• by Gavin O'Malley , Staff Writer @mp_gavin, April 29, 2014

Unfortunately for brands, “The idea that [anyone] can predict how people are going to search, and what people are going to want is … almost impossible,” according to Alyson Kaye, Marketing Professor at Bentley University. That’s why marketers need to test, test, test, Kaye told attendees of MediaPost’s Search Insider Summit on Tuesday. Brands “have to take directional insights to develop content,” she said. “If you’re not testing, then you’re not learning.” Added Kaye: “It’s the only way you’re going to understand [consumer] behavior.” What are Summit attendees testing? It depends, obviously. If click-through rates are the issue, then ad copy is a good place to start. If bounce-rates are the problem, then testing different landing pages would be wise.