Test Season Has Arrived

A big dilemma for me starting out on this journey is what to do in terms of marketing and communication before I actually have a product to sell. I’ve struggled with this because I thought, ‘Is this weird? To talk about a brand where no product exists?’ I’ve been waiting for ages, ‘What if I invite people to enter the world of Mummy’s Muse and then they have to wait for ages?’ ‘What if I run out of interesting things to tell them?’ However, I now firmly believe aside from selling an incredible product (one day), I have something to share today. I have the journey of setting up – and eventually – running a business to share. The reality is that this journey includes a lot of waiting. I also have all this incredible content about my love for colour that I want to put out into the world.

So this led me to the question of how? What is the best way to ‘spread the word?’ The word ‘best’ is incorrect – what is the most efficient way to spread the word? The answer lies in testing. Testing and learning.

Lean Into Data, Not Assumptions

In the next eight weeks or so I will be conducting a number of paid and un-paid experiments to work out which marketing approaches work best for this brand and my audience. Now I’d like to think this seems quite sensible and probably really obvious, but it’s really hard to not just ‘guess’ what works. It’s really hard not to think everyone else does x,y,z for their brand so it’s going to work for mine. I’m going to need to work hard to put aside assumptions and let the tests speak for themselves. I need to also test the impact of approaches that don’t cost money (my favourite type of marketing effort! Haha). I’m putting together a testing plan to work out what to test and when. The timing of the tests is also important as I need to be able to separate the effects of individual tests to work out their relative impact.

I haven’t decided how much to dedicate to each test; it’s unlikely to be large amount. It’s not about how much I spend, but the efficacy of each approach and what I can learn about each one. In the absence of a product to sell, I’m going to encourage people to sign up to know when we launch and to follow the journey on the road to launching. The idea will be once I learn about a few approaches that are working, to drill down into those approaches and further optimise what’s working within them.

Exciting Times Ahead

I’m quite excited about this testing plan. I’m also really curious to get into some of the platforms to buy advertising. In my professional career, I’m a Planner in a media agency. While I have a generalist knowledge about media channels, I don’t get to go in platforms and buy advertising. I work with specialists that do this. I’m really looking forward to this next stage and what I’ll learn and how it will help me in my professional career as well as Mummy’s Muse.

P.S. I read this book after a great guy I know recommended it. It really helped me get my thoughts together and expand the way I thought about potential marketing approaches.