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Tests, Surveys, and Ma Bell

Have you been testing all your advertising and marketing or just throwing mud up on the wall like most small business owners? Maybe you’ve wanted to test but it always seems that time and/or money get in the way?

Many years ago, back in the days of retail and rentals, we tested and tracked it the good ol’ fashioned way with the telephone and personal questionnaires. Testing was very slow and archaic back in the early to mid 1990’s. It took time to gather enough information but it enabled us to see which yellow page directories, radio stations and newspapers pulled the most, but it also allowed us to see which search engines were driving traffic. At one point, USWest (now Qwestdex) actually did an interview with me to find out what we did to track and research. Before we tested and surveyed, I thought that GTE was pulling all the traffic, but it turned out that USWest was the winner, and we were wasting quite a bit of money with GTE. Had we not tested and surveyed I would have kept placing the same old ads in the same old places. With testing and surveying we were able to better define our target markets, shift more dollars towards marketing that would bring better ROI, plus serve our customers better.

My recommendation is that you test all your marketing, online and offline. This can be done by split testing and surveying. It’s much easier and faster to split test online ads today with so many online resources. AWeber’s auto-responders are a great way to keep in touch with your PSC (prospects, subscribers, and clients). By using the autoresponder, you can test and survey as much as you think is necessary. I would also pay close attention to your search engine traffic, and check the reports frequently. Another option in today’s online environment is to utilize surveys.

Working offline? Then test all your marketing to see what works and is bringing in new prospects and existing customers. If you are using offline media such as radio, you might mention your website in your ads with a special promo code. Split-test ads to see which ones pull by producing two radio commercials with two different offers. Maybe one directs the listener to your website and then the other sends people to your physical location.

Remember, test everything; track as much as you can and survey periodically to see how you’re doing with your customers and prospects. In the long run you’ll be glad you did and you might be surprised at which ads really work.

If you want to learn more about how you can use testing, tracking and surveying in your small business, checkout My New Guide Here .

Dave K
Publisher