Like Great Wine
I enjoy very good wine - I really enjoy Great Wine! The other night I sampled a bottle of 2003 Blue Nun from Germany. In fact, the Rheinhessen is the largest vine-growing region in Germany in terms of the number of vineyards and the total area available to growers. It was in the Rheinhessen region, in a small vineyard in Worms, that Liebfraumilch was first produced. No specific grape variety dominates, although Muller-Thurgau is the most common, followed by Silvaner.
Now - I am not a wine snob - so if you have a good wine to recommend - please pass the name along.
But what's my point? Testing! Testing takes time. Just like a great wine.
Testing any marketing promotion is tough work. It requires patience and focus - often over a long period of time. If you are only selling one or two products or services - it's even more frustrating when customers don't jump at your first offer. The offer could be plagued with problems for many different reasons.
The Offer - Your offer is made up of several elements. The biggest element being the product or service. Your offer also takes into consideration the asking price for the service. If your offer is not appealing to your customer - your sales will lag behind your goals significantly!
The Audience - Your customer! The customer, or audience, may be a very tightly defined niche market. Baby-Boomers, Gen-X'ers, Elderly, Mothers of New Born Babies. The list can go on and on. Remember to analyze your Audience and craft a message and offer that appeals to that audience.
The Timing - The season, or date which you released the promotion. Who would send a Christmas catalog in July? Well - in fact - the answer to that question depends on your Audience. The thing to remember about timing is that it's an element of testing that has to be tweaked again and again. The timing of your promotion depends a lot on the product or service, it's availability, the competition in your market, and the customer's disposition toward that promotion over a given time period. Test it!
The Presentation - Even when I pick out a good wine, I take a moment to appreciate the bottle. It's the same with your promotion. The way to reach customers who buy your product will be different for each offer, each product, and each audience. Think as a consumer - about the images, colors, and even sounds - which drew your attention to your last purchase. It's these key elements that grab your eye, sway your heart, and open your wallet.
The Test - So, it is important to test all of these elements as closely as possbile with as many prospects or customers as possible. Then, once you have tested your marketing promotion - analyze it to see what results you received. Take a look a tthe results and see how they stack up agains the goal you are trying to reach.
Now ... ask yourself what can you change to make help the results tilt more in your favor?
That's testing - and like a great wine, it takes time to perfect a great marketing promotion.