Ad Testing

When to use it

• When you want to see whether the ad holds viewers in the first few seconds.
• When you want to find out which scene is liked, where interest drops and which scene is remembered.
• When you want to measure whether the ad still links back to your brand when the brand name is hidden.
• When you want to test several ad options separately on the same population and compare them.

If you want to measure willingness to pay (WTP) for the product, set up a separate Price Analysis (WTP) study in General Research.

Before you start

• You need an Ad Testing population. Populations are tied to a vertical; a population you created in General Research or Fashion isn’t listed here. In the Reklam Testi Attributes tab of the new population form, you set the distributions for Kategori İlgilenimi (Category Involvement) and Reklama Açıklık (Ad receptivity). Each persona is assigned an archetype that describes how they view ads (e.g. “Şüpheci” (Sceptic), “Fırsatçı” (Deal Seeker), “Reklam Atlayan” (Ad Skipper)). For details, see Creating a population.
• The population is built with a segmentation. You can’t create a new Ad Testing population without finding and accepting a segmentation; this is what lets the report show what the ad changes in each market segment. Ad Testing populations created before 14 September 2026 have no segments.
• The whole population is used. The study runs with every persona in the population; you can’t select a subset. A population has between 10 and 2,001 personas.
• Prepare the ad. A public YouTube link to an ad of up to 3 minutes is all you need.

Setting up the study

1. In the sidebar, click New Research.
2. On the Choose a vertical screen, select the Ad Testing card. The vertical has only one method, so the method step is skipped.
3. On the Choose a population screen, pick a population with Use existing population, or create one with Create a new population.
4. If you picked an existing population, click Continue with selected population. When you submit the new population form, the next page opens automatically.
5. On the Reklam Testi (Ad Test) page, wait until the badge reads Popülasyon hazır (Population ready). Until then, the Next Step button reads Waiting….
6. Paste a public YouTube ad link into the Reklam videosu veya görseli (Ad video or image) field. If Yükle (Upload) and YouTube tabs appear above the field, select the YouTube tab first; you can use the Yükle tab to upload a video file from your computer instead. If the link is valid, the player loads and the duration appears after Video süresi okunuyor… (Reading video duration…).
7. Optionally, under Reklam nerede yayınlanacak? (isteğe bağlı) (Where will the ad run? (optional)), choose the placement, that is, the setting where the ad will run. To clear your choice, click the card again.
8. If the ad isn’t meant to sell, describe its purpose in the Bağlam (opsiyonel) (Context (optional)) field, e.g. “10 November Atatürk commemoration — no sales goal”.
9. Check the Tahmini kredi (Estimated credits) card on the right and click Next Step.
10. On the Research Preview page, check the Credit Usage and Person Count values on the Experiment Summary card, then click Start.

There are no separate fields for the brand, product or category; the system reads them from the ad itself.

The bar on the progress screen (Experiment Processing) shows the share of personas who have finished. When Your analysis is ready appears, you’re taken to the report; later, you can reach it from the Reports screen with the Ad Test filter. If Experiment Failed appears, click Retry; the study restarts with the same settings.

You can also have Argus prepare an Ad Test study by giving it a public YouTube link, but you have to upload a video file yourself. For details, see Working with Argus.

Settings and limits

The placement determines how the personas watch the ad:

Credit calculation

Credits = video duration (in minutes, rounded up) × number of personas × 10. There is no fixed fee.

• 30-second ad, 50 personas: 1 × 50 × 10 = 500 credits.
• 2-minute 10-second ad, 100 personas: 3 × 100 × 10 = 3,000 credits.

The Tahmini kredi card fills in once the duration has been read; the Birim (Unit) row shows the calculation. If your balance is lower than the estimate, Start is disabled on the Research Preview page; hover over the warning icon next to the Credit Usage value to see the Buy Credits button.

Credits are deducted from your balance only when the study completes successfully; this also applies to a study restarted with Retry. A failed study doesn’t use any credits. For details, see Credits.

Reading the results

The report opens under the heading Reklam Testi Analizi (Ad Test Analysis); sections with no data aren’t shown.

How personas evaluate the ad

Each persona goes through these steps:

1. Before watching the ad, the persona scores the brand in the ad and up to three competitors chosen from the same category on a scale of 0 to 100; the score is the likelihood of choosing that brand next time. For ads that aren’t meant to sell, they score their view of the brand instead.
2. On a skippable placement, they decide whether to scroll past or skip the ad. Personas who drop the ad then watch it in full as well, so every metric except Erişim (Reach) covers the whole population.
3. They watch the ad scene by scene with the brand name hidden and describe it in their own words: their first impression, what they liked and disliked, the best and weakest scenes, the scene they remember, the main message and whose ad it is.
4. Once told the ad’s brand, they score the brands again and write down what draws them to the brand and what holds them back.
5. A neutral evaluator uses this account to derive liking, sentiment and clarity scores from 1 to 10.

The ad is split into at most 12 scenes. The system also works out the ad’s objective: sales, brand image, commemoration/celebration or awareness. If the objective isn’t sales, the note “Bu reklam … amaçlı değerlendirildi” (This ad was assessed as a … ad) appears at the top of the report. If the objective was misread, write the correct one in the Bağlam field and start a new study.

Test Edilen Reklam (Tested Ad)

This section shows the ad, the placement you chose and a one-line summary, e.g. “32/40 sonuna kadar izledi · 18/40 markaya ısındı · en çok hatırlanan sahnede marka yok” (32/40 watched to the end · 18/40 warmed to the brand · brand absent from the most-recalled scene). The five boxes below it are the report’s main metrics:

The liking average stays within a narrow band in the middle of the scale, whatever the ad. That’s why the 1–10 average appears in small print; what gives liking its meaning is the comparison with your other ads.

Sahne Sahne (Scene by scene)

In scenes where the brand is on screen, the scene card carries a marka (brand) tag. The chart gives persona counts for each scene: İzliyor (Watching: still watching when the scene starts), Zirve (Peak: called it the best moment), Dip (Low point: got bored or tuned out), Hatırlanan (Recalled: remembered that scene) and Hikâye (Story: the ad’s own story arc, 1–10). Click a scene to open its “neden zirve” (why it peaked) and “neden dip” (why the dip) comments.

Erişim (Reach)

Appears only on the Sosyal dikey video and YouTube video reklamı placements. It shows how many personas scrolled past or skipped, how many kept watching second by second, and, under the heading Neden bıraktılar? (Why did they drop off?), the most common reasons with sample comments.

Alınabilir Talep (Reachable demand)

Markayı alabilecek kesim (Share who could buy the brand) gives the share before and after the ad, the difference between them, and the number of personas who warmed, cooled or didn’t move. The short comment below it states the direction of the effect (“Tek yönlü etki.” (One-way effect.), “Kazanç var, ama iki yönlü.” (There is a gain, but it cuts both ways.)) and who the ad resonated with.

Some reports also show a Reklamdan önce ve sonra (Before and after the ad) price chart. This chart is drawn against an estimated shelf price found automatically and needs at least 12 personas to answer a short price question. The chart doesn’t give an exact price; for pricing decisions, run a separate Price Analysis study.

Ayrışma (Distinctiveness)

Compares the Marka adı gizliyken doğru bilen (Correctly identified with the brand name hidden) share with the chance level, that is, the probability of getting it right by guessing (25% in a four-brand set), and gives the split of answers between correct, another brand and couldn’t say. Markaya kilitlenme (Brand lock-in, 1–10) shows how far the ad could only belong to this brand. Results are also given separately for Markayı kullananlar (Brand users), Rakip kullananlar (Competitor users) and Markası olmayanlar (No brand). Competitor names aren’t shown in the report.

Kalıcılık (Memorability)

Shows the most-remembered scene and whether the brand is in it. Markalı hatırlama (Branded recall) gives the share of remembered scenes in which the brand is on screen; Mesajı alan (Got the message) gives the number of personas who put the ad’s main message into their own words. Akılda kalan mesaj (Message that stuck) lists the ad’s main messages and sample comments that carry them.

Persona Sesleri (Persona Voices), Çekenler ve Engelleyenler (Draws and Barriers), Neler İşe Yaradı? (What Worked?)

• Persona Sesleri: The two warmest and two coldest personas by liking, from different archetypes where possible.
• Çekenler ve Engelleyenler: The reasons that draw personas to the brand and the reservations that stop them trying it, with persona counts. The sentence at the top says which side outweighs the other. Personas who already use the brand and those not currently considering a purchase aren’t counted. For non-sales ads, the heading becomes Dokunan ve Sahte Gelen (What landed and what rang false).
• In the Neler İşe Yaradı? section, En çok ne işe yaradı? (What worked best?) shows for how many personas each persuasion element (e.g. Mizah (Humour), Fiyat/Fırsat (Price/Offer), Duygu/Hikâye (Emotion/Story)) was the main driver. Tüketiciler neyi eksik buldu? (What did consumers find missing?) lists the elements that viewers of this ad found missing more often than viewers usually do.

Persona Yorumları (Persona Comments)

The Persona Kanıtları (Persona Evidence) card lists each persona’s reaction one by one. Search the comments with the Ara… (Search…) box and narrow the list with the Tüm arketipler (All archetypes) filter. When you expand a row, you see Duygu (Sentiment), Beğeni, Netlik (Clarity), Değişim (Change: the difference between the scores after and before the ad), Söylediği marka (Brand named), the scenes, and the Beğendiği (Liked), Beğenmediği (Disliked), Ana mesaj (Main message) and Gerekçe (Reasoning) texts.

Analysing by segment

• Hangi Kitle Ne Düşünüyor? (What Does Each Audience Think?) shows the change in intent after the ad in the Marka ilişkisine göre (By brand relationship), Yaşa göre (By age), Cinsiyete göre (By gender) and SES’e göre (By SES) panels. A green bar marks a group whose intent rose by more than half a point; a red bar marks one whose intent fell by more than half a point.
• Segmentte ne değişti (What changed in each segment), inside Alınabilir Talep, plots the before and after values for each market segment. This needs a population with a segmentation and at least 4 personas per segment; otherwise, the warning “Bu panelde segment yok” (No segments in this panel) appears.

For details, see Segmentation.

Exporting

• Download Excel: Downloads a single-sheet Excel file with one row per persona. The columns are archetype, age band, gender, income group, the 1–10 scores, placement behaviour, before and after scores, the brand named, scenes and main message. The column headers are partly in English and partly in Turkish; the “Brand Recall” and “Purchase Intent” columns are left over from an earlier version and may be empty in new studies.
• Download PDF: Prepares a five-page PDF report in the background. The pages are the cover, the main metrics, draws and barriers, the persuasion elements that worked and those found missing, and the audience breakdown.

For details, see Exporting and downloading.

Tips and common mistakes

• Choose the placement where the ad will actually run. If you don’t choose one, the ad is watched from start to finish and Erişim isn’t measured.
• Choose Açıkhava (billboard) only for an ad made for outdoor display. On this placement, personas see only the opening frame and the text on it.
• Fill in the Bağlam field for non-sales ads. Otherwise the system may treat the ad as a sales ad and ask personas about buying.
• Read Ayrışma carefully. If the note “Marka N sahnede ekranda görünüyor.” (The brand is on screen in N scenes.) appears, a high share mostly means the logo was seen; compare the result with the chance level, not with 100%.
• Upload a video file if you can. With a YouTube link, the reactions rely only on a text description of the ad. If the Yükle tab appears and you upload a file, personas also see frames from the ad, and the Sahne Sahne strip shows frames instead of scene numbers.
• Read the results as directional. The footnote in the report’s Alınabilir Talep section also reminds you that the results come from synthetic consumers; see Accuracy and limitations.

Related pages

• Verticals: General Research, Fashion, Ad Testing
• Creating a population
• Segmentation
• Exporting and downloading
• Credits