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Statistics are Vital to Marketing

measurechantrybeeLast week I posted about attaching dollars to statistics in order to make sense of them (and to relate them to how your business is doing).  During a discussion about the article, someone mentioned that it was a great non-marketing post.  I didn’t really respond at the time, but the statement has bothered me since.  Statistics are vital to marketing.  Without statistics, marketing is just a hit-or-miss blanket approach without a strategy and end-goal.  Statistics are how you know what is working and what should be improved (or dropped) and figuring out the next step to achieving your business goals.

Using statistics properly will show how various marketing efforts are affecting your bottom line (return on investment – ROI) so you can figure out how much to spend – and on what.  You’ll also learn more about your customers, your product, and your business. Statistics can give you information about how to improve your product, how to increase customer satisfaction and what your business is doing well.

Many people think of marketing as a soft, touchy-feely pseudo-science, but done properly, marketing should be just as measureable as other business processes and should provide vital information to run your business.

(photo by chantrybee @ FlickrCC)

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Is Your Marketing Evil?

eviltonivsSeth Godin’s post yesterday, Is marketing evil? refreshed a subject that’s come up in my mind from time to time.  Seth’s post was about avoiding marketing things that are harmful to people.  He also briefly touched upon evil marketing techniques, which I think are important for all business people to consider.

Sometimes the product or service we’re selling doesn’t have any particularly harmful effects, but the way that we’re selling it isn’t as open or truthful as it should be.  Tricking customers into buying your product for a quick buck may win in the short run, but it certainly won’t help your brand or reputation. Eventually you’ll run out of rocks to hide behind.

There are also products which are fine when used responsibly by the right people – alcohol is one example that comes to mind.  However, some products in this category that may not be as obvious.  For example, many online games can become addicting to people so much so that they avoid most interaction with the real world (disclaimer – I play computer games – both online and off. I am keenly aware of addictive qualities of some games).  How do you market and sell a product that could be harmfully addicting to some people, especially when that addiction can feed your bottom line through monthly fees?  Should you let people know about the possibilities ahead of time?  Should you provide help for people who become addicted?

I think the important point is for marketers, business people, salespeople, and anyone else involved in selling a product or service to really consider the impact of both the product and the marketing.  Using the golden rule to do onto others as you want done to yourself is a good measuring stick.  Or follow Google’s lead and “do no evil”.

(photo by TonivS @ Flickr CC)

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Is Free Actually Valuable?

freelimbopoetOne way to entice customers to try your product or service is by giving away a sample for free.  This tactic is quite prevalent online with free e-books, free webinars, free slideshows, etc.  But is free actually valuable?

On the one hand, putting a value of 0 on something may make it seem less valuabe to potential customers.  Why are you willing to give it away?  It must not be all that great.  On the other hand, offering a free sample has become expected, especially for companies establishing themselves.  As a new product or service, a reputation has not yet been developed and so potential customers have no where to turn to get an opinion about whether its worth buying.

I think free is a great way to give potential customers a risk-free taste of your products or services – and, as I said above, it is pretty much expected.  However, I think what is given away should actually be valuable.  Take a bit of time to provide useful information to your potential customers and instead of thinking of it as free, think of it as a trial.

(photo by Limbo Poet @ Flickr CC)

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