Articles

In his forward to John Caples book, Tested Advertising Methods, David Ogilvy cited an example where a one word change in the headline of an ad increased sales, 19.5 TIMES (not to be confused as percent)!

But how do you know what to change, and when? The answer is to test and quantify -- not just your ads, but the way you answer your phone, the way you make a sales presentation, the words you use in promotional videos, brochures, ... basically everything you do can benefit from testing and quantification.

Testing: The Process 1. Quantify: what you are currently doing 2. Concept: determine what new idea(s) or elements you wish to test 3. Measure: the results of the new ideas/elements 4. Determine: which process produced the most sales for the least dollars 5. Quantify: the new approach against the old baseline, then incorporate the best approach into your activities 6. Start: the process again by selecting new tests to continue to perform on that area, and by scheduling them to occur on a regular basis.

In fact, the six core rules for getting a higher ROI on advertising investments, is "perpetual testing". As a marketing practitioner for many years, I know that the "perpetual testing" should apply to every aspect of marketing.

Just think what might happen if you tested the way your phones were answered, and found a method that led to a 10% increase in sales. Pretty good, huh? Then if you tested every ad, and you got only a 50% increase in sales, just those two things alone would get your profits up 60% or more.

Now throw into the mix to test the actual words spoken in a sales presentation -- once the most profitable words are discovered, you write out the presentation as a script for all salespeople to follow, and that generates another 25% increase in sales.

Then, you test the attire of your staff and find that when wearing navy blue, they achieve 12% more sales. Wow, that's another nice increase.

You get the picture. Testing, quantification, and refinement should be an integral part of your marketing management to optimize the results you're getting in all aspects of your marketing program.

Granted, David Ogilvy's example is exceptional. But the figures used above are extremely conservative. But with these conservative figures, let's check our score card and see how you've done by adding testing to your marketing management.

Phones Advertisements Presentation Attire

10% 50% 25% 12%

Total 97% increase !

Testing is well worth the energy to learn how to do it and do it on a regular basis. It's probably THE best way to get more sales for fewer dollars!

Author Info

Jody Hornor has 30 years experience in marketing and consults and speaks on the topic all over North America. Author of several marketing books and tapes, Jody's philosophy is to use strategies that produce quantifiable results in every area of sales and marketing, helping organizations constantly improve their marketing performance.