By Fernando Berrocal

Your Marketing Team should use Beta Testing as a strategy

Isn't it obvious that you should beta test your product before launching it? You want your product to fulfill your customers' requirements and expectations with the fewest number of glitches possible. This requires extensive testing, first in-house and then with actual users in real-world settings.

Beta testing, on the other hand, is just as important for your marketing strategy as it is for the development and enhancement of your product. It may help you develop a devoted consumer base before your product even hits the market, generate discussion about your product, and provide you a better idea of how your marketing efforts will perform. Here are a few reasons why beta testing is a good marketing strategy for your entire organization, not just R&D:

1. Make improvements to your Marketing Strategy

Beta testing not only gives you input on your product (enabling you to integrate it and enhance it), but it also informs you a lot about your marketing approach. In a market test, you conduct the same ads on a smaller scale as you would for the complete launch of your product—for example, in a single geographic location or on one social media channel.

To improve the content, visual and design components (such as clickable call-to-action buttons and simplified navigation), or deployment strategies of your marketing campaigns, look at the statistics and audience reactions you collected during market testing. When you reach out to a larger audience, this will help ensure that your efforts are effective.

2. Obtain an Engaged and Enthusiastic Audience

Beta testers are generally highly industry-savvy, with their fingers on the pulse of what's hot and fresh. They are thrilled to be a part of the testing and shaping of the most cutting-edge items. And if your product is outstanding, you'll convert them from tester to long-term client in no time.

If your beta test takes place before you have a lot of tech support, FAQs, or tutorials, testers will want to talk to each other about their positive and negative experiences with your product. 

They may teach each other about features and ways to make your product more useful to them, providing you with important feedback as you continue to improve your offering. A tester forum or community can also motivate your testers to remain with you after launch because they've established a community around your product and won't want to abandon it.

3. Data on your Target Audience should be collected from your Beta Testing group

You may get useful demographic information about your users while soliciting feedback on your product through beta tests. Your testers' surveys and interviews might help you get a sense of who your target audience is. This information may be used to adapt your tests to specific focus groups and track answers from one group to the next. Early Bird, CenterCode, and Beta are just a few of the software tools that may help your startup interact with early adopters, target testing groups, and track demographics.

If a large number of people sign up to participate in your trial, you could find an unexpected interested audience you hadn't considered before—a demographic or location that isn't part of your initial target audience.

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4. Make a sensation of exclusivity

Take some tips from Pinterest's successful growth hacking and attempt beta testing by invitation to create a sense of exclusivity around your product. Pinterest was once an invitation-only service, with a waiting list of enthusiastic people eager to test it out. Artificially restricting your product's availability in this way increases its cache—and demand for it. Everybody aspires to be a VIP!

If your startup already has a following but is releasing a new product or service, reach out to your existing customers. They are more willing to volunteer their time and feedback to help you create your latest software or gadget since you already have a relationship with them. You make them feel valued and appreciated by insiders by individually inviting them to participate in the beta testing process.

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5. Begin to create a buzz

Another growth hacking approach is to invite industry influencers to your private beta test. You may acquire exposure and expand your audience while establishing relationships with long-term brand ambassadors by involving famous personalities in your beta test and encourage them to share their opinions with their networks.

Did you comprehend the advantages of beta testing as an important marketing move for your startup? If so, are you ready to bring your startup to the next level? Apply to MassLight’s next batch. MassLight supplies capital and a dedicated tech team. We take equity in return. Have questions? Refer to our FAQ page.

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