In this article, we look at what ad copy testing is, examples of ad testing questions to ask respondents, and how quantilope’s automated market research platform helps maximize ad effectiveness.
Table of contents:
- What is an ad copy testing survey?
- How to test your ad copy with surveys
- Ad copy testing survey question examples
- Ad copy testing use cases
- Ad copy testing best practices
- How to leverage quantilope for your ad copy testing survey
What is an ad copy testing survey?
Ad copy testing provides your business with the insights needed to make sure your final advertisement conveys the right message - in the right tone and style. An ad copy testing survey is a type of research study that aims to evaluate such advertising copy before, during, or after running an ad campaign. It looks at the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed or actual ad copy, and asses metrics among a target audience such as ad appeal, believability, originality, clarity of messaging, and relevance.
Ad copy testing is important because, frankly, advertising is expensive. Imagine you have a new product you’d like to advertise to existing or potential customers. You think you have a pretty good idea of what its main appeal is and how you’d like to position the ad campaign to your target market. But why leave it to chance or intuition when you can gather real consumer data that supports those ad campaign decisions?
With ad copy testing, you can hone your campaign(s) according to real consumer feedback and make it as strong as it can possibly be - which sometimes might require multiple iterations of testing to get it right. After the campaign has launched, it’s also wise to once again gather actual consumer reactions so you can determine the elements that you should keep consistent or tweak for next time.
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How to test your ad copy with surveys
Ad copy testing is a great way to ensure your ad resonates with your target audience and drives the desired impact. Surveys allow advertising teams to gather feedback and optimize their ad copy before launching campaigns. One effective method is a concept testing survey. In this type of survey, respondents are presented with different versions of ad copy and asked to rate various aspects, such as clarity, persuasiveness, and relevance. To gain deeper insights, advertising teams can also include open-ended questions within these surveys; this qualitative data provides valuable context around respondents' reactions to ads and the reasoning behind their quantitative question ratings.
Beyond concept testing, another valuable approach to testing ad copy is to leverage A/B testing. With this method, respondents will see two or more versions of your ad copy and then choose their preferred option. Brands can use this direct comparison to identify which version of the ad performs better in terms of capturing attention, communicating the key message, and driving interest. By analyzing how different versions perform across segments like age or income level, you can tailor your copy to maximize your return on ad spend.
Surveys provide a cost-effective and insightful way to fine-tune your ad copy before launch, ensuring your message hits the mark with your audience. Regardless of which method or survey approach you use, below are some standard steps to testing ad copy:
Step 1: Define your objectives
Before you start crafting your survey, it's crucial to identify what you hope to achieve with your final ad copy. Are you aiming to increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, or generate leads? Clearly defining your objectives will guide your survey design and help you select the most relevant questions.
Step 2: Identify your target audience
Who are you trying to reach with your ads? Understanding your target audience is essential for creating effective ad copy. Consider demographics, interests, pain points, and motivations. This information will help you tailor your survey questions and ensure you're collecting feedback from the right respondents.
Step 3: Craft survey questions
Next, design questions that directly address the elements of your ad copy you want to test. Below are some question types to consider:
- Multiple choice: Offer a selection of ad copy variations and ask respondents to choose their preferred option from that list.
- Open-ended questions: As mentioned above, adding in qualitative insights through open-ended questions will encourage respondents to provide detailed feedback on what they like or dislike about specific ad copy elements.
- Rating scales: Use scales to assess the clarity, relevance, and persuasiveness of your ad copy.
When crafting questions, remember to keep them concise to avoid respondent fatigue and be sure to encourage open and honest feedback.
Step 4: Distribute your survey
When your survey is ready to go, choose how you'll reach your respondents in a way that's representative of your target consumers. Consider using your own email lists or connecting to a survey panel. Ensure your survey is accessible across different devices and easy to complete; this often involves quality checking the survey links before it goes live and checking the preliminary data before a 'full' launch to all respondents.
Step 5: Analyze results and iterate
Once you've collected sufficient responses, analyze the data to identify trends and patterns. Pay attention to which ad copy variations resonate most with your audience - and why (this is where qualitative feedback can be super valuable). Use these insights to refine your ad copy and improve its effectiveness if needed.
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Ad copy testing survey question examples
Ad testing surveys ask the right questions to focus on consumer reactions to various aspects of an advertisement or ad campaign. The questions are crafted according to what your particular business wants to measure and benchmark in its ad testing research. However, there are certain metrics that are considered standard for most advertising effectiveness studies. Below, you’ll find a few example questions that provide these standard ad testing metrics.
Some ad testing questions are close-ended (such as Likert scales, sliding scales, etc.) while others are open-ended questions - with a text box for respondents to answer in their own words. Below are a few examples of each:
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First impressions
Q. [open-ended text] What is your initial reaction to this ad?
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Clarity of message
Q. [1-5 scale] How easy is it to understand what this ad is trying to communicate?
Q. [open-ended text] What do you think the main message of this ad is?
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Relevance
Q. [1-5 scale] How relevant is this product/service to you and your life?
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Brand fit and brand perception
Q. [1-5 scale] To what degree do you think this ad fits with what you already know about [brand X]?
Q. [1-5 scale]How does this ad influence your opinion of [brand X]?
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Originality
Q. [1-5 scale] Thinking about ads for similar brands/products, what degree of originality do you think this ad has?
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Believability
Q. [1-5 scale] To what degree do you find this ad believable?
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Appeal
Q. [1-5 scale] How much do you like this ad?
Q. [open-ended text] What did you enjoy about watching/reading this ad?
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Purchase intent
Q. [1-5 scale] Having seen this ad, how likely are you to buy [brand X]?
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Overall evaluation
Q. [open-ended text] What do you most like about this ad?
Q. [open-ended text] What do you like least about this ad?
Q. [open-ended text] What would you improve about this ad?
Q. [1-5 scale] How would you score this ad overall, on a scale of 1-5? -
Recall
Q. Which of the following points do you remember seeing in the ad?
[selection of phrases or images that appeared/didn’t appear in the ad]
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Ad copy testing use cases
Ad copy testing surveys are a great way to understand how existing or potential customers will react and respond to your final campaigns.
Coming up with copy for your standalone advertisement or for your ad campaign isn’t as simple as jotting a few words or phrases down. A good advertisement takes careful curation and tweaking to ensure the final message resonates with consumers in a real market environment.
There are many elements that go into good ad copy. Below are a few aspects of ad copy that a brand might want to test first before proceeding with the development of campaign materials.
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Headline and tagline testing
- Use case: Evaluate the impact of different headlines or taglines in ad copy.
- Reason for testing: The headline is often the first thing people see, and a compelling one can capture their attention. Testing helps identify the most attention-grabbing and memorable options.
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Message clarity and relevance testing
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Use case: Assess how well your ad copy communicates the intended message, and how well that message resonates with your audience.
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Reason for testing: Clear and relevant messaging ensures that your audience understands your value proposition and how your product/service being advertised is relevant to their life; this in turn improves conversion rates.
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Call-to-Action (CTA) effectiveness testing
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Use case: Evaluate different versions of a call-to-action (CTA) to determine which one drives the desired action - such as clicking, signing up, or making a purchase.
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Reason for testing: A well-crafted CTA can significantly impact conversion rates, making it crucial to test and optimize this element. A strong CTA could be the difference between someone who converts into a purchaser of your product/service and one who just glances over it.
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Tone and voice testing
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Use case: Assess the tone and voice (e.g., formal, authoritative, friendly) of your ad copy.
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Reason for testing: Tailoring the tone and voice in your advertising copy to your target market’s preferences can improve the relatability of the ad - in turn enhancing engagement and trust in your brand.
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A/B testing for ad copy variations
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Use case: Can’t decide between two or more versions of your ad? Compare the performance of multiple ad copy variations, such as different product descriptions or benefits.
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Reason for testing: A/B testing allows marketers to identify which specific elements of their ad copy are most effective - arming them with data-driven decisions for current and future campaigns.
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Ad copy testing surveys provide data (often quantitative, but sometimes qualitative) on how different elements of your ad copy impact your audience's perception and behavior. It’s important to understand how these elements will impact business success - like a new product launch or social media campaign. In today’s market - with so much noise and distraction, it’s essential that your advertisement stands out. Survey data is a nearly fool-proof way to avoid campaign flops and wasted advertising budgets.
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Ad copy testing best practices
Testing your ad copy is crucial for optimizing your campaigns and maximizing your return on investment (ROI). To ensure you're getting the most out of your ad copy testing efforts, consider these best practices:
- Start with a clear hypothesis. What are you trying to prove or disprove with your test? Having a specific hypothesis will help you focus your efforts and interpret your results.
- Test one variable at a time. To accurately identify what's driving change in ad performance, isolate a single element - such as the headline, CTA, or imagery.
- Use a control group. Always include a control group that sees your original ad copy. This provides a baseline/benchmark for comparison and helps you measure the impact of your changes.
- Test across different platforms. Ad copy that performs well on one platform may not translate effectively to another. Conduct tests mimicking how your ad would look across various platforms (social media, billboards, TV ads, radio spots, etc.) to optimize your messaging for each channel.
- Gather sufficient data. Ensure you have a large enough sample size to draw meaningful conclusions from your results. The required sample size will vary depending on factors such as your audience size and desired statistical confidence level.
- Analyze both quantitative and qualitative data. Look beyond click-through rates and conversion rates. Consider feedback from both quantitative surveys and qualitative focus groups to gain well-rounded insights into ad and brand perceptions.
- Be patient and persistent. Ad copy testing is an iterative process. Don't get discouraged if your first few tests don't yield significant results. Continuously test, learn, and refine your messaging over time.
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How to leverage quantilope for your ad copy testing survey
quantilope makes it simple to run an ad testing survey - by either choosing to start from a survey template or manually building your survey from scratch with pre-programmed drag & drop questions.
Once you’ve built your survey, which will likely include an A/B test for ad comparison, select your target audience and set your questionnaire live to your respondent panel in the fielding tab. Survey responses are updated in real time, meaning as you collect data, you can immediately start to see where your ad’s strengths and weaknesses are, and iterate on them where necessary for follow-up research. quantilope’s intuitive, live dashboards house all your top metrics in one place so you can easily monitor changes and share them with stakeholders (again, in real time).
For more on how quantilope’s automated Consumer Intelligence Platform can help streamline your ad effectiveness studies and increase key metrics like brand awareness, brand consideration, and more, get in touch below!
