Give Your Marketing A Trial Run Before Rolling It Out

Financial advisors sometimes wonder why their marketing effort didnt work as well as they had hoped or why it completely failed. Perhaps they didnt test the marketing before they rolled it out.

Give Your Marketing A Trial Run Before Rolling It Out;
Seven Tips On the ‘How and ‘Why" of Testing

For Release May 9, 2003
Contact: Tom Ellis
Ellis Communications, L.L.C.
Phone (623) 780-4558
E-Mail tellis@advisormarketing.com

Financial advisors sometimes wonder why their marketing effort didnt work as well as they had hoped or why it completely failed. Perhaps they didnt test the marketing before they rolled it out.

When an advisor asks me about a disappointing marketing campaign, I turn the tables and ask them if they tested before the campaign started," says Martin R. Baird, president of Phoenix, Ariz.-based Advisor Marketing and author of The 7 Deadly Sins of Advisor Marketing. The responses are interesting: I didnt have time to test the concept; I know what works, so why waste my time on a test; testing is a waste of money; testing is only for big companies; Ive never heard of testing a marketing effort.

Heres my advice – if you think testing is more work than its worth, youre wrong. Its money well spent."

Baird offers the following seven tips on testing a marketing effort before it is launched..

Number 1 – Advisors need to test because it works. For example, by testing the headline of an ad, you can see how it affects your response rate," Baird says. By testing one offer versus another, you can often save money and generate even better results."

Number 2 – One headline can outperform another by tenfold. Ive seen changing one word double the response from an ad," Baird notes.

Number 3 – Changing more than one variable during the test is a big mistake. For example, changing the headline as well as the day the marketing materials are mailed very likely will ruin the test, Baird explains.

Number 4 – For testing to be successful, you can only make one change at a time. If youre working with headlines for a mailer, that could mean changing only one word or the font so you can prove what works best," Baird suggests.

Number 5 – Have a sample thats large enough to generate solid data. With direct mail, its often said that a ‘good response is .5 percent," Baird says. That means if you mail to 100 prospects, you should get absolutely no calls. To get usable data, you may need to mail one concept to 1,000 prospects and the variable to another 1,000."

Number 6 – Once you have identified what works, use that as the control for your testing going forward. This will be your baseline to see if you can do better," Baird says. Once you have an offer or marketing material that outperforms your baseline, it becomes the new baseline."

Number 7 – Dont test too much. You need to test to see what works best, not test just for the fun of testing," Baird notes. If youre like most people, youre in business to make money. Testing costs money but when properly executed, its an investment that can pay handsomely."

Advisormarketing.com is the premiere Internet-based source for free marketing advice, information and tools for self-driven, success-oriented financial advisors who are demanding information that helps them market their practice, meet the needs of their clients and increase sales. It offers such services as a free weekly electronic newsletter, free reports on how to conduct different kinds of marketing and evaluation of advisors marketing materials that is provided at no charge when the critique is posted online for all advisors to read. Advisormarketing.com also offers an electronic forum where advisors can learn from each other by discussing common problems, sharing ideas and gaining new insights from their peers. Advisor Marketing may be reached at 480-991-6421.
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