Whether the objective is to increase leads or reduce costs—whether the channel is online or offline—we are often overloaded with more ideas than we have time or resources to test. Since each marketing campaign is an opportunity to learn and improve results, it’s important to maximize the efficiency of your testing by making the correct strategic choices when “all” isn’t a possibility.
Over the years, I have used a simple rubric to prioritize testing that can be applied to any marketing plan (I have yet to find an organization that did not find it helpful)! This rubric can help you determine the best places to focus your money and your efforts. Here is a quick overview of that process:
(1) Collect a comprehensive list of all testing concepts from the entire marketing team. Do not exclude any ideas and welcome input from key stakeholders in other departments such as sales, operations, and finance.(2) Gather a team that represents each discipline from the list of ideas. Have the representative explain the concept and rationale for their recommended tests to the entire team.
(3) Collaborate, debate, vote and ultimately score each test in the following two areas (with the maximum potential score of 20):
- Business Impact (1=Minor, 5=Medium, 10=Major)
- Effort & Resources (1=High, 5=Medium, 10=Low)
(4) Total the scores and sort the results from highest to lowest to determine your priorities.
(5) To help gauge the effectiveness of your testing plan, I recommend plotting the scores on a chart. This makes it simple for the whole team to visualize and determine the final tests to proceed with. Below is an example of the chart itself:
And here’s what it will look like once all of your testing ideas have been plotted:
Ultimately, the testing ideas with major business impact potential and a low amount of resources/effort required become the highest priorities (unless, of course, someone from the C-Level team determines otherwise). The above recommended scoring system can of course be weighted and/or altered to fit your organization’s goals.
With these calculations in hand, you can be confident that your testing priorities are in the right place. Remember to keep a close eye on the results of your testing so you can quantify the effectiveness of your changes and use that data to justify future testing opportunities!
