Check out this question that came in:
“Ben, why don’t you ever show us test results? Would love to see some split tests can you show us any?”
That’s the million penny question, ain’t it?
So why won’t I get on the stick and show you the goods?
Why am I “holding out”?
Well, for one thing, I’m not about to share confidential information from client tests. Would you want someone blabbing about your test results to potential competitors?
And secondly, they probably wouldn’t help you, anyway.
In fact, they may even hurt you.
Why?
Because I’ve seen many test results.
And you know what I’ve discovered?
In many cases, what applies to one market/product/business doesn’t directly apply to another. What works (for example) in the self defense market could get you killed in the dog market, the golf market or in probably any female-dominated market.
One person’s winner is sometimes another’s bomb.
I’ve seen it time and time again.
One dude swears on his mother’s grave using only video (no text) is the 8th wonder of conversion… only for someone to blindly only use video too (without even bothering to test) and lose his shirt.
Same with everything else, too:
Physical vs digital products… long copy vs short copy… HTML vs plain text… morning vs evening emails… long headlines vs short headlines… and the list goes on.
There’s no one size fits all.
Every product is unique.
Every market is unique.
And every market/product/timing relationship is unique.
That’s why, if I HAD to make a sale or be beheaded… and was given the choice to look at some goo-roo’s test results or use proven persuasion principles (based on sound psychological laws instead of “tips and tricks”), well, I know what I’m studying.
And it ain’t gonna be the goo-roo’s tests.
Especially if they’re in a different market altogether.
So anyway, I’m not against testing by any means.
I think you should test.
But do it based on knowledge of YOUR market and product.
And not on someone else’s.
Ben Settle
P.S. For lots more ideas to test that have worked for all kinds of different markets and products (and are used by some of the world’s highest paid copywriters) check out:
