What occurs when advertisements are run for a product that hasn’t been created yet? You receive unvarnished, unadulterated market feedback. Before creating anything, I tested demand, message, and possible conversion channels for a fictitious SaaS idea using sponsored advertisements in this growth experiment. Surprisingly, the insights were actionable, straightforward, and closely matched the thinking of actual users.
Setting Up a Campaign
I worked with a ₹10,000 budget, dividing it between Google Search and Meta (Facebook and Instagram). Using Carrd.co, I created a straightforward, one-page website that showcased the product’s main selling point as a “feedback automation tool” for SaaS firms in their early stages. The call to action? Sign up for the waitlist.I ran three different ad versions. Product managers, growth marketers, and company founders were the distinct audience segments that each advertisement was aimed at. The copy tested three distinct pain points: a decline in user engagement, wasted development time, and product validation.
Targeting and Messaging Audiences
Interests on Meta included “Startup School,” “Product Hunt,” and “SaaS growth.” I used simple creatives, such as a white background, mockups of product screenshots, and the powerful headline, “Validate your product before writing code.” Keywords like “get product feedback,” “SaaS pre-launch tools,” and “early access for startup ideas” were the main emphasis of Google Ads.
Findings
In terms of cost-effectiveness and click volume, meta advertisements did better than Google. The CPC was approximately ₹47, and the average CTR was 2.85%. The landing page’s conversion rate was 12.4%, which is more significant. The highest conversions were the founders of startups.
Knowledge Acquired
1. Messaging > characteristics: Results-oriented advertisements (“save dev time”) scored better than those that described the characteristics of the product.
2. Validation Before Build: Before spending money on development, pre-product advertisements are an inexpensive method to gauge interest and get leads.
3. Waitlist = Buy-In: Those who choose to be on a waitlist experienced the feeling of being early participants. Better product feedback and early evangelists may result from this.
Concluding remarks
Although it may seem strange, running sponsored advertisements for a hypothetical product is actually a very effective tactic. It assists marketers and founders in gathering pre-launch leads, honing messaging, and determining genuine interest. Spend ₹10,000 to see if the idea even works before investing ₹1,00,000+ to construct a whole SaaS platform. It’s clever growth marketing, not just lean.