If you’re making the decisions about your business purely because you say “Well I’d pay for that”, you’re making the dangerous assumption that all of your customers, clients, potential clients, and the world at large think exactly like you do.
Perhaps more importantly, if you’re the kind of person who tends to run against the grain – if you’re the one, say, that actually paid for the Radiohead album to support the band instead of downloading it for free – that’s cool. But that doesn’t make you like everyone else.
You can be as proud as you want about the fact that you run contrary to conventional wisdom, but that might not be where the money is. In fact, it’s probably NOT where the money is. You need to know this, recognize that, and realize that if you’re in business to make money, you have to design your offerings based on what your customers and potential customers will pay for. Not just something you think is cool, and not based on your idea of what they want.
One of the reasons social media is so effective for conducting research is because of how easy and quick it is to start listening, asking questions, and paying attention to the responses. You can see, in real time, how people are responding to the products, media, and content that’s created out there. And that may completely debunk the assumptions you’ve made about what’s working and what’s not.
Part of the flaw in traditional marketing has been that it projects one perspective: that of the brand itself. It’s putting words in the mouths of your customers, telling them how to perceive you. Trouble is, they may not share your perspective. Or worse yet, you might be trying to solve the wrong problem, or missing key elements that would take your offering from okay to amazing.
How to know what they think? Ask. Listen. Then, adapt. But do break out of the idea that your way is The Way. That because your product or service is your baby, you know best what sells. Let the people paying your salary – you know, the people buying your stuff – tell *you* what your brand is to them.
Why do we keep missing this? Can we break out of this cycle of myopic and self-centered marketing, and how? What’s your take?
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At the same time, I think it’s also dangerous to think that we are never ever the target market. Thinking “Personally, I think flash intro pages are annoying, but consumers will like them.” leads to a real disconnect and us vs. them mentality that can be toxic or fatal to marketing efforts.
As with anything else, there is a balance to be found.
Jeremy Meyerss last blog post..How did we get here: The fundamental similarities in failing industries and the transition economy
At the same time, I think it’s also dangerous to think that we are never ever the target market. Thinking “Personally, I think flash intro pages are annoying, but consumers will like them.” leads to a real disconnect and us vs. them mentality that can be toxic or fatal to marketing efforts.
As with anything else, there is a balance to be found.
Jeremy Meyerss last blog post..How did we get here: The fundamental similarities in failing industries and the transition economy
I run into this all the time, even at a market research company- talk about irony. It’s always easy for people to assume that if they are or are not doing something, others similar to them are not either. And why wouldn’t they? People can only speak for themselves. However, as you’ve already said- this is a serious problem for marketers.
Breaking these misconceptions can generally be done with numbers and I’ve had to do this many times in my fairly short career in marketing. It takes some acts of being bold and proving a point to others. One thing I’ve tried strongly to prove here is that investing time in social networks IS worth our time because our buyers ARE present there, even if some of us aren’t.
It takes some effort and constant reminding to stop yourself and say, “I need to do some research before I make this assumption.” The old scientific method that was pushed on us all throughout school was done so for a reason and shouldn’t be ignored in marketing.
Great post.
I run into this all the time, even at a market research company- talk about irony. It’s always easy for people to assume that if they are or are not doing something, others similar to them are not either. And why wouldn’t they? People can only speak for themselves. However, as you’ve already said- this is a serious problem for marketers.
Breaking these misconceptions can generally be done with numbers and I’ve had to do this many times in my fairly short career in marketing. It takes some acts of being bold and proving a point to others. One thing I’ve tried strongly to prove here is that investing time in social networks IS worth our time because our buyers ARE present there, even if some of us aren’t.
It takes some effort and constant reminding to stop yourself and say, “I need to do some research before I make this assumption.” The old scientific method that was pushed on us all throughout school was done so for a reason and shouldn’t be ignored in marketing.
Great post.
I think it’s a more fundamental problem than self centered marketing – it’s our tendency for self centered communication. We focus way too much on getting right what we want to communicate and base that entirely on what feels or sounds right based on our world view. But if we want our message to actually land somewhere we have to understand “their” worldview first.
We spend a lot of time pretending to listen when what we are really doing is preparing for what we want to say next. A tip I give people preparing for a presentation is to prepare for a conversation rather than a presentation. The beauty of social media is that we actually can have the conversation. The question is are we still preparing for a presentation?
Susan Mazzas last blog post..3 Steps to Listening Better & Hearing More
I think it’s a more fundamental problem than self centered marketing – it’s our tendency for self centered communication. We focus way too much on getting right what we want to communicate and base that entirely on what feels or sounds right based on our world view. But if we want our message to actually land somewhere we have to understand “their” worldview first.
We spend a lot of time pretending to listen when what we are really doing is preparing for what we want to say next. A tip I give people preparing for a presentation is to prepare for a conversation rather than a presentation. The beauty of social media is that we actually can have the conversation. The question is are we still preparing for a presentation?
Susan Mazzas last blog post..3 Steps to Listening Better & Hearing More
This is a great conversation starter, about an increasingly important subject area. The people on the forefront of an idea – social media uses, for example, are “drivers” who are going somewhere. In time, it is likely that, many will follow. But the leading bloggers and social media commentators are more often focused on a vision that is not quite yet really embraced by the many. The difference between what really works now compared to what “should” work or will work in the future, is great. I started my blog six months ago, to share the view that SEO is a rapidly dying art – and it is! – but it still works NOW, for most businesses web presence. Consultants have to deliver what works today, while at the same time ensuring that their clients are positioned to take advantages of coming shifts in user habits.
Victorseos last blog post..Make one change
This is a great conversation starter, about an increasingly important subject area. The people on the forefront of an idea – social media uses, for example, are “drivers” who are going somewhere. In time, it is likely that, many will follow. But the leading bloggers and social media commentators are more often focused on a vision that is not quite yet really embraced by the many. The difference between what really works now compared to what “should” work or will work in the future, is great. I started my blog six months ago, to share the view that SEO is a rapidly dying art – and it is! – but it still works NOW, for most businesses web presence. Consultants have to deliver what works today, while at the same time ensuring that their clients are positioned to take advantages of coming shifts in user habits.
Victorseos last blog post..Make one change
Amber, I have great respect for your knowledge of social media and I’ve learned some important things from you.
But I worry there are some fundamental errors in how you’re seeing the broader marketing picture.
You said, “Part of the flaw in traditional marketing has been that it projects one perspective: that of the brand itself. It’s putting words in the mouths of your customers, telling them how to perceive you.”
This is not a flaw; in fact, it’s what marketing exists to do. A brand *must* have a POV and successfully communicate that POV in order to be a successful brand. Otherwise, it’s just one more product with a logo on it.
The job of marketing is to persuade. It’s a mistake to exactly mirror what people already believe. Why spend money to convince people that water is wet?
But we may be able to suggest that water is more than just wet. Evian has successfully convinced people that water from a specific source is somehow healthier and better and more chi-chi than the free H2O that comes out of your faucet. That’s good marketing.
You also wrote, “One of the reasons social media is so effective for conducting research is because of how easy and quick it is to start listening, asking questions, and paying attention to the responses. You can see, in real time, how people are responding to the products, media, and content that’s created out there. And that may completely debunk the assumptions you’ve made about what’s working and what’s not.”
This is actually a genuinely dangerous assumption and one I’d like to caution against. It’s the “Motrin Moms Mirage”. There’s no question that *everybody* on Twitter was talking about it (me included) and that sentiment against Motrin permanently entered Google’s search results.
But in reality — that strange place outside the social media bubble we live and work in — it actually had very limited impact on brand perceptions. It was a social media tempest in a social media teapot.
Market research (as flawed as it is) is a well-developed science that uses multiple techniques to filter out bias. A major question is always sample size and composition: in plain English, how many people did we ask, and how representative are they of the typical consumer?
Social Media is inherently anecdotal and qualitative in nature. It reflects the sentiments of a few, not neccessarily the attitudes of the many. It may even accurately predict a coming groundswell once in awhile. But, it would be crazy for a large CPG company to accept a dozen or even a hundred anecdotal comments as an accurate picture of what’s going on out there.
Social Media has value as a periscope, but we must never forget that we’re looking through a small lens at a tiny slice of the world. Sure, the guppy swimming right in front of our lens looks ginormous. But it may not be nearly as important as the great white shark sneaking up behind the periscope.
Some social media true believers may scream, “You don’t get it! I can point to this or that case study that proves social media perfectly reflected reality!”
Before you gather up the townfolk with their torches and start heading my way, remember what I said about sample size and audience composition. If a dozen respected bloggers start blogging loudly that they hate a change to a WordPress feature, on a percentage basis that’s HUGE, and the audience composition is 100% valid.
But if a dozen respected bloggers say they’re offended by a Motrin video, on a percentage basis that’s tiny, and the audience composition is significantly less valid. I’m not saying it doesn’t matter at all, but it may not matter as much as it appears.
Social Media is an important part of the picture. But it’s not the whole picture.
To paraphrase someone I respect, “You are not the benchmark. Social media is not the benchmark. You gotta look at the total picture.”
Tom Cunniffs last blog post..Should Every CMO Be A CDMO?
Amber, I have great respect for your knowledge of social media and I’ve learned some important things from you.
But I worry there are some fundamental errors in how you’re seeing the broader marketing picture.
You said, “Part of the flaw in traditional marketing has been that it projects one perspective: that of the brand itself. It’s putting words in the mouths of your customers, telling them how to perceive you.”
This is not a flaw; in fact, it’s what marketing exists to do. A brand *must* have a POV and successfully communicate that POV in order to be a successful brand. Otherwise, it’s just one more product with a logo on it.
The job of marketing is to persuade. It’s a mistake to exactly mirror what people already believe. Why spend money to convince people that water is wet?
But we may be able to suggest that water is more than just wet. Evian has successfully convinced people that water from a specific source is somehow healthier and better and more chi-chi than the free H2O that comes out of your faucet. That’s good marketing.
You also wrote, “One of the reasons social media is so effective for conducting research is because of how easy and quick it is to start listening, asking questions, and paying attention to the responses. You can see, in real time, how people are responding to the products, media, and content that’s created out there. And that may completely debunk the assumptions you’ve made about what’s working and what’s not.”
This is actually a genuinely dangerous assumption and one I’d like to caution against. It’s the “Motrin Moms Mirage”. There’s no question that *everybody* on Twitter was talking about it (me included) and that sentiment against Motrin permanently entered Google’s search results.
But in reality — that strange place outside the social media bubble we live and work in — it actually had very limited impact on brand perceptions. It was a social media tempest in a social media teapot.
Market research (as flawed as it is) is a well-developed science that uses multiple techniques to filter out bias. A major question is always sample size and composition: in plain English, how many people did we ask, and how representative are they of the typical consumer?
Social Media is inherently anecdotal and qualitative in nature. It reflects the sentiments of a few, not neccessarily the attitudes of the many. It may even accurately predict a coming groundswell once in awhile. But, it would be crazy for a large CPG company to accept a dozen or even a hundred anecdotal comments as an accurate picture of what’s going on out there.
Social Media has value as a periscope, but we must never forget that we’re looking through a small lens at a tiny slice of the world. Sure, the guppy swimming right in front of our lens looks ginormous. But it may not be nearly as important as the great white shark sneaking up behind the periscope.
Some social media true believers may scream, “You don’t get it! I can point to this or that case study that proves social media perfectly reflected reality!”
Before you gather up the townfolk with their torches and start heading my way, remember what I said about sample size and audience composition. If a dozen respected bloggers start blogging loudly that they hate a change to a WordPress feature, on a percentage basis that’s HUGE, and the audience composition is 100% valid.
But if a dozen respected bloggers say they’re offended by a Motrin video, on a percentage basis that’s tiny, and the audience composition is significantly less valid. I’m not saying it doesn’t matter at all, but it may not matter as much as it appears.
Social Media is an important part of the picture. But it’s not the whole picture.
To paraphrase someone I respect, “You are not the benchmark. Social media is not the benchmark. You gotta look at the total picture.”
Tom Cunniffs last blog post..Should Every CMO Be A CDMO?
I agree that it’s important to understand who your customers are. It’s important to understand that they are the ones you are targeting and their opinions/values/beliefs may differ from yours.
But…
You shouldn’t be afraid to change things. Customers may not know they want something until you introduce them to it.
Mp3 players used to suck. Hard to use, interfaces that were confusing, and just all around clunky. That’s what customers knew, that’s what they “liked”. Then Apple said F it and introduced the iPod.
Now customers LOVE the iPod. Apple wouldn’t have gotten here if they simply just made stuff to their customers expectations and didn’t try to exceed those expectations (and introduce other possible expectations).
I agree that it’s important to understand who your customers are. It’s important to understand that they are the ones you are targeting and their opinions/values/beliefs may differ from yours.
But…
You shouldn’t be afraid to change things. Customers may not know they want something until you introduce them to it.
Mp3 players used to suck. Hard to use, interfaces that were confusing, and just all around clunky. That’s what customers knew, that’s what they “liked”. Then Apple said F it and introduced the iPod.
Now customers LOVE the iPod. Apple wouldn’t have gotten here if they simply just made stuff to their customers expectations and didn’t try to exceed those expectations (and introduce other possible expectations).
Thoughtful post on a fantastic topic. I think people who make communications decisions can either give too much credence to their own opinions or, far worse, try to guess what customers will say and thus make needlessly safe decisions. An agency once did a self promotion ad that said, “Think of your favorite TV commercial. As a marketing director, would you approve it?” And I’d never thought about social media as a way of listening to customers, but that’s a great idea. Like focus groups, it can misused and misinterpreted but there’s real potential there.
Thoughtful post on a fantastic topic. I think people who make communications decisions can either give too much credence to their own opinions or, far worse, try to guess what customers will say and thus make needlessly safe decisions. An agency once did a self promotion ad that said, “Think of your favorite TV commercial. As a marketing director, would you approve it?” And I’d never thought about social media as a way of listening to customers, but that’s a great idea. Like focus groups, it can misused and misinterpreted but there’s real potential there.
My take is that designing an offering to solve a consumer’s problem of meet a need is basic marketing 101. Remember the marketing mix? What sits in the middle? That’s right (well I hope you all got it right) … the consumer with elements build around them.
I shake my head often at the number of business and blogs et al that lose sight of this and completely over complicate things. As marketers, our common place of starting anything should come from understanding the consumer.
Daniel Oystons last blog post..Why Even Bother Blogging?
My take is that designing an offering to solve a consumer’s problem of meet a need is basic marketing 101. Remember the marketing mix? What sits in the middle? That’s right (well I hope you all got it right) … the consumer with elements build around them.
I shake my head often at the number of business and blogs et al that lose sight of this and completely over complicate things. As marketers, our common place of starting anything should come from understanding the consumer.
Daniel Oystons last blog post..Why Even Bother Blogging?
You mean there are people who downloaded “In Rainbows” without paying for it? Those bastards.
Andrew Careagas last blog post..Friday Five: Zen and the art of being productive (or not)
You mean there are people who downloaded “In Rainbows” without paying for it? Those bastards.
Andrew Careagas last blog post..Friday Five: Zen and the art of being productive (or not)
Tom Cunniff’s point is a good one add to Amber’s insightful post. While I’d quibble with Tim that market research, as typically practiced, is a “well-developed science” (that would entail reliably predictable results), he’s right in that the goal of marketing is to move people.
The great thing about social media and all market research is that it allows a creative brand marketer the opportunity to put themselves into the head of their target customer, rather than simply project their tastes onto the target market.
More, your research can identify the gap between your brand and what the market thinks. From there, marketing can figure how to get them over the gap — be that (to stretch a metaphor) bridges, rope swings or hang gliders.
Ken Kadets last blog post..Numbers, Recommendations and Unforseen Connections
Tom Cunniff’s point is a good one add to Amber’s insightful post. While I’d quibble with Tim that market research, as typically practiced, is a “well-developed science” (that would entail reliably predictable results), he’s right in that the goal of marketing is to move people.
The great thing about social media and all market research is that it allows a creative brand marketer the opportunity to put themselves into the head of their target customer, rather than simply project their tastes onto the target market.
More, your research can identify the gap between your brand and what the market thinks. From there, marketing can figure how to get them over the gap — be that (to stretch a metaphor) bridges, rope swings or hang gliders.
Ken Kadets last blog post..Numbers, Recommendations and Unforseen Connections
Listening to the Social Media landscape is important, both for the brand’s general knowledge and especially so as a first step to entering the channel. But, I have to disagree with you and the majority of comments and say it’s not the place to be doing research. In fact, it’s a very dangerous place to be doing research.
When you listen to SM you listen to people without consideration for their importance to the brand. Said another way, you are listening to the opinions of people who are probably not heavy users of the category or the brand.
Heavy users are market makers. They are usually a small percentage of a brand constituency but they drive the majority of the brand’s profit. They know the category and they know the brands that participate in the category. Their needs are quite different from the needs of moderate and light users.
This is the group you need to understand. Teasing their opinions out of the cacophony that is SM is difficult to impossible.
James Hipkins last blog post..5th Relationship Marketing Principle Relationship at Risk
Listening to the Social Media landscape is important, both for the brand’s general knowledge and especially so as a first step to entering the channel. But, I have to disagree with you and the majority of comments and say it’s not the place to be doing research. In fact, it’s a very dangerous place to be doing research.
When you listen to SM you listen to people without consideration for their importance to the brand. Said another way, you are listening to the opinions of people who are probably not heavy users of the category or the brand.
Heavy users are market makers. They are usually a small percentage of a brand constituency but they drive the majority of the brand’s profit. They know the category and they know the brands that participate in the category. Their needs are quite different from the needs of moderate and light users.
This is the group you need to understand. Teasing their opinions out of the cacophony that is SM is difficult to impossible.
James Hipkins last blog post..5th Relationship Marketing Principle Relationship at Risk
James Hipkin makes a good point, although any chance to listen to the cusomer might yield that one insight that actually helps you create something effective.
The Tropicana ruckus has also suggested that there may be substantial overlap between heavy users and the self-selecting, highly vocal group of consumers who got the original packaging restored. (The gap between the heavy users and vocal users, though, can’t be overlooked. If it’s not acknowledged, Social Media may become a particularly scary focus group. Skewed, self-selecting, unmoderated, and stripped of tone–less a Focus Group than a Focus Vigilante.)
I’m still stunned that people care that much about orange juice.
James Hipkin makes a good point, although any chance to listen to the cusomer might yield that one insight that actually helps you create something effective.
The Tropicana ruckus has also suggested that there may be substantial overlap between heavy users and the self-selecting, highly vocal group of consumers who got the original packaging restored. (The gap between the heavy users and vocal users, though, can’t be overlooked. If it’s not acknowledged, Social Media may become a particularly scary focus group. Skewed, self-selecting, unmoderated, and stripped of tone–less a Focus Group than a Focus Vigilante.)
I’m still stunned that people care that much about orange juice.
Great observation Amber.
My company is currently developing a new product. It has been inspired by social media, it will be marketed via social media and it will be tested in the social media world. Every step of the way SM seems to be taking the guess work out of the process for us, its a real-life lab.
Craig Wilsons last blog post..Perfect storm causing traditional media bloodbath
Great observation Amber.
My company is currently developing a new product. It has been inspired by social media, it will be marketed via social media and it will be tested in the social media world. Every step of the way SM seems to be taking the guess work out of the process for us, its a real-life lab.
Craig Wilsons last blog post..Perfect storm causing traditional media bloodbath
I work for a company called Expert Laser Services in Southbridge MA. We remanufacture toner cartridges in addition to selling and servicing printers, copiers and fax machines. We offer a Printer Fleet Management program that makes tracking your cost of running the equipment easier and by joining the program and using our cartridges you save time and money over doing it yourself. As the Web Designer, I recently convinced the company how important social media is of which my supervisor although moving forward with having me implement social media marketing feels like its a fairly ridiculous idea and that a businesses like ours or any business for that matter could truly benefit from such a thing. He is essentially the epitome of the character type you mention in this article. Absolutely sure that everyone must think the same way he does including our customers. I would just like give some applause to you for this piece as to how it speaks to these kind of people who insist everyone must think like them and to some extent actually believe that everyone including their customers do. It is a breath of fresh air and I thank you for this great article.
I work for a company called Expert Laser Services in Southbridge MA. We remanufacture toner cartridges in addition to selling and servicing printers, copiers and fax machines. We offer a Printer Fleet Management program that makes tracking your cost of running the equipment easier and by joining the program and using our cartridges you save time and money over doing it yourself. As the Web Designer, I recently convinced the company how important social media is of which my supervisor although moving forward with having me implement social media marketing feels like its a fairly ridiculous idea and that a businesses like ours or any business for that matter could truly benefit from such a thing. He is essentially the epitome of the character type you mention in this article. Absolutely sure that everyone must think the same way he does including our customers. I would just like give some applause to you for this piece as to how it speaks to these kind of people who insist everyone must think like them and to some extent actually believe that everyone including their customers do. It is a breath of fresh air and I thank you for this great article.