Marketing: Science versus art
The discoveries of science can never fully bridge the mystery of the human mind. We need art to discern the difference. The effective marketer converts experiments and metrics into elegant forms of communication. For the marketing organization to be truly successful, it must respect both the science and the art. Indeed, marketing translates science into art.
-Flint McGlaughlin, Managing Director, MECLABS Institute
As the FlintsNotes.com curator, I often come across profound observations like this one.
I try to have Flint elaborate on them, or at least jot down some notes of other lectures or observations that pertain to it. Flint sometimes says jokingly that he has been “accused of being a scientist,” the scientific approach to marketing being sometimes seen as a means to an end.
In a perfect world, we would instinctively know what our customers want, and the best way to communicate our message.
The science of marketing
The science behind online marketing today is a fairly new tool in which we can use to learn a great deal about our prospects.
This tool, the Internet, enables us to track how prospects react to our various offers or messaging. One of the reasons why this method of testing is superior is because it is a record of how your customers have already performed. It is far more powerful than a focus group – for example, where a person may believe they will act one way, but in reality, behave a in a completely different manner.
The art of marketing has been around for arguably much longer.
Since the dawn of man, we have been convincing each other to purchase or accept food, weapons, goods or even religious beliefs. The ability to connect with another human being, to innately know what the other person is seeking, becomes one of the sharpest weapons in the marketer’s arsenal.
Metrics and data analytics can begin to paint the picture of what your prospects are truly interested in.
Even when prospects do not accept an offer or click the desired button, the choices they do not make tell a great deal about what they want.
By interpreting these results, the marketer can glean discoveries about their customers’ behavior that can be implemented across various other channels.
When the marketer can be sure an offer is being communicated effectively online through testing, that same messaging is likely to be just as effective in other channels like direct mail, or in-person at a store.
