One thing that’s great about marketers is that many of us have very strong opinions. And that’s great… but there are times where we need to stop, look at the numbers (research) and analyze what they are saying.
I’ve encountered a host of situations over the years where someone has said, “people love it,” or something of that nature about a marketing tool being utilized. Then, when I look at the numbers it is clear that “people” don’t love it, or that there is opportunity for improvement.
Being emotionally excited about something is great, but that single factor can sometimes cloud ones judgment… and it happens to the best of us, which is why looking at the data is so important.
Oh, and there’s no doubt about it. Sometimes the numbers will go against your gut and it will be extremely hard to force yourself to follow their lead.
For example, when I worked in radio we had callout research on music that we played and I was typically pretty good at picking the hits. On occasion I’d miss the mark and a song I wasn’t huge on would come back with fantastic results. My gut feeling of course was that it shouldn’t be a power song (played a lot), but the research said otherwise and was typically on point.
Sure there will be times that results are skewed, but if over time you are seeing the same trend… you should likely trust the data and make the appropriate changes – or go in a completely different direction.
