Goal
The goal of this exercise is to evaluate and optimise the effectiveness of your messages by assessing their level of relevancy, clarity, anxiety, urgency, and distraction. By conducting rapid message comprehension tests, you will gain insights into how well your messages resonate with your target audience and identify areas for improvement.
Instructions
- Select a set of messages that you want to test. These messages can include headlines, email subject lines, social media posts, ad copy, or any other form of communication that you use to engage with your audience.
- Divide the messages into separate groups based on their purpose or intended audience.
- For each message group, gather a small sample of individuals who represent your target audience. Aim for a diverse range of participants to ensure comprehensive feedback. The quickest way is to find people in the office, lobby or on the street who don’t know your business and ask for a minute of their time.
- Present each message to the participants individually and ask them to read or listen to the message carefully.
- After each message, prompt the participants with the following questions and ask for their immediate responses:
- Relevancy: Does the message connect with what you need, find interesting, or aspire to? (Note: this question is only relevant if talking to people in your target market)
- Clarity: Is the message easy to understand and comprehend? Are there any confusing or ambiguous elements?
- Anxiety: Does the message create any unnecessary concerns or anxieties? Does it address potential worries or objections?
- Urgency: Does the message convey a sense of urgency or importance? Does it motivate action?
- Distraction: Are there any elements or wording that distract from the main message or call to action?
- Record the participants' feedback for each question and note any common patterns or recurring themes.
- Analyse the feedback and identify areas where the messages can be improved. Look for opportunities to enhance relevancy, clarity, anxiety alleviation, and urgency, and minimise distractions.
- Based on the insights gathered, revise and refine your messages accordingly. Aim to address the participants' feedback and ensure that your messages effectively communicate your intended message while resonating with your target audience.
- Repeat the message comprehension tests with an updated version of the messages to assess the impact of your revisions. Gather feedback from new participants or involve previous participants who were not exposed to the revised messages initially.
- Evaluate the results of the revised messages and determine if they have achieved the desired level of relevancy, clarity, anxiety alleviation, urgency, and reduced distraction. Iterate and refine further if necessary.
By conducting these rapid message comprehension tests, you can fine-tune your communication strategy and ensure that your messages effectively engage and resonate with your target audience. Remember, clear, relevant, and compelling messages are key to capturing attention, driving action, and achieving your communication goals.