What is Social Testing?

Introduction

Social testing will show how your content performs for the target audiences. It is also called social media testing. They test the same post differently and measure a pre-set goal. Suppose, for example, that the goal is to increase engagement and get more leads.

Let us look at another example. Suppose you might run a social test to see if an image campaign is worth investing in on Facebook, so you create a post that will measure the impressions with or even without the image attached. After this, the interaction with your post will tell you if that image is worth investing in for your brand. Now, this is a necessary process.

Where can I Run Social Testing?

If you want to run social media tests specifically, the channel you use might have testing tools in their business software. Whenever you run a social test on social media platforms is helpful because of it, you don’t need to track different channels during testing. Apart from this, you don’t need to worry about misconstructed data that the third party provides.

You can also use customer relationship management to do a social test. But, again, it is a great choice to do a social test, especially when you want to test outside social media. For example, email and other marketing activities.

How to Practice Social Testing?

Social testing is beneficial only if you do it correctly. If there is a minor mistake, the results might be inaccurate, immeasurable and eventually wasting your time. But don’t worry. We are here. The testing is not as hard as you think.

Below we have mentioned some practices you can use to avoid mistakes while designing your test and get accurate results. Without wasting time, let us quickly look at them:

You should have a Specific Goal

If you decide on a goal that you want to work on, then everything will fall into place, time frame, variables and units of measurement. To better understand this, let us see an example. Suppose you want to improve your international engagement with Instagram ads.

So now you know what your goal is, you can create the variable. And then, you decide to run A/B testing to determine which of the copy earns more impressions. The ad runs for a month or more until you can measure the results.

Know your Audience for Social Testing

Once you decide to run a social test, your data will imitate the precise target market’s behaviors and how they are engaging with your messaging. And when we talk about audience segments, social testing is excellent for this segment.

Even if you have no information about your audience and how they will react to an Instagram story, running a social test might be the option to get the data-driven answer.

It would be best if you had insights into your business. There may be changes, but you will have an idea. This is because if you don’t know your audience, your data won’t apply to a defined established of your target market.

Monitor your Test Occasionally

Please don’t leave the test as soon as you begin it. Instead, keep monitoring it so you can adjust any changes you want. Also, keep checking your performance benchmark even if running the test for a month.

Suppose you use social testing software. The report starts gathering when you begin the test. So when you check in, look at how you track your goal. You can monitor your conversions during the test or make a minor twist to improve performance if you find low conversion rates. So now you have an additional metric to take into account.

Duration of the Test to Run

You can run the test for at least seven days. The seven days are enough for the social testing software to compile your data. It won’t be as actual as a more extended duration, but you know it is just the starting point, so this is enough.

After these seven days, you can check your performance and decide whether you have gathered enough data or want to run the test for a couple more days. Then you can also do other stuff like fix the time frame you fit in your business and audience.  Don’t run the test for a too long or short duration. Remember that you don’t want to waste your time or money. Decide your budget too.

So with these practices, you can run a successful social test without creating issues. So go ahead and start one. All the best!