors. I would just know how the market was going to move and make a fortune. Or perhaps I would put all my money on the Cubs when I knew they would win it all.
 
Testing is not about predicting or guessing the future. It’s about testing what your clients and prospects will react to and respond to. Sure, sometimes I have a good idea that works just fine. But at times I’m surprised, just like a few people were with the Dow over the last 16 months.
 
If you are doing any marketing at all, you owe it to yourself to test, test, test! The little that you invest in testing can pay huge dividends.

Martin R. Baird is chief executive officer of Robinson & Associates, Inc., a consulting company that helps financial professionals measure and manage the quality of client service and improvements to their internal operations to enhance business performance and increase revenues. He is a highly regarded speaker in the areas of marketing and client retention and development. Baird is author of “The 7 Deadly Sins of Advisor Marketing,” a book that offers easy-to-implement marketing ideas for financial professionals. He may be reached at 206-774-8856 or mbaird@raresults.com.