Decide what a channel test can tell you

Hi,

When reviewing a paid campaign, distinguish two questions: which actions received advertising credit, and which actions happened because of the advertising.

The eBay paid search experiment profile is useful further reading on that distinction. Read its design, findings and limits together. A study of an established marketplace does not tell you what a particular SaaS campaign will return.

For your own test, start with the decision. Are you checking whether a channel reaches suitable people, whether a message attracts evaluations, or whether additional spending changes commercial outcomes? Each question needs different records and may need a different design.

Use the growth experiment planner to write the hypothesis, scope and stopping rule. Then identify the evidence the proposed test will and will not provide.

This week, add one sentence to your test brief: “These results will let us decide ____, but they will not establish ____.”

If you need possible routes to customers, browse the distribution directory and check the current rules for the destinations you shortlist.

Reply with the decision you want your next test to support.

Jon