Jul 25, 2011 Where DIDN’T You Hear About Us?
By Sarah Ripley, Wizard of Ads Partner
Where didn’t you hear about us as opposed to where they did, may in fact be the easier question for your customer to answer as it will likely get a more accurate response…
In the debilitating stresses of the economy, a marketing budget is usually the first to be reviewed for reducing when cost savings are an objective. I think this ever-present pressure is what first established the most overused and underproductive question on the planet (and perhaps finally the proof I needed for my grade 10 English teacher who said that there was no such thing as a dumb question) “WHERE DID YOU HEAR ABOUT US?”
Marketing activities are thwart with the consistent need for justification. Inconveniently so, it is also the most unjustifiable, unmeasurable and unquantifiable part of a business’ functionality.
That is a fact.
So why do businesses feel they can outsmart this simple fact through simply asking their customers what marketing activity firstly grabbed their attention, secondly convinced them the business they have chosen was the best option, thirdly forced their fingers into dialling their number and finally converted them in a cult-like manner to make an appointment/decision to come and see you and purchase from your business?
Simple answer – they can’t.
Whenever a business owner asks “Where did you hear about us?” and wonders why that answer is defunct, I always answer this question with a question, “Where did you first hear about Coke?”
“What?!” they exclaim, “My business is nowhere near as big as Coke, how could I possibly remember where I first heard about them? They’re everywhere…”
“Well…” I say, “You would have heard them first somewhere. If you can’t remember where you first heard about Coke, how do you expect your customers to remember where they first heard about you?”
Simple answer again – they won’t.
The majority of responses to the, (let’s call it the dumb question), will not be accurate. It isn’t because your customers are intentionally lying to you. It is because they either don’t remember, or heard/saw you in multiple mediums, and have just picked one off the top of their heads.
Let me give you an example – a customer of yours, Jane, runs into her neighbour whom has just returned from a satisfying experience with your business, and recommends Jane try you. That evening, Jane sits down to the evening news and sees your TV Ad. She suddenly remembers what the neighbour had said, and decides to use you. When it comes time the next day to give you a call – Jane can’t remember your contact number so looked you up in the Yellow Pages.
Now, guess what answer would usually be given if this example customer was asked where he/she heard about you? You guess correctly – YELLOW PAGES, (hence Yellow Pages’ claim to fame of having high impact) so… the Yellow Pages Ad budget goes up… TV Advertising is cut… BOOOOOOO. It’s like rewarding a child that cheated on their test…
Business owners like this question too because they feel it helps them track their marketing. Think of your business as a tree with multiple branches that represent each marketing activity you are doing. If you start pruning the branches you feel aren’t adding to your bottom line – you will soon end up with a very sad looking tree…
At the end of the day, if your bottom line is increasing – that should be all you worry about.
And you DID hear about that from us.
P.S I have a client that used to ask this question all the time of her customers. She finally saw the light when one day a customer answered, “Oh I hear your radio Ad all the time” when in fact the business wasn’t advertising on radio at all…
Reader Comments (1)
The question of where a customer first heard of something is completely irrelevant. Even if customers could pinpoint it, why would it matter? In most cases their first contact with a brand or service had no measurable impact on their later decision to use the brand or service. So who cares about it?
There is some value in finding out where customers are seeing/reading/hearing about your brand generally so that you can have some sense if the message or media choices are correlating with the customer contact. But even then you really need to use a scientific sample and you would want to measure against the population as a whole.
Couponing in its various forms can also be a decent tool.