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Start paid media testing with high-level message categories, or 'avenues' (e.g., 'designed by experts'). Once data shows which avenue resonates, drill down into minor variations, or 'cul-de-sacs' (e.g., 'handpicked by experts', 'backed by experts'). This structured approach prevents wasted spend on testing random copy.

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Stop spending money to test ads. Instead, publish a high volume of organic social content and identify what naturally gains traction. Then, convert only those proven, high-performing pieces into paid ads. This model dramatically lowers customer acquisition costs by ensuring ad spend only scales winners.

Stop guessing in boardrooms. Test creative concepts as organic social posts first. The platform's AI algorithm will reveal true audience relevance. Only use paid media to amplify the content that has already proven to over-index organically, ensuring ad dollars support winning ideas.

For decades, ad budgets were used to force mediocre creative in front of audiences. The new model is to test many pieces of content organically first. When a post over-performs, use paid media to amplify that proven winner, shifting ad spend from hiding bad creative to amplifying good creative.

Stop guessing on creative in boardrooms. Test all content organically first and only amplify what has already demonstrated relevance with an audience, thereby eliminating wasted ad spend and de-risking media budgets.

When testing copy like titles or subject lines, change only a single modifier word (e.g., add "Quick Fix" to "HR Guide"). This isolates the variable, providing clear learnings about what resonates with your audience, unlike testing two completely different sentences where the "why" is unclear.

Treat marketing creative like a ladder of validation. Test an idea as a tweet. If it gets engagement, expand it into an article. If that works, produce a video. This process of gathering feedback at each step ensures that by the time you create a high-cost asset like a TV ad, the core concept is already proven.

The reason a customer "needs" your product is subjective. Instead of a one-size-fits-all ad, create multiple versions that speak to different core buyer motivations. One ad might appeal to logic and data, another to time savings, and a third to team efficiency, ensuring you resonate with a broader audience.

Treat organic social media as a free testing ground. Only allocate working media dollars to creative that has already proven its relevance by gaining organic reach. This eliminates guesswork and the need for unreliable focus groups or executive opinions.

Treat organic social as a testing ground to identify high-performing creative. Only content that proves its relevance through organic reach should earn paid media dollars, shifting budget from guessing on ideas to amplifying proven winners.

The best use of pre-testing creative concepts isn't as a negative filter to eliminate poor ideas early. Instead, it should be framed as a positive process to identify the most promising concepts, which can then be developed further, taking good ideas and making them great.