“Which growth experiment should I run first?” 

This is my second favourite question that I get from founders. Right after, “what should I do with all the leads my experiment generates?”

The answer will depend on whether or not your product or company is already live in market.

If you’re already live in market, we recommend going in the following order. 

1. Benefits Test: A Benefits Test will confirm that you are highlighting the most attractive benefits for your segment OR it’ll identify a more effective alternative. For instance, there’s no point doubling down on expensive quality improvements if what your market really values is speed. 
2. Value Proposition Test: Once you are clear on the right benefits for your market, let’s craft the perfect way to express your value prop to your segment. Do they like fun and flirty language? Would your audience feel better if you took a more formal tone? A Value Proposition Test can help you find out. Plus, striking the right tone and language can help you stand out in a hyper-competitive market by locking in to consumers’ sense of community and identity. Pro Tip: Edit one variant, so it matches your exact current value prop to see if it wins.
3. Features Test: Now you know how to sell your product, you can figure out what to add on to it. A Features Test will help you present different possibilities to the market and find out what they’re willing to pay for next. This is also a great way to create the order of your roadmap as the most popular feature should always be developed first. 

If your product or company isn’t live in market yet, here’s the recommended sequence:

1. Features Test: You’ve only got one shot to build and launch your first feature. Use a Features Test to make sure it’s the most popular one. 
2. Benefits/Competitive Advantage Test: What benefits are going to sell your product or brand in the market?
3. Value Proposition Test: How should you craft your perfect value proposition or strap line? 

It’s pretty hard to mess up if you’re using a tool like Heatseeker. Once you start experimenting, you’re going to develop benchmarks and a history that you can use to inform future tests. 

The experiments don’t stop at launch – of an individual feature or an entire company! Markets move and competitors change. You can continue to test different pricing models (e.g., subscription, freemium, affiliate) or ideas such as giveaways. You can also test different value propositions as you try to expand into new markets or win new segments. 

Growth testing is a culture not a process.

Let’s find the heat!