Survey Says: Why Does Anyone Care What Marketers Think Consumers Want? ~via Steve Olenski
On a recent LinkedIn post my buddy, Steve Olenski, known by many in the marketing community as The CMO Whisperer, wrote the following... "Someone has to help me here, please. While I love The CMO Survey I simply do not understand why they - and other surveys - continually see the need to ask marketers what they think consumers want? I don't get it," and shared this article that he penned. I could not agree more Steve. John Andrews and I, along with a great team of course, built a content marketing company around this misalignment, and have continued to implore marketers to have customers in the room, or at the very least be truly listening to them. /Ted
This past March, I penned an article right here in these hallowed halls entitled Dear Marketers: No One Cares What You Think (sort of). In that piece I referenced something I read in a post from my friend Ryan Barry. The comment that caught my eye was from a gentleman named Dmitry Shamis. My man Dmitry rattled off something so profound yet so simplistic so massively overlooked.
"Too many marketers think they know better than their customers and 100 times out of 100 they don't."
Fast-forward and I'm perusing the latest issue of The CMO Survey. Before you say anything, I know it's been out for a while but I am just getting into it now, so bear with me.
So, I am poring over the latest survey results and what do I come across pretty early in the findings, Slide/Page 13 if you're keeping score at home to be precise, but the following:
Source: The CMO Survey, Spring 2024
On my first drive by of this slide, I was a little confused because the title "Consumers prioritize superior product quality, while customer experience and service decline" led me to think, albeit for a brief second, that this finding comes from surveying consumers.
But then I remembered what I was reading and realized this is NOT what consumers are saying, but rather what marketers think consumers would say.
To this I say...
And then cue up my man Dmitry's sagaciously salient insights "Too many marketers think they know better than their customers and 100 times out of 100 they don't."
Look, I understand surveys are meant to glean insights - no shit, Steve. And I am a massive fan of The CMO Survey. I truly am. And I don't mean to come across as some cantankerous contrarian but for the love of all things holy, why would anyone care what a marketer THINKS a consumer wants and values?
With all due respect, what kind of weight does this particular finding carry? If any marketer the world over reads this finding and makes a decision based on it, well... let's just say it would not be the wisest, most prudent thing to do.
In the aforementioned article, Dear Marketers: No One Cares What You Think (sort of) I spell out why marketers should prioritize listening to consumers over the chatter of their peers.
If you haven't already go read that. Not because I wrote it but because it's a good reminder some of us need now and then.
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