A Case for Marketing Experimentation Making Failure Work For You
A Case for Marketing Experimentation Making Failure Work For You
Any baseball fan that likes movies should know the name Roy Hobbs, the fictional character played by Robert Redford in "The Natural." Hobbs at nineteen years old is one of those athletes whose easy grace and athleticism, makes him a natural, but his career takes a fifteen-year detour due to a youthful indiscretion and some bad luck. Eventually, at the end of his failed career, Hobbs finds success and redemption. This story transcends sport and becomes an allegory for life, and yes, even business.
Failure Versus Success
Our earliest memories of failure are formed in school. Nobody wants to fail and repeat a grade - the social stigma is far too high a price to pay. As adults we are more used to the prospect of not always meeting our expectations. Even successful baseball players who hit 300, fail seven out of ten times. And in business the sales-to-traffic, or sales-to-call ratio is generally fairly low.
We all know what success is: it's meeting goals and expectations based on how we define them. But do we learn from success? In most cases no. In fact success establishes the status quo, ingrains conventional wisdom, stifles innovation and creativity, and promotes the repetition of the same methods, technologies, and ideas that have always been used, even when those methods no longer work.
Standing Still Is Not An Option
Don't get me wrong, success is vital to staying in business and prospering, but it does have a dark side. In a business climate that moves ever faster each day, standing still is not an option.
And what about failure? Obviously going bankrupt is bad, that kind of failure we can all live without. But not all failure has such dire consequences. Most failures are simply a matter of not achieving the results we expected from our investment of time, money, and effort.
As negative as failure is, it does have a positive side, as long as that failure does not become irreparable. What failure does do is teach us how to improve, it forces us to change, and most importantly, it demands that we experiment with new ideas, methods, and techniques.
A Case for Marketing Experimentation
Marketing is one of those nebulous words that has fallen through the cracks of common usage, it has somehow lost its meaning. It is used to describe everything from sales to advertising without any distinct place in the business vernacular, or in the average entrepreneurs' collective conceptual understanding.
I think it is important to give marketing a precise definition, if for no other reason than to provide us with an achievable purpose for spending money on promoting what we do.
According to Harvard Business School's emeritus professor of marketing Theodore C Levitt as presented in BusinessDictionary.com, marketing is summarized as "…the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse, and satisfy customer needs."
It's no wonder the word is used to describe almost anything remotely related to doing business. As far as a textbook definition goes it's fine, but from a practical, day-to-day business process point-of-view, it lacks concrete implementable direction.
Experimentation Versus Research
And what makes this kind of definition even more obscure is that it leaves out the most important element, communication, and instead inadvertently stresses the most misused, research.
Without effective communication we have no way of getting noticed, or of being heard, which to my mind is the central issue in business success. And research, the current golden calf of the digital age, is to quote David Ogilvy, "…used like a lamp post for support rather than illumination."
Marketing - The Process of Communicating Your Brand Story
So let's redefine marketing so it can direct us to some more meaningful approach to improving our businesses. Let's view marketing as the process of defining, creating, and communicating your brand story.
Part of the problem is we live in a seemingly rational world, but we are selling our products, services, and ideas to a decidedly emotional audience. This discrepancy between how we think things should be decided, and how we as human beings actually make decisions, is difficult for most people to wrap their heads around.
The Key to Human Nature
Is there a bridge between the rational world and the emotional-being; one that can direct us to a method of communication that convinces and persuades an audience to accept, remember, and respond to our marketing communication? The answer is yes.
The key to human nature is cognition, as defined as, 'the act of understanding through thought, experience, and sensation.' We do, and decide things based on our understanding of the world we live in, and how we perceive our place within it.
From that perspective, our decisions are perfectly rational; but our perception and understanding of that world is decidedly emotional. Our world-view is based on how we interpret our experiences, filtered through our sensory perception. And therein lies the bridge between the two seemingly opposite perspectives. Marketing is the process of shaping that interpretation to meet our business goals.
Shaping Perception
How then do we shape perception? The answer lies in our ability to deliver a powerful, meaningful experience to an audience; one that leaves a lasting impression, moulds opinion, imprints recognition, and establishes confidence and trust within the context of a defined business purpose.
This is the goal of marketing, a useful, meaningful objective that informs how we communicate to our interested publics. All the tools to do this are readily available to those who use the Web as their primary means of marketing communication.
The business website is the most adaptable and economical communication vehicle ever invented. It allows us to employ words, pictures, sound, video, and human interaction to connect, engage, excite, inform, and entertain in an attempt to persuade.
Are you going to get it right every time - no, but by continually fine-tuning your message, and how you deliver it, you will ultimately achieve your marketing goals. This is a workable, practical marketing process that any company can adopt.
A Case for Marketing Experimentation Making Failure Work For You - To learn more about this author, visit Jerry Bader's Website.
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Remember Roy Hobbs
Any baseball fan that likes movies should know the name Roy Hobbs, the fictional character played by Robert Redford in "The Natural." Hobbs at nineteen years old is one of those athletes whose easy grace and athleticism, makes him a natural, but his career takes a fifteen-year detour due to a youthful indiscretion and some bad luck. Eventually, at the end of his failed career, Hobbs finds success and redemption. This story transcends sport and becomes an allegory for life, and yes, even business.
Failure Versus Success
Our earliest memories of failure are formed in school. Nobody wants to fail and repeat a grade - the social stigma is far too high a price to pay. As adults we are more used to the prospect of not always meeting our expectations. Even successful baseball players who hit 300, fail seven out of ten times. And in business the sales-to-traffic, or sales-to-call ratio is generally fairly low.
We all know what success is: it's meeting goals and expectations based on how we define them. But do we learn from success? In most cases no. In fact success establishes the status quo, ingrains conventional wisdom, stifles innovation and creativity, and promotes the repetition of the same methods, technologies, and ideas that have always been used, even when those methods no longer work.
Standing Still Is Not An Option
Don't get me wrong, success is vital to staying in business and prospering, but it does have a dark side. In a business climate that moves ever faster each day, standing still is not an option.
And what about failure? Obviously going bankrupt is bad, that kind of failure we can all live without. But not all failure has such dire consequences. Most failures are simply a matter of not achieving the results we expected from our investment of time, money, and effort.
As negative as failure is, it does have a positive side, as long as that failure does not become irreparable. What failure does do is teach us how to improve, it forces us to change, and most importantly, it demands that we experiment with new ideas, methods, and techniques.
A Case for Marketing Experimentation
Marketing is one of those nebulous words that has fallen through the cracks of common usage, it has somehow lost its meaning. It is used to describe everything from sales to advertising without any distinct place in the business vernacular, or in the average entrepreneurs' collective conceptual understanding.
I think it is important to give marketing a precise definition, if for no other reason than to provide us with an achievable purpose for spending money on promoting what we do.
According to Harvard Business School's emeritus professor of marketing Theodore C Levitt as presented in BusinessDictionary.com, marketing is summarized as "…the entire business process as consisting of a tightly integrated effort to discover, create, arouse, and satisfy customer needs."
It's no wonder the word is used to describe almost anything remotely related to doing business. As far as a textbook definition goes it's fine, but from a practical, day-to-day business process point-of-view, it lacks concrete implementable direction.
Experimentation Versus Research
And what makes this kind of definition even more obscure is that it leaves out the most important element, communication, and instead inadvertently stresses the most misused, research.
Without effective communication we have no way of getting noticed, or of being heard, which to my mind is the central issue in business success. And research, the current golden calf of the digital age, is to quote David Ogilvy, "…used like a lamp post for support rather than illumination."
Marketing - The Process of Communicating Your Brand Story
So let's redefine marketing so it can direct us to some more meaningful approach to improving our businesses. Let's view marketing as the process of defining, creating, and communicating your brand story.
Part of the problem is we live in a seemingly rational world, but we are selling our products, services, and ideas to a decidedly emotional audience. This discrepancy between how we think things should be decided, and how we as human beings actually make decisions, is difficult for most people to wrap their heads around.
The Key to Human Nature
Is there a bridge between the rational world and the emotional-being; one that can direct us to a method of communication that convinces and persuades an audience to accept, remember, and respond to our marketing communication? The answer is yes.
The key to human nature is cognition, as defined as, 'the act of understanding through thought, experience, and sensation.' We do, and decide things based on our understanding of the world we live in, and how we perceive our place within it.
From that perspective, our decisions are perfectly rational; but our perception and understanding of that world is decidedly emotional. Our world-view is based on how we interpret our experiences, filtered through our sensory perception. And therein lies the bridge between the two seemingly opposite perspectives. Marketing is the process of shaping that interpretation to meet our business goals.
Shaping Perception
How then do we shape perception? The answer lies in our ability to deliver a powerful, meaningful experience to an audience; one that leaves a lasting impression, moulds opinion, imprints recognition, and establishes confidence and trust within the context of a defined business purpose.
This is the goal of marketing, a useful, meaningful objective that informs how we communicate to our interested publics. All the tools to do this are readily available to those who use the Web as their primary means of marketing communication.
The business website is the most adaptable and economical communication vehicle ever invented. It allows us to employ words, pictures, sound, video, and human interaction to connect, engage, excite, inform, and entertain in an attempt to persuade.
Are you going to get it right every time - no, but by continually fine-tuning your message, and how you deliver it, you will ultimately achieve your marketing goals. This is a workable, practical marketing process that any company can adopt.
A Case for Marketing Experimentation Making Failure Work For You - To learn more about this author, visit Jerry Bader's Website.
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Joe DagerJoe Dager is President of Business901, a progressive coaching company providing no-nonsense direction in areas such as Lean Six Sigma Marketing and organized referral marketing. What others say: In the past 20 years, Joe and I have collaborated on many difficult issues. Joe’s ability to combine his expertise with “out of the box” thinking is unsurpassed. He has always delivered quickly, cost effectively and with ingenuity. A brilliant mind that is always a pleasure to work with.” - James R. If you want to learn more about Business901, start a conversation with us. We can be found @ Web/Blog: Business901.com Web/Blog: FundingYourNonprofit.com LinkedIn Profile Follow me on Twitter - Visit Joe Dager's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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