You may think you know your customers. But how well do you know them? When was the last time you defined them in clear, specific segments?
Your customers and prospects have differing needs, perceptions and relationships with you. In order to get the best return on your investment, you need to segment them into distinct groups and find clear areas of differentiation among them. Whether it's simple demographics of age and income, more complex life style/event analysis, or just knowing what, when and how much they have purchased from you in the past, each of these segments will respond differently to your marketing message. And the only way to know which message works best is to test it.
What to test? Try what I call the T.O.P.I.C. variables: Target, the list or segment; Offer, a test drive, discount coupon or free trial etc.; Price, different price offers determine how price-sensitive your products or services are; Image, design, graphics or photos; and Copy, different ways of presenting your marketing communications message.
The results are simple to measure. At the end of the testing period, calculate the response rates of each test element by dividing the responses by the total number of individual names reached or contacted in each "cell." Voilˆ. Now roll out the successful tests to a larger universe of customers or prospects and scrap the tests that don't work.
The Keys to Successful Testing: