If there was a way to guarantee any offer you put out would be a smash hit… would you take it?
We might not have the secrets to ensuring your offers hit it out of the park, but we do know one thing: when you beta test your offers before launch, the likelihood of it succeeding increases drastically!
But what is beta testing, how does it work, and what can you expect when you do it?
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1 | What Is Beta Testing?
A beta test is simply an opportunity for a small group of consumers — or biz besties, mastermind peers, or past clients! — to try out and give an opinion on a new product or service before it is offered to the general public.
At first, beta testing was mostly used in the consumer technology markets. Things like new apps or computers would be released to small groups of people to check for bugs and frustrations, so they could be fixed by the developers before the product was sold to a larger population.
We still see this happening a lot, actually! For example, Pinterest was recently testing a Creator Fund option. A handful of Pinterest creators with different levels of following were given the opportunity to earn rewards and financial compensation from posting on their accounts.
In this scenario, Pinterest actually decided that the Creator Fund was not something they wanted to bring to the public, so they shut down the program. Think about what would have happened if they’d allowed everyone to test out this feature before they were sure it worked and was worthwhile. It would have been chaos to shut it down!
The same practice can easily be applied to your business. Even if you’re not running a social media platform, you can definitely pick a small group of people to test out a new offering! For example, if you’re running a new group coaching program, beta test it with 5 members to see how smoothly the program runs, and ask for their feedback!
Not sure people will want to beta test something? Offer them access for free or a steeply discounted price, and let them know it’s the beta round. Odds are, they’ll be excited to get first access at a lower (or no) cost.
Related Post: What To Do Before Launching A Brand New Product
2 | Can A Beta Test Help Your Marketing Efforts?
The short answer is YES, beta testing can make marketing a new offer easier. There are more benefits to beta testing than getting client or customer feedback. Beyond the opportunity to see how people might react to a brand-new offer, beta testing is a great marketing tool.
Firstly, running a beta test creates hype and scarcity. When people know that a product is a “limited run” or a limited-time offer, they are automatically more intrigued. Add to that the fact that any beta product should not be sold at its full rate, and a good audience base will be clamoring for the chance to try out your product.
Additionally, everyone wants to be on the pulse of what’s hot and new. Creating the buzz of a beta product and then only allowing a few people to purchase or use that means that anyone who wanted to and didn’t get the chance to purchase will be waiting for the opportunity to do so.
A properly done beta run will create exclusivity and urgency, bringing you tons of free marketing!
Related Post: Marketing Tactics You Haven’t Tried to Grow Your Business
3 | How to Run a Beta Test for Your New offer
In terms of the product or offer itself, running a beta test doesn’t actually operate any differently than it would if you were running the product as a full-fledged offer.
Let’s take the example of a group program again. Say you’re a coach for female business owners, and you want to beta test a 6-week mastermind program with a specific curriculum covered each week. How you run the mastermind meetings and the teaching modules shouldn’t be different from how you’d run it any other time.
Instead, what’s going to be different is your marketing efforts and your feedback loop. You can definitely still market it to your entire audience, especially if you have a highly engaged or smaller audience. But this is your chance to really test the waters — marketing and all! Try out some different funnel ideas, run different ad types, and see what your audience responds to.
Don’t bring in as many participants, either. If the program is usually for 20 women, try running it as a beta test with 5.
Then, throughout the program and at the very end, make sure you have open communication with the group members. Ask them what they loved, and what they could have gone without.
Getting good feedback can be a difficult line to walk. Sometimes, participants may hand you over feedback that’s less about the program itself and more about whether or not they were actually a good fit. Make sure you select your beta round participants pretty carefully to avoid this.
Related Post: How To Be Confident That Your Product Is Going To Sell
4 | Should You Charge for Your Beta Round?
And lastly, the question on everyone’s mind… should you be charging for your beta round?
We think YES! Doing a beta round isn’t any less work. Actually, it can be way more work than a regular round, considering you have to take on feedback and try to implement it. You should definitely charge for your work, time, and energy.
Charge less than the full-price, non-beta round… and use that in your marketing! It’s a huge draw for people when they see something marked down. So if you’re running a beta program for $500 that’s usually $1,500, make sure you advertise that far and wide!
Final Thoughts
Beta testing your offers is a really great way to get your thumb on the pulse of what’s going to work and what might not work as well. If you’ve been considering putting an offer or product out there but aren’t 100% sure… beta test it!
Also, beta testing doesn’t have to only apply to new offers. If you make significant changes to offers you’ve been running for a while, you can beta-test the new version to make sure it works!
Want help running your beta test smoothly?
From testimonials and case studies to performance data and success metrics, this marketing guide inside our Momentum Biz Vault will walk you through every step of the beta testing process to help you build confidence and make your next offer your best (and most successful) one yet!
Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll get with our ultimate Beta Testing guide:
- Step-by-step process for beta testing your business offers
- Beta testing dos and don’ts
- How to select the right participants
- How to collect helpful and specific feedback
- How to implement customer feedback
- How to refine your offer before launch
Plus, Momentum Biz Vault members now get an all-access pass to stock photos, Canva graphic templates, marketing guides, and more. We can’t wait to hear how you implement beta testing for all your new offers (and beyond)!