Test everything
The Buddha told a village to test everything, and marketers should too
About 2,500 years ago, the Buddha told a confused village to test every idea for themselves. It is still the best way to run marketing.
About 2,500 years ago, a group of villagers in northern India went to the Buddha for advice. They were called the Kalamas.
Their problem was simple. Many teachers travelled through their village. Every teacher said his own ideas were right and the other teachers were wrong. The villagers were confused. Who should they believe?
The Buddha gave them a surprising answer. He said that an idea being old, being written in a holy book, or coming from a famous teacher is a weak reason to believe it.
Instead, he said, test it yourself. Try the idea in your own life. If it causes harm, drop it. If it does good, keep it.
His answer is recorded in a short text called the Kalama Sutta. It is the oldest argument for running an experiment that I know of.
Marketing is full of teachers passing through the village. Post at 9am on Tuesdays. Video beats text. Long copy is dead. Short copy is dead. Use emojis. Never use emojis. Each one praises his own method and runs down the others. Each one has a chart.
The Kalama approach is simple. Stop asking who is right. Run the test.
Here is how I do it for clients. Pick one claim. "Plain subject lines open better than clever ones." Send both to similar halves of the list. Wait a week. Read the numbers. Now you know, for your list, at this time. Nobody's chart can tell you that.
Three habits make this work.
Test one thing at a time. Change the subject line and the send time together and you learn nothing.
Decide what "good" means before you start. Otherwise you will find a way to call any result a win.
Keep a log. A note of what you tested, what happened, and what you decided. After a year that log is worth more than any course.
There is a humility in the Buddha's advice that marketing could use. He did not say "believe me instead". He said "do not even believe me, go and look". A teacher who tells you to check his work is rare. Trust that one.
Most of what you have been told about marketing is a teacher passing through. Go and look.
