Testing should of course ideally happen at various moments in the development of the message: at least once at the moment when the overall “narrative” is being decided and once when the full creative is being developed.

Qualitative research is really the only option here, whether through focus groups discussions or in-depth interview.

To test your message, you need to identify

• What methodology you will use

You need to decide whether methods like focus groups and interviews are appropriate, or methods like surveys.

• What you are going to test

Here, you are may be looking to compare different wording,  different images or different messengers.

• What outcome (of success) you are going to measure

Your framing tasks should provide the basis for this. You should be looking for your messages to be memorable and relatable to your audience, but more importantly, for them to change their attitudes along the lines that you have planned.

• Who you are going to test

You will of course want to test the message with your target group. Building representative samples is key for this.