Does your opinion influence your marketing activity?
Eric Wittlake (@wittlake) over at B2BDigital.net asks a poignant question in a recent post on the dangers of opinions in marketing: How does your opinion influence your marketing activity? It’s a great question for both client and agency.
Shooting from the hip is dangerous
When we are engaged in marketing activities, why do we gravitate to relying on our personal frames of reference (often confused with experience)? Because it’s easy and the alternative is hard. I see it all the time. Clients and marketers are both equally guilty of short cutting process or bypassing strategy in order to get their own way or save money. “I don’t like blue, so make it red,” is like saying, “I don’t like worms, so I will use M&Ms to catch fish.”
Eric makes two excellent points that are worth keeping in front of you at all times:
- The Problem is Your Perspective. You are not selling to yourself. Your opinion of creative, media or content is a distraction. Your audience’s perspective is the only one that matters.
- The Solution is Testing Ruthlessly. Your research data may be accurate. Your initial interpretation and application likely is not. To improve your marketing, ruthlessly test your assumptions and findings.
Like I said, Eric’s points go both ways. In my 25+ years in this business I’ve seen creative designers blow hissy-fits because they didn’t get their way (including yours truly early in his career), but I have also seen clients destroy their own marketing budgets because they couldn’t get out of their own way.
Do ya feel lucky? Well, do ya?
Have another look at the image above from the classic film, Dirty Harry. Would you risk your life to simply guess at the number of bullets? Or would you rather take the time to get all the facts?
Relying on your perspective to market a business is kind of like that scene in Dirty Harry. Yes, it’s easier to just guess based on what you think you know, but it’s also a risky gamble because perception and truth are rarely ever aligned. Testing facts and analyzing market data is hard work. It requires a time and money investment, but more importantly, it requires the discipline to be subjective and focus on real market insight, instead of gut feel or personal taste.
Speaking of personal taste, Eric’s points validate a post I wrote a couple of years ago, The Creative Taste Debate… and How to Avoid It. Check it out.
So, how does your opinion influence your marketing activity? Share your thoughts in the comments below or with us on Twitter (@SterlingKlor).
