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<\/div>\nThe reason so much of a organization\u2019s marketing efforts are failing, is because we are trying to industrialize a facet of business that can\u2019t be industrialized. Implementing behavioral science thinking is perhaps the single biggest improvement a small business can make to their marketing.<\/span><\/p>\n In many ways, we could say that small business owners have never had it so good. It\u2019s easier than ever to start a business, and there are a myriad of affordable tools and services out there to help us on our journey.<\/p>\n But the one thing that\u2019s stubbornly refused to budge in all this time is the traditional, economics-driven approach to marketing ingrained in the minds of most business people.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not just calling out the disconnect between how most businesses think<\/strong> their customers buy stuff, and how customers actually<\/strong> buy stuff. I\u2019m saying that, regardless of size, businesses need to rethink the way they\u2019ve been marketing if they want to prevent their organization from appearing irrelevant to today\u2019s buyer.<\/p>\n As Steven Covey<\/a> says, \u201cIf we keep doing what we\u2019re doing, we\u2019re going to keep getting what we\u2019re getting.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n In theory, marketing for a small business today should be easy \u2013 or at least easier. Compared to a decade ago, marketers have a huge armory of weaponry at their disposal.<\/p>\n We have so many tools \u2013 AI<\/a>, custom audience profiles<\/a>, remarketing tags<\/a>, and whatever else. Yet the effectiveness of our marketing efforts is getting worse<\/a>.<\/p>\n How can that be? How can things have been better<\/em> before we had all of this tech?<\/p>\n Excuse-seekers will blame increased competition, or a more educated, savvy buyer<\/a>. Blame-avoiders will mention some hogwash about attention spans getting shorter, or the greater choice in communication channels.<\/p>\n The real reason is a lot more basic: Most of what passes for marketing today just plain sucks.<\/strong> <\/p>\n Most of the business communication we see today seems to be missing a key component driver of messaging effectiveness: memorability<\/strong>.<\/p>\n 86% of marketing isn\u2019t recalled or remembered<\/a>. Since annual global marketing expenditure is around $1.76tn<\/a> (yes, trillion<\/em>!) that means we\u2019re flushing $1.5 trillion straight down the poop chute. Not exactly a great return on our money, is it?<\/p>\n The core problem comes down to the way higher-ups in business equate the \u201cprocess\u201d of marketing with processes involved in other business units.<\/p>\n Supposing we look at manufacturing. To increase the profitability of whatever it is we\u2019re making, there are a number of tangible, logical, rational things we can do.<\/p>\n If we\u2019re making widgets, we could invest in a faster widget-making machine, thereby increasing productivity and lowering per-unit cost. We could change our raw material supplier to one prepared to sell to us more cheaply. And so on.<\/p>\n That\u2019s fine when we\u2019re talking about manufacturing, where every part of the process can be precisely measured and documented. But applying such \u2019cause-and-effect\u2019 rationalized thinking to marketing simply doesn\u2019t work. Why? Because we\u2019re assuming our customers are rational participants who make decisions based on logic, objective value, and a calculated pursuit of what economists would call \u201cutility maximization<\/a>.\u201d Which is clearly very far from reality.<\/p>\n In fact, human decisions \u2013 including buying decisions \u2013 are driven by a complex interplay of emotions, cognitive biases<\/a>, and social influences. In other words, as customers we buy from the heart, not the head<\/strong>. This holds true whether we\u2019re talking about B2B or B2C (other than, in B2B, there\u2019s usually more than one decision maker).<\/p>\n This is where Behavioral Science<\/strong> comes in.<\/p>\n Behavioral Science is an understanding of buyer psychology, in order to optimize its presentation to prospective customers, to increase the likelihood of a product or service being purchased.<\/p>\n The key to success in marketing has always been to develop a deeper understanding of human psychology. By recognizing and accounting for the biases, heuristics, and social influences that shape our behavior, businesses can create products and communications that are more appealing, persuasive, and effective.<\/p>\n The thing is, this has always been the case<\/a>. Since the dawn of commerce the best marketers, advertisers, and salespeople were familiar with how we chose to present our product influenced the likelihood of purchase. Not with facts, logic, or rationality. But with emotion. With the things that make humans human.<\/p>\n Today, with Martech<\/a> this and AI that, we\u2019re trying to relinquish many of the responsibilities of marketing to automation, algorithms, and LLMs<\/a>. Sure, the upside is we\u2019re creating more with less. But what we\u2019re producing is less fit for purpose. We\u2019re failing to grow awareness, reputation, and revenue.<\/p>\n So why are we doing it? That\u2019s easy: By being able to blame \u201cThe Algorithm\u201d when it all goes to crap, we don\u2019t get blamed by the boss.<\/p>\n The overreliance on data-driven approaches and a relentless pursuit of efficiency can blind marketers to the true drivers of consumer behavior.<\/p>\n Of course data and analytics are valuable tools<\/a>. But they should not be the sole drivers of marketing strategy.<\/p>\n We\u2019re trying to make marketing into the wrong kind of science. As a result we have become overly reliant on measurable metrics, neglecting the (less tangible but equally important) aspects of human psychology.<\/p>\n Just because something is easily measurable, doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s important.<\/p>\n For example, the reason why a person may buy your product or service may not be because of its features, or that it\u2019s better\/faster\/cheaper. It may simply be because they know they need something to solve a problem they have, and they vaguely remember having heard of your brand more than others in your category.<\/p>\n Buyers are often motivated by a desire to alleviate unease and uncertainty. Marketing campaigns that focus on identifying and addressing such anxieties, providing reassurance and building trust, can outperform the feature-laden \u2018bullet-point\u2019 type communications we so often see nowadays.<\/p>\n Appealing to buyers\u2019 universal desires and motivations<\/a> is far more effective than bombarding them with information and expecting them to join the dots for us. Instead of simply highlighting what a product does<\/strong>, what if we focused how it makes people feel<\/strong>?<\/p>\n The future for marketing is AI gobbling-up up the bottom end of content marketing, vomiting-out passable (but instantly forgettable) blog articles, images, advertisements, or social media posts.<\/p>\n The mundane and the predictable becomes the norm.<\/p>\n This is why small businesses need to shift away from outdated models of rationality. Instead, they should look to embrace the complex, often irrational realities of human behavior. The ability to craft compelling narratives, reframe problems, and engage buyers on an emotional level will become essential.<\/p>\n Creativity<\/a>, informed by behavioral science, will be an increasingly vital skill for marketers in a world dominated by cheap, AI-generated, mediocre content.<\/p>\n As buyers become ever-more saturated with information and advertising messages, creativity is essential for capturing attention, sparking curiosity, and creating memorable experiences that resonate at an emotional level. I don\u2019t see AI ever coming up with \u201cI\u2019m Lovin\u2019 It<\/a>\u201c, \u201cJust Do It<\/a>\u201c, or \u201cThink Different<\/a>\u201c, for example.<\/p>\n The ability to creatively reframe problems is a cornerstone in a behavioral science-driven marketing landscape. Marketers and business owners need to better understand the intuitive, emotion-driven part of the brain, and acknowledge the significant role it plays in decision-making.<\/p>\n This requires thinking beyond rational benefits and product attributes. Instead, it\u2019s about focusing on creating emotional connections and crafting compelling narratives that resonate with buyers on a visceral level.<\/p>\n Creativity is crucial for crafting these narratives, designing experiences that evoke desired emotions.<\/p>\n What I\u2019m talking about is a shift away from traditional marketing frameworks that rely on abstract concepts borrowed from classical economic theory.<\/p>\n Instead, I\u2019m urging businesses to adopt a more nuanced understanding of their customers, informed by behavioral insights and grounded in real-world observations.<\/p>\nThe Blind Spot in the Boardroom: Why Businesses Neglect Buyer Behavior in Their Marketing<\/span><\/h2>\n
The Illusion of Rationality: Why Businesses Misunderstand Their Customers<\/span><\/h2>\n
Behavioral Science: Rethinking Marketing Strategy<\/span><\/h2>\n
The Future Of Marketing Is Psychological, Not Technological<\/span><\/h2>\n
Creativity: The Essential Ingredient in a Human-Centric Marketing Landscape<\/span><\/h2>\n
How a Focus on Emotion Can Revolutionize Your Marketing <\/span><\/h2>\n
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