Launching a new product to the world marketplace is ordinarily a grueling task for many entrepreneurs. No matter if this is your first product launch or one hundredth, you never really know how the marketplace will receive it. The “Midas Touch” some successful entrepreneurs seem to have that can forecast whether a product may be a winner or not is probably nothing more than hard intelligence at their disposal. Many entrepreneurs do not have the financial resources to do an extensive market research prior to creating and rolling out a product to the market. This includes use of focus groups and beta testers. How do you know if a product is wanted if traditional research can’t be done? It is possible to avoid the usual methods of product research by using Google search as an effective substitute for traditional marketing test groups?
It is possible to collect research data by running a product specific AdWords campaign to acquire knowledge about market performance, consumer demand, and the price people are willing to pay? To complete this task, run a series of search marketing advertisements on Google. Test for multiple variables such as product names, different descriptions, price points and let the data show you the winning combinations. The results from this product testing will indicate whether it is beneficial to move forward.
Need an example of how to do this testing? Follow these 3 simple steps using an info product…
You want to sell an eBook that you have written. You have in mind 4 potential titles, 5 descriptions, and a range of prices. You must obtain as much useful information as inexpensively and quickly as possible.
1. Test title variations by setting up 4 AdWords campaigns. Pick only one title for each campaign. Use the title variation in the headline or on one of the two text lines. Everything else in the Google ad should be equal for the 4 campaigns. At this stage, do not mention price in your ad. You shall only be testing one variable. Now, run the ads and see which one receives the highest click through rate (CTR). Save the one that performed the best and lose the others.
2. Test 5 different product descriptions with the winning title. You will now set up 5 different Google campaigns with the headline title all being equal. The purpose of this test is to find the winning description. You keep the winner with the highest CTR and lose the others.
3. Test the price to estimate the potential sales conversion rate. You should run 5 separate AdWords campaigns testing only for the best price point to sell the ebook. All variables will be equal except for the price. Each campaign will lead to identical sales pages located on 5 subdomains for tracking purposes. Each subdomain will point to its own autoresponder. In order to determine which price point leads to a higher potential conversion rate, place an optin box located at the end of each sales page. This box will contain text about placing them on a mailing list to be notified when the eBook is published. Please note, in the final analysis, it’s not the CTR from the Google ad that determines the winner here but the number of optins each autoresponder received. If they leave a name and email then they are very interested in the subject and make the best potential customers to buy it.
By testing the marketplace using this easy strategy, you have created a marketing database and a targeted email list. You have positioned your product in front of people starving for your unique content. By doing this research you have determined the best title, description, and price for maximum sales. When you look at it, this system of market research is more cost effective than the traditional ways of gathering market intelligence.
