Just because you do something (or don't do something) is no indication of how the market actually is and reacts.
You can sit here all day and lament at how bad Lady Gaga is, but you can't deny that not only is she a success, but she has a massive following. You can claim that a massive following has no intrinsic value and that many things that have mass appeal (like dancing and singing competitions on TV) aren't all that good, but the public speaks in very loud and clear terms. Your mediocrity is their deep passion.
Don't be a market of one.
I was in a meeting with a retailer discussing the merits of Social Media and Digital Marketing, when one of their executives interrupted me. This individual informed me that they had a panel of their customers with whom they often discussed trends with, and that one of those individuals didn't even have an email address. They had helped this person get set-up on email just so that they could stay connected. If their consumers weren't even on email, how would Social Media or Digital Marketing be able to save them? Statistically speaking, that unique individual should not be on their panel because they are not representative of the norm. Not engaging in Social Media and Digital Marketing because one person - an anomaly - made it on to their panel was (to me) a prime example of "a market of one." After all, if this person isn't even on email, maybe all of their consumers are not on email? Ludicrous... even more ludicrous because we have the data to prove them wrong. In fact, it wasn't even a small percentage... it was miniscule... almost to the point on non-existence. They were all on email and highly engaged online.
We all (often) act like a market of one.
If you ever say things like...
- I would never order anything from an infomercial on TV.
- I never click on ads in search engines.
- I don't read the newspaper anymore.
- I don't listen to the radio anymore.
- Dancing With The Stars is the worst show on television.
- I would never use something like Foursquare to check-in to a location.
- I never read fiction.
- My kids don't use email.
- I would never clip out a coupon and bring it down to a store.
... these are all statements from a market of one... and you need to be cautious about this.
The truth is that we live in a very big and highly connected world. Just because you and all of your friends on Twitter don't do something, it doesn't mean that there's not a large segment of people who do. I don't enter contests... does that mean that my agency should never run a contest for a client? No chance. I realize that a personal statement like that is a "market of one," and that there are millions of people who love and actively enter contests on a regular and frequent basis. They work! The data doesn't lie. Just because you don't do something or because you're ahead of a curve (this is often the case with "early adopters"), it doesn't mean that it's not a viable marketing option.
Whenever you're in a brainstorm or discussing marketing with a client and/or peers, remember to never let a market of one potentially ruin a great idea... and don't be afraid to call them out either.
By
Also known as statistical significance. Applies to a lot more than marketing.
I know it does, but this is a Marketing Blog and I didn't want to scare the Marketers away ;) LOL.
I NEVER comment on blogs, so no-one else must...
It would make my replying to comments that much more prompt ;)
I can't comment on that comment about comments because I don't even read blogs nor comment on them.
I really like this post as I catch myself saying things like this but knowing that I am the odd one out. As long as we can be open-minded (which is apparently pretty tough) we can think these things but look at the facts. Just because we don not do something doe not make it the norm. There is a world outside of our bubbles.
Thanks Mitch. Great post to end 2010. Look forward to your insights in 2011.
It's important to remember that our individual preferences are not usually indicative of everyone's.
What you creatively call a "market of one", ... or really a market of a few, ... statisticians call "outliers". Your panelist without email was an outlier.
Discarding outliers (to clarify the overall trend in the data) is common in "robust statistics". What you are advocating is "robust marketing". Hmmm, that has a nice ring to it.
It's also an attitude shift. How often are you in meetings when a creative or strategy person says, "I would never do that!" or "I do that all of the time!" My usual reaction is: just because you do... it means very little unless we have the data to back it up.
Happy New Year Dr. Jones.
Interesting that, in all of your examples, the market of one is a naysayer. What if the market of one is the only positive person in the room?
Great article. Great post. Please know I am reading this while comfortably waiting on my wife and daughter in a shopping centre. Happy 2011.
Mitch, in product management there is a process of defining Personas in order to avoid this issue. Using data as much as possible, if not other information, you define a personality for your typical users. You may have two, three or five different roles, rarely more.
This avoids having discussions about marginal behaviours, because you better understand the behaviours of your typical customers.
This is one of my pet peeves when I'm in meetings! I think people get tired of hearing me refer to the "data point of 1 syndrome". Most of my discussions centre around what we're doing on the website, so analytics are a GREAT tool to dismiss or support notions of what people are or are not doing. Doesn't help with new ideas but we can usually make at least some assumptions based on what the data says folks are currently doing.
Great post, Mitch. You've hit on one of my biggest pet peeves. To expand a bit on your comments, we all have to remember that those of us who work day in and day out in a particular business are the worst people to understand our customers' perspectives about our businesses, our marketing, etc. I wrote a post about it a while back called "Is elitism the source of poor usability?" (http://www.retailshakennotstirred.com/retail-shaken-not-stirred/2009/07/seeing-with-someone-elses-eyes.html).
I would also add to your list of "nevers": I would never play FarmVille (or CityVille). Yet look at how many people actually DO play social games.
The market of one perspective is always the hardest to counter balance if they are not willing to risk. It's a variation of Avinash's HIPPO principal but worse because often times, they believe so much in what that market of one is telling them. Mitch, how did it work out with the potential client? What's your advice on how to overcome the market of one argument?
Why would you want that ion a person website? Flash is pretty and will impress visitors!
Why would you want your websites and marketing information to be smart phone web capable. No one has those damned phones!
Send in the guru's and then I just hang my head and cry.
So many versions of the correct story. I liked your version Party of One.
David Pylyp
Living in Toronto
My rule is: I never represent a target group but sometimes happen to be part of it.
This is one of the things ODI or outcome driven innovation seeks to avoid. There have been way too many flops and bad decisions based on the voice of one customer. It sure is a lot easier to quickly react to one persons view unfortunately who gets to take the blame when the majority does not respond well... Here's to a smarter 2011
Agreed. For me another way to spin it is to always market to the lowest common denominator -- i.e., ensure you hit all the "markets of one" in your market with a variety of activities. All it takes is one new influencer to impact one new buyer to create one new sale and let the dominos fall.
Mitch,
Totally with you on Dancing with the stars!
Great reminder to trust the data because you are correct - what's the old saying? "Figures never lie but liars always figure." And by lier I could mean myself if I believe that just because I don't do something I believing others don't as well.
May 2011 be everything you have dreamed and prepared for it to be.
Respectfully,
Jim Raffel
Great post Joel - I think about this a lot.
I'm a marketing-minded person working in a technology group. Almost all of my peers are tech-minded developers - usually early-adoptors.
A HUGE challenge is getting my IT collegues to understand that NOT ALL OF OUR CUSTOMERS LIVE IN FRONT OF A COMPUTER SCREEN ALL DAY. Nor do they want to.
But as you say, the data is on my side. Many people still prefer to handle their accounts with us by phone. You have to go where your customers are, not where you wish they were.