While having an extensive statistical background is not a pre-requisite to being a good marketer, it is essential that all marketers have a firm grasp on the importance of the “Bell Curve” in virtually all marketing efforts. Also known as the Normal Distribution, in a nutshell the bell curve is what it looks like when you graph a group of data points for a “normal” sample of data. Whether it is weight, income, IQ, fitness level, etc. data unavailingly falls into a “normal” distribution when it is plotted. It has a lot of datapoints around the middle (the average) and outliers at both the high and low extremes. Please see the image at the right.
The implication for marketers is understanding the segments of the bell curve, and using these segments to your advantage as you orchestrate your marketing efforts. The quick message is that you can’t market to everyone – as you move across the curve from one end to the other needs change dramatically. It is always better to market to as specific of a segment of the group, as opposed to the group as a whole. It is just like target marketing. You must select who comprises your market segment (portion of the bell curve).
An example will help illustrate this. Let’s explore the implications of the bell curve for a characteristic mentioned above; fitness level. On the far left side of the curve, these are the “least fit” people around. They would have to improve their fitness level significantly in order to even be considered “average”. On the far right, are the “extreme fitness enthusiasts”. Everyone else is somewhere closer to the middle – the “mean” or average. Knowing this, let’s assume we are challenged with marketing a specific service – fitness club membership. Let’s also assume we have access to proper demographics, and we can target individuals in various fitness level buckets with targeted campaigns.
Marketing to the very far left end of the bell curve (the most unfit segment) will of course require different messaging than other segments. For this group, appeals are probably centered on “strive for change” and “you can fit in – members are not all hard bodies”, “Free personal training to get you started” etc. At the other extreme – the messaging is quite different. These people have discipline established, and according to our data are already fit. These are the hard bodies that intimi
date their counterparts at the other end of the curve. Successful appeals to this segment will likely be in messaging such as “Are your abs beach-worthy? We can help.” “Your competition is already training for race season. Will you be ready?”. This is of course if you decide to market to this group at all. Perhaps your research shows that they are not viable candidates to join, maybe they are already doing their own thing. There is no substitute for good research.
Defining how you market to the extremes will help guide you with your messaging across the entirety of your segments. This of course will only give you some initial targeting ideas. Critical of course is to do your due testing due diligence. Ideate, test, measure, refine, re-ideate (not even sure ideate is a real word – so likely re-ideate is not, but you get the idea.)
Quick Takeaway: Messaging is for market segments, not entire markets.
Follow These Simple Steps to Facilitate Change Management
Virtually all organizations are striving for some level of Digital Transformation. As with anything, a small minority are true leaders, some are pitiful laggards, and most are somewhere in the middle.
The digital leaders have woven digital elements into virtually every aspect of their organizations, not merely in their Web presence. Elements such as integrated call centers, connected sales reps, and seamless customer experiences are all indications of digital savviness.
If your firm is on the wrong end of the bell curve when it comes to digital integration, you are probably experiencing some form of “digital envy”. While serious, this condition is treatable given a firm commitment to widespread change.
Action Steps to Lead Digital Transformation at Your Firm:
- Point to the competition: Do a competitive site analysis that shows your competition is beating you.
- Obtain customer feedback: Nothing speaks louder to c-suite management than the views of top customers. Some pointed comments from key customers can be very impactful. This can be very powerful.
- Point out some glaring problems. Should not be too hard to do. If you are feeling bold, as some key executives if they are proud of various functions. Don’t just point out the problems. Have a solution in place. (See #4)
- Create a high-level plan: Explain of how the digital-transformation could work including theoretical timelines, expenses, resource allocations, etc.
- Recruit some influential change agents: These key individuals will help you “fight the fight”. You can’t fly solo on this. Think CMO, key sales team executives, CIO etc. Feel free to share the customer feedback as you are recruiting support.
If you take these few steps (simple, not easy) you probably have a “ticket to admission” to have an initial conversation with executive management. Don’t expect rapid success. Change is hard, and requires that your key leadership get out of their comfort zone. Your job is to raise their collective consciousness. Be aware, they are likely to resist at first. Remember – it is a digital transformation. Not a digital “overnight makeover”.
Be patient and keep chipping away. You will get there!
There is a tremendous difference between raw data and actionable insights. Data is a collection of metrics, in raw form or just poorly organized. Actionable insights start with the same raw metrics, but are presented in a format that is easily utilized by decision makers. The insights are GOLD – the data is the gold mine. Your business will be more successful if you have someone on staff who can provide you with concise, “executive-worthy” information. Information that will give you insight into the key business drivers. Without it, you have to sift through the voluminous data on your own. You end up being an analyst instead of being focused on growing your business.
Key Questions – The Path to Insights:
Obtaining actionable information starts with asking the right questions. Of course, these questions vary based on your role and the nature of your business. The key is to get started asking the questions. Here are a few that may prompt you to think of others that relate specifically to your marketing situation:
• Who are my top customers over the last six months? How have their purchases changed over the past year, or two years?
• Are there certain “gateway” products or services, that tend to move customers from medium-sized to large?
• How has my product mix shifted? Is it different among the large customers than the overall mix?
• Is my business growing faster than the market in general?
• What are my most profitable products? Least profitable?
• Do any products have a higher return rate than standard?
When you start asking these kinds of questions, you will find that the answers will prompt you to ask even more questions. Congratulations! You are then on your way to actionable information! Each time you ask and answer questions, you are gaining insight to the nuts and bolts of your business.
Using Informed Analysts
Be aware that it is critical to have someone on staff who can mine the data and help you answers these questions. This is an analyst who not only understands the data itself, but what it means to your organization. In my view it is one of the most important roles in any business. This role has to be more business-oriented than data-oriented. Ideally it is someone who has a good understanding of your products, and enough customer interaction to identify needs and drivers.
I was at a Starbucks recently with a friend, enjoying coffee and good conversation. The ambiance was nice, soft music, fine decor, just as you have come to expect at Starbucks. Suddenly, an employee proceeded to drag a garbage can across the entire restaurant, making a very loud screeching sound. Needless to say, the relaxing ambiance was obliterated – in an instant.
That’s how it is with customer experience, EVERYTHING has to be done right. Mostly right doesn’t work. All of your efforts to wow the customer can be negated by even a minor thing. It’s hard to get it right – that’s why most companies fail at it.
In a blog post for 2020 predictions, Forrester* states:
“However, . . .data strategy success requires much more than the right technology. In the past, this has led to data program scope creep that creates bloated budgets, unmet expectations, and program stagnation . . . In 2020, we think the bubble will burst, finally . . .. Leading firms will make the investments, while the rest will waffle”.
Data is a strategic asset that needs to be treated accordingly, not relegated to some back-burner IT responsibility. Companies that continue to “store data” and say to themselves “we will have to get around to managing that data later” are setting themselves up for failure. Firms that choose to continue “kicking the can” down the street in terms of data will discover that they are getting kicked in the can themselves.
*Predictions 2020: Uncertainty Equals Opportunity For The CIO (10-28-19)
In the classic business novel “The Goal”, Eliyahu Goldratt explores business bottlenecks and how to minimize them. This sometimes involves removing constraints by means of solutions that are not particularly “elegant”. In the novel, a major constraint is removed from a production process by using an outdated machine to augment production. While not as efficient as the latest technology, using the old technology removed the bottleneck and production increased.
Keep this approach in mind when designing your Ecommerce solutions. Sometimes “off the grid” back-end process, while not elegant, are the most practical means to advance your project. Remember, “The Goal” of your Ecommerce initiatives is to achieve overall efficiency (remove bottlenecks). It is not to try to impress anyone with the elegance of your technology. What is ultimately most impressive is that which is most efficient!
In the classic book “Good to Great” author Jim Collins analyzes highly successful companies in a variety of industries to discover what makes them transform from “Good to Great”. Paraphrasing Collins’ findings – there are virtually no overnight successes, just companies that strive to do every task, however small, to the absolute best of their capabilities. This approach can serve as excellent guidance for those firms trying to achieve greatness in customer experiences.
Every single customer interaction, however small and seemingly trivial is going to improve or diminish the customer’s impression of your company/brand. EVERYTHING. This includes very simple things like messaging on hold (if my call is truly important to you then why am I on hold listening to a message telling me I am important), to of course how you handle more high-profile interactions.
Everything matters and is therefore important as you strive to advance your Customer Experience initiatives. Don’t take anything for granted.
Technology implementations often present significant challenges, and this typically leads to cost overruns and extended timelines. While cost overruns cause C suite executives significant distress, the delay to launch is often considered much worse.
In an attempt to save time and get things started quickly, Ecommerce executives sometimes choose a technology platform as a first step. This can be a recipe for disaster. The right technology platform for your firm is predicated on a multitude of factors. These include customer needs identification, technology ecosystem assessment, and a complete review of organizational readiness of backend systems. Skipping these important vetting steps and rushing to choose a platform prematurely might make you feel like you are “making quick progress”, but there is a good chance you will be putting the round peg into a square hole.
Resist the temptation to skip the due diligence, do your homework and choose your technology last. You will save time and money in the long run.
Marketing to the Bell Curve
While having an extensive statistical background is not a pre-requisite to being a good marketer, it is essential that all marketers have a firm grasp on the importance of the “Bell Curve” in virtually all marketing efforts. Also known as the Normal Distribution, in a nutshell the bell curve is what it looks like when you graph a group of data points for a “normal” sample of data. Whether it is weight, income, IQ, fitness level, etc. data unavailingly falls into a “normal” distribution when it is plotted. It has a lot of datapoints around the middle (the average) and outliers at both the high and low extremes. Please see the image at the right.
The implication for marketers is understanding the segments of the bell curve, and using these segments to your advantage as you orchestrate your marketing efforts. The quick message is that you can’t market to everyone – as you move across the curve from one end to the other needs change dramatically. It is always better to market to as specific of a segment of the group, as opposed to the group as a whole. It is just like target marketing. You must select who comprises your market segment (portion of the bell curve).
An example will help illustrate this. Let’s explore the implications of the bell curve for a characteristic mentioned above; fitness level. On the far left side of the curve, these are the “least fit” people around. They would have to improve their fitness level significantly in order to even be considered “average”. On the far right, are the “extreme fitness enthusiasts”. Everyone else is somewhere closer to the middle – the “mean” or average. Knowing this, let’s assume we are challenged with marketing a specific service – fitness club membership. Let’s also assume we have access to proper demographics, and we can target individuals in various fitness level buckets with targeted campaigns.
Marketing to the very far left end of the bell curve (the most unfit segment) will of course require different messaging than other segments. For this group, appeals are probably centered on “strive for change” and “you can fit in – members are not all hard bodies”, “Free personal training to get you started” etc. At the other extreme – the messaging is quite different. These people have discipline established, and according to our data are already fit. These are the hard bodies that intimi
date their counterparts at the other end of the curve. Successful appeals to this segment will likely be in messaging such as “Are your abs beach-worthy? We can help.” “Your competition is already training for race season. Will you be ready?”. This is of course if you decide to market to this group at all. Perhaps your research shows that they are not viable candidates to join, maybe they are already doing their own thing. There is no substitute for good research.
Defining how you market to the extremes will help guide you with your messaging across the entirety of your segments. This of course will only give you some initial targeting ideas. Critical of course is to do your due testing due diligence. Ideate, test, measure, refine, re-ideate (not even sure ideate is a real word – so likely re-ideate is not, but you get the idea.)
Quick Takeaway: Messaging is for market segments, not entire markets.