The #1 secret for breakthrough marketing testing

From the desk of Roy Furr, Sunday, April 6th, 2008

Two carpenters are asked to build a table. They’re given identical sets of tools, and identical pieces of wood. They’re given two days to complete the task.

At the end of two days, one carpenter comes back with a rather plain, simple table. Nothing fancy, and certainly nothing that would stand out as exceptional compared to all the other tables you’ve seen in your life.

The other carpenter presents a table, the very sight of which takes your breath away. The table is sure and solid, with fine construction. And the details… magnificent! The legs are decorated with intricate carvings that seem as if they’d have taken years to do. The surface is smoother than glass. Every inch of the table was carefully considered, creating a masterpiece table if ever there was one.

The carpenters above were given the same tools, and the same material to work with. Yet they came back with drastically different results.

This also applies in online testing.

One of the biggest myths about testing your online marketing is…

If you’re given the tools, you’ll see instant improvement. This comes from the assumption that the tools are responsible for the increase.

(That couldn’t be more wrong!)

So… if it’s not the tools… how do you get breakthrough results?

The secret I’m about to teach you is the #1 most important thing to know, when you’re testing your marketing online or offline. It’s how you’ll create incredible results — independent of whatever tool you’re using.

It’ll turn you into a testing expert capable of creating big increases in response. Today, if you choose to apply it.

And it works whether you’re using Google Website Optimizer, Vertster, Optimost, Split Test Accelerator, or one of the other marketing testing platforms out there. It even works for testing offline marketing.

This secret is universal.

Summed up in the shortest form possible, this secret is:

“Test big differences.” Let me explain.

When your prospect sees your ad (online or offline) you have — at best — 3 seconds to convince them to stay. If what you’re testing can not be seen in 3 seconds or less, you’re not going to create any big difference in response.

So the solution is to present large differences that can be seen in 3 seconds or less. Test changes to the elements of your ad that are front and center when your prospect first sees it.

Testing these big differences will get you…

Big differences in response (whether they’re for better or worse).

Once you learn the “Test big differences” principle, you’ll start to see great differences in your test results. Some of your tests will flop (that’s okay). Some will soar (whoopee)! And some will stay roughly the same (that probably means the element of your ad that you’re testing is minimally influential, and you should move on to testing something else within the ad).

But the first step is to learn to test big differences — differences that can be identified within 3 seconds of looking at your ad.

This will change your life. Here’s how…

Using this principle, some of the tests will fail, and you’ll return to using your control package. But some will lead to increases in response far beyond what you’d ever expect — increases that can literally change your life forever by creating more customers, more sales, and more profits.

As you use this principle, creating these breakthroughs will become easier and easier.

That’s the #1 secret for breakthrough marketing testing — use it and you’ll become the carpenter that gets exceptional results, using the same tools everyone else can only manage to create nominal improvement from.

If you want to learn the most advanced method of online testing — Taguchi marketing testing — head on over to http://www.TaguchiTestingHandbook.com to buy the ebook I wrote with A-list copywriter Bob Bly on the subject.

You get 90 days to try it risk free, and you’ll get a couple bonuses just for trying it out: The Kowalick Taguchi Spreadsheet for running free Taguchi testing (using the methods I lay out in the book), and Bob’s special bonus report Online Marketing That Works.

Tags: online testing, testing your online marketing, testing expert, Google Website Optimizer, Vertster, Optimost, Split Test Accelerator, marketing testing platforms, testing offline marketing, breakthrough marketing testing, online testing, Taguchi marketing testing, Taguchi Testing Handbook, TaguchiTestingHandbook.com, Bob Bly, Kowalick Taguchi Spreadsheet, Taguchi testing, Online Marketing That Works

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