Problem Statement Ad Test
Let cheap click tests reveal the customer problem worth building around
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 7
- Confidence
- 99%
The Problem Statement Ad Test turns customer pain discovery into a fast behavioral experiment. The team gathers 20 to 30 short problems stated in the ideal customer’s own words, using research, interviews, or AI-generated candidates. Each statement becomes a plain text-only ad with no image or sales pitch. An impression-based campaign runs for two to four days with a small budget, sending clicks to genuinely useful content rather than attempting immediate monetization. Click behavior reveals one or two statements that materially outperform the rest. The winner then becomes the tip of the spear for ad copy, landing-page headlines, content, lead magnets, and even product improvements. The business works backward from validated customer pain instead of forcing an existing solution into the market.
Origin
Ryan Deiss described the test used across new markets and illustrated it with Scalable Company’s winning company-scorecard lead magnet. Extracted from Marketing Against The Grain.
Core principles
- 01Test customers’ verbatim problems before polishing creative
- 02Use behavior to rank messages rather than relying on internal opinion
- 03A problem statement can guide copy, content, lead magnets, and products
- 04The customer is the final judge of marketing relevance
- 05AI can accelerate ideation but live tests validate potency
How to run it
- 1
Generate problem statements
Collect 20 to 30 problems written in the verbatim language of the ideal client. Combine direct research with AI-generated candidates when useful.
Pro tip Prompt AI to speak as the ideal client dealing with the challenge your business addresses.
Watch out Do not rewrite every statement into polished brand language.
- 2
Build plain ads
Place one problem statement in each ad without images, decoration, or a full sales pitch.
Pro tip Keep the statement as the dominant or only creative element.
Watch out Extra creative variables make it harder to know whether the problem itself caused the response.
- 3
Run a small impression test
Run all variants in an impression-based campaign for two to four days with a modest budget.
Pro tip Tens of dollars may be enough when one or two variants separate quickly.
Watch out This stage is for learning, not monetization.
- 4
Respect the click
Send respondents to useful content, even if the content is not on your own site.
Pro tip Choose material that genuinely helps with the stated problem.
Watch out Do not waste the respondent’s time merely because the click is being used as data.
- 5
Identify the outlier
Compare click response and select the one or two statements that clearly outperform the field.
Pro tip Let behavior overrule the team’s aesthetic preferences.
Watch out Do not choose a favorite statement when the data points elsewhere.
- 6
Carry the language downstream
Use the winning statement in the developed ad, landing-page headline, top-of-funnel content, and middle-of-funnel lead magnet.
Pro tip Preserve message continuity from ad to landing page.
Watch out Changing the language too much can discard the resonance the test discovered.
- 7
Align the offer
Determine which current product solves the winning problem and create or improve an offer if none does.
Pro tip Treat an unsolved winning problem as product-development evidence.
Watch out Do not attract customers with a problem the business cannot meaningfully solve.
In the wild
Scalable Company expected growth or expense messaging to lead. Its test instead found that “no one in my business knows the metrics that matter but me” resonated most with CEOs of $4 million to $20 million businesses. The company turned an existing Google Sheet scorecard into a lead magnet and used the winning problem in its advertising.
→ It produced the lowest lead cost and highest post-opt-in conversion rate, then remained the control lead generator for 18 months.
Common mistakes
Testing polished creative instead of the problem
Images and elaborate copy introduce variables that obscure whether the underlying problem statement caused interest.
Monetizing the research click
Trying to sell during the initial test distracts from message discovery and may fail to reward the participant’s attention.
Ignoring an unglamorous winner
The most potent customer pain may be boring or surprising; internal opinions about sexiness should not overrule behavior.
Is it for you?
Best for
Marketers entering a new market or struggling to choose among competing customer pains and campaign hooks.
Not ideal for
Teams without a reasonably defined ideal customer or any ability to run a small paid-message test.
From the transcript
“one of the first tests that we're gonna run is we're gonna do a series of ad tests that we call problem statement ads.”
“We're typically gonna run 20 to 30 variations, and you're gonna have one or two that will be just head and shoulders above the others”
“That problem statement, it's become the headline on the landing page, verbatim.”
From the episode
Revealing the 2024 Marketing Strategy of a $200M Founder