Chip Heath, author of “Made to Stick” was a keynote speaker at our Connections ’07 User Conference this past week. In addition to sharing a first name (I may be a bit biased here) I think Chip and I have other affinities. Among many other enlightening items, he spoke about the “Curse of Knowledge” which is the inability of experts to describe what they do in an effective or compelling manner. Or, rather in a way that a lay person would understand easily what the heck one is talking about. Effective and compelling, mind you, is what marketing is supposed to be…isn’t it? So, perhaps I’m speaking to a few industry-types here, but as we all digest our weekly dose of e-marketing jargon and speak of relevance, targeting, multivariate testing, etc….are we losing sight of the ability to really be effective communicators?
I think too often as marketers we lose sight of a simple fact: The customer wants to know what is “in it” for them. They ultimately define relevance, we don’t. What we have to say is almost irrelevant. What the customer wants to hear, learn, read, buy is the only thing that IS relevant. The customer’s opinion really is the only one that matters. Wait, I don’t think that sunk in: the customer’s opinion is the only opinion that matters. Too often we promote as our inventory would support, as our preset promotion calendar would have us promote, or as our newsletter content schedule would dictate.
So how do we do it right you ask? YOU LISTEN!
Fortunately listening using web, analytics and email technology means you don’t have to actually “listen” (though that helps too) – you need to observe and respect. Respect data. Respect preferences. Respect behavior. Customers are telling us what they want. Are we listening?
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