How successful marketers identify the best ideas

Whether you’re a marketing veteran or a shop owner just trying to bring in a few more customers, knowing whether your new ads and products will succeed is crucial to your company’s bottom line.

We conducted research using SurveyMonkey Audience—our powerful online survey platform that allows you to target specific demographics—to see what 500 product managers, advertisers and marketing professionals think. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority agreed that testing is important. What’s the twist, you ask? Few of the professionals we surveyed actually test their ads and product concepts before releasing them.

The importance of testing

72% of professionals who are responsible for advertising decisions said that it is moderately, quite, or extremely important to an ad’s success to test the ad before launching it.

In your opinion, how important is it to your ad’s success that you test the ad or an ad concept before launching it?

Bart chart showing 70% of respondents believe testing an ad is important before launching

Of the product-focused professionals we surveyed, 85% said that testing a product or feature before launch is moderately, quite, or extremely important to the product’s success.

In your opinion, how important is it to your product’s success that you test the product or feature concept before launching it?

Bart chart showing over 80% of respondents believe its important to test the product before launching it

From these data points, we know that professionals making decisions related to advertisements and products feel that testing their new ads or product features before launching them is an important step of the creative process.

Why test?

Having established its importance, we also wanted to understand why professionals value testing so highly. When we asked advertising and marketing professionals why they think testing is important, we largely heard that they wanted to understand their audience in order to create effective ads and ultimately bolster their companies’ bottom lines.

In your opinion, why is it important to test an ad before launching it?

World cloud with words such as results, audience, effective, consumer, ROI

So why doesn’t everyone test?

Based on this data, you might assume that nearly all of the professionals we surveyed would consistently be testing new ads and products…Not so. 60% test their ads only slightly often or not at all often before launching them.

How often do you or your team test ad concepts or ideas before developing and launching them?

Bar chart showing 60% of respondents say they only slightly or not often at all test ad concepts before launching

So why don’t decision-making professionals test? When we asked marketers and advertisers why they don’t test ads before launching them, we learned that they often don’t have adequate time, money, or expertise.

In cases where you launched an ad without testing it first, why did you choose not to test it?

Bar chart with respondents answering why they chose not to test ads before launching

Taking action: Ad and concept testing with SurveyMonkey Audience

Although many advertising and marketing professionals agree that testing ads and product concepts pre-launch is important, many have been unable to carry out these tests. Testing new ads and product features has historically proven too costly, time consuming, or difficult to do frequently.

At SurveyMonkey Audience, we’ve worked hard to change this trend because we know testing ads and product can save your company a lot of time and money. Just as importantly, we know that driving results for your company’s bottom line translates to personal success and advancement in your career.

That’s why we’ve developed a Concept Assessment framework that lets our customers test ideas and concepts with their target market before they launch. Our survey scientists have identified the best questions to ask to uncover important indicators that a concept might fail or succeed.

Don’t miss out on the chance to win big with your new ads and products. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you test your ads, products, and more!

See how SurveyMonkey can power your curiosity