How to Click Test to Clarify Your Message
Click testing is one of the easiest, fastest ways to figure out what your audience actually cares about—without hiring a market research team or guessing in the dark.
Whether you're building a lead magnet, a new service, a new book, or just trying to write a social post that doesn't get ignored, click testing gives you real data based on real reactions. You can click test headlines, messages, images, colors, ideas, plot lines, character tropes, service needs, pains, transformation requestions, and more!
Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Use Facebook
I use Facebook for this every time. Love it or hate but Facebook has the best ad platform out there. Its easy to use - after years of practice. OMG. I hear you. Okay? I take it back. It’s not easy to use. But! It is… refinable.
Facebook has the best audience definition and the best control. Don’t do the automated. It’s so tempting, especially when the AI is telling you she can do it 15% better. She can’t. She’s just helping Zuckerberg take more of your money. Keep it simple.
Step 2: Create 6–10 Emotional “I” Statements
Use bold, clear statements that reflect your audience’s internal monologue.
Examples:
"I don’t think people understand what I do."
"My content feels boring."
"I keep getting ghosted after sending proposals."
Boring is better.
Make each statement a separate graphic or clickable option.
Step 3: Set Your Budget
I typically set it for $30/day, but usually only spend $20 for this wealth of information. How?
I tell Facebook $30/day and I don’t set an end date.
After I publish, I create a rule:
“Turn off ad after 400 impressions.”
It’s the easiest thing to forget until you pay $50 for something you budgeted $30 for. After that, you remember to set it before you leave.
Step 4: Create the Audience
Do not let Facebook set the audience for you. Their AI is still learning, but I think it might be learning how to spend your money instead of offer great value.
So, at the Ad Set level, right below budget, hover over the Advantage + until you see the pencil. They move this. So, keep hovering until you see the pencil.
Select your country.
If you offer in-person services, select the cities you work in.
Select men or women or both.
Select the age range.
And then select a few interests.
You’re trying to get the Audience Definition range to under 3 Million but over 300,000. Some niches are small. But you want to throw in interests that will increase this audience.
include “Household income: Top 25%-50% of ZIP codes (US) - this seems mean because some of us want to serve those who really need it, but we need to build our business with people who can afford to pay their invoices. This range is middle class.
If your heart tells you to serve those below this line, then add a business strategy to create a fund-me program in your business to serve those clients as needed. If you want more information on how to do that, take a look at Bre with Cleaning’s A Breeze. She has two programs to serve her heart - Cleaning For a Reason and Cleaning From the Heart. Cleaning For a Reason helps people fighting Cancer and Cleaning From the Heart helps those fighting… life.
Step 5: Keep Your Messaging Simple
When you hit a nerve, they’re going to hit the Like button. That’s what we’ve been trained to do. And that’s what you’re looking for.
That automatic response.
If you can get that, you’ll get the thing that’s going to help you grow faster and easier.
It helps me sell books and courses. And it helps you sell your services. Chances are good, this also brought you to this post.
So, with that in mind, your headline can just be your brand tagline: Stop Guessing. Start Growing. (That’s mine. Use yours.)
Your Primary Text doesn’t need to be anything flashy either. They’re not going to buy anything right now. You’re asking them to like the post they feel a connection to. So, keep that simple and lead them a little. What are you feeling about your business? (That’s mine. Use yours.)
Those are the ones I used to figure out what lead magnet you needed the most. I told you I didn’t need anything from you but a Like without telling you what I was looking for. That’s the trick to click testing.
Step 6: Track the Top Hits
Hit publish and don’t forget to set your rule to turn each ad off once they hit 400 impressions.
You want:
Most clicks
Lowest cost per click
Your top 2-3 answers will have 20+ clicks at $0.50 or lower. The man who taught me how to do this, Steve Pieper, stated that anything lower than $1.00 was a win, but I like to keep mine cheaper. I find that those with the cheaper clicks help make the best ads and organic content connections. Also, if you really want to learn how to do exceptional click testing, get his course. He lays it all out there in exceptional detail. Now, his niche is authors - which is how I found him - but this works for you too. Follow his “Self-help” track, and that’ll be most aligned with you being a service provider. The only thing you need to do differently is add specific locations to your audience. He helped me sell books and he’s helped me help you with your services.
Step 7: Use It In Everything
Now that you know what’s landing, use those top-performing phrases in:
Your headlines
Your lead magnet
Your email subject lines
Your homepage copy
Your sales pages
Your ads
Your social media content
Real reactions = real results.
🌼 Final Thought:
Click testing is fast, free, and powerful. In a world of guesswork and marketing fluff, it gives you clarity. It puts your audience at the center of your message—and when you do that? They listen.
Seriously, this is the secret weapon of effective content.
Need help turning your click test results into a killer message or lead magnet?
