Most marketers don’t have the luxury of time and budget. They use as much research and data as possible to pick a direction to sell the most product. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn’t. But there is too much at stake in retail to take risks.
It is a risk to launch a campaign without knowing how consumers will respond. Marketers know who they’re selling to but don’t always know the exact right way to present their product. Traditional tests for messages, formats and offers in direct mail and other print channels take that time and money marketers don’t have. And the results don’t always meet expectations.
Virtual testing is cost-effective, fast and reliable. It will tell marketers why a certain segment buys and what elements will move consumers from consideration to purchase.
More than a feeling
The key is to appeal to emotion. Purchase decisions aren’t logical. Virtual tests segment for social and emotional characteristics to zero in on what the right audience will want to see and hear. This is how to get a winning package of variables. The alternative is to play it safe and appeal to as many consumers as possible, an expensive approach with little return.
While no two people are exactly alike, we all make decisions based on emotion. fMRI scans show it’s the right side of our brain rather than the logical left half that lights up when we make a choice. As Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman writes in How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market, 95 percent of purchase decision-making takes place subconsciously, driven by feelings more than logic.
Information is important to validate a purchase with proof points — emotion is complementary and crucial. The goal is to make sure consumers feel confident with their purchase decision.
Personality matters
Likability is what makes the difference. Specs and product details are necessary, but usually not vastly different from competitors’ products. Marketers can put their goods over the top by matching what emotionally motivates a consumer to buy with marketing messages and images.
Details that create an emotional connection — format, color, message tone, imagery, etc. — all make subconscious connections with consumers through senses. And these influence perception, product affinity and purchase behavior.
Test with confidence
Accelerated Insights is the first and only virtual testing platform for print. It draws upon data from 47 years of successful Quad/Graphics print marketing campaigns. The tool tests thousands of formats, creative and content variables to show marketers exactly what final package will lift response and conversion rates without having to mail.
This platform is unique — with a pool of 3.2 million virtual respondents to draw from, campaigns are measured against exact look-alike audience segments. Accelerated Insights experts work with marketers to understand who they want to target — then the tool uses algorithms to interpret what will trigger the best response. Tests measure reactions of four personas — Trailblazers, Influencers, Loyalists and Go-Getters — to proposed package variables to rank what matters most.
The process costs roughly 90 percent less than traditional testing, and accuracy is 10 times better. Accelerated Insights cuts the A/B testing timeline from the typical 12-24 months to just 60 days, and tells clients what results to expect with extremely high accuracy.
People buy what they like from who they like. Virtual testing increases your understanding of what they like and why. Launch your next campaign faster, for less money and with more confidence.
To find out how to stand out in your customers’ homes, download the e-book or get in contact with the Accelerated Insights team today.
Quad/Graphics is a leading marketing solutions partner that leverages its strong print foundation as part of a large, robust integrated multichannel platform to help clients spend their marketing dollars more efficiently and effectively, both online and offline.