Smoke Test Before MVP

original article: https://tractific.com/blog/smoke-tests
You want to build the next big thing or do you have a game-changing idea? What if you could validate your idea even before developing an MVP version? Welcome to the world of Smoke Testing.

Meaning of Smoke Testing

Smoke testing is a term most commonly found in the world of computer programming and software testing; referring to the initial testing process conducted to check whether the software is stable enough for further testing. The name originates from hardware testing, where a device passed the test if it did not catch fire (or smoke) the first time it was turned on.

In the world of growth marketing, smoke testing is one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to test newly formed ideas. It helps you to validate your idea. Smoke tests can even preempt the MVP concept.

Difference Between Smoke Testing and MVP

So far smoke testing seems the same with MVP. However, the difference between them is at the stage of MVP you got a product with the most basic features. But with smoke testing, you only have a landing page with a few example images or a video of what your product will look like and a CTA.

The webpage can then be used to easily track and quantify early demand for your product in actual dollar-terms, which in turn can validate your hypothesis and determine whether you have a feasible business case. Since the users click on the CTA already pre-bought your product you can contact them after you developed your product and they will be most likely your first paid customers.

Why should I use Smoke Testing?

As Eric Ries says “The problem with entrepreneurship is we are often working really hard producing high-quality products that no-one wants”. Smoke testing prevents this before you start to develop your product. Build it and they will come. days are over.

How to do a Smoke Test

We explained the differences between MVP and Smoke testing, why you should use it, and the definition. The most important part of this article is; however, this guide.

1) What to test?

Before starting the test you should know what you want to test. In most cases it will be will people buy my product which also means do I have an idea that is worth developing and working for? You can also determine goals for success like

• If more than X% of visitors to the landing page across X weeks click on my CTA, we have a product worth building
• If we receive X orders in X weeks, we have a product worth building

What you should be ready for is the goals you set might change with the data. For example, people interested in your product may give their emails but not their credit card information or other information you ask. It is important to track results thoroughly during smoke testing.

2) How to test?

Building a landing page is the easiest way to test your idea. Just put your unique selling point in the hero and add some features with CTA. You can see a detailed guide to make a great landing page here.

You can use simple website builders to eliminate the need to tie up precious engineering or developer resources.

3) What to track?

Make sure your call to action button is trackable! Don't forget to check your website builder's analytics section to track the goals that you determined on step 1. If you don't track it you won't get a valuable result and a contact list after the test.

Also, don't be afraid to test with pricing even if your product isn’t ready! One simple solution is to lead any potential customers who click on the button to an email sign-up modal where they are prompted to enter their email information for restock alerts or an exclusive discount at launch. If you’re worried about turning off potential customers, Eric Ries explains here why not to worry.

4) Who to test on?

After all these steps it is all about getting traffic. Before you test makes sure that you know who to test on. You can choose your audience on Google Ads and other platforms.

You can use a small budget for testing or you can create content on social media to drive organic traffic. Here you can see 11 channels to promote your business. Either way, you have to continually test your ads/content and optimize it. If you are going to test for 2 weeks you can spend 100 Dollars on ads and optimize them to test your idea. Or you can create content and promote your content on a few channels. Our advice is to choose 2 channels and focus on them for a better result.

Different Smoke Test Variations

You can use different variations of smoke tests such as

• Pricing page
• Coming soon page
• Waitlist page

Here you can find a comprehensive list of all variations with pros/cons.

Conclusion

Next time you struck a killer idea, run a smoke test to validate it. A smoke test can be one of the most powerful ways to help you figure out if you’re sitting on a Facebook or Dropbox.

1. Define what success would look like
2. Design your landing page experiment
3. Define your key metrics and track them
4. Drive the right traffic to your experiment