What do you do if your marketing decisions are influenced by biases?

One of the most important things to continually remind yourself, your team, and your organization is that you are not the target customer(s). Investing in periodic or ongoing qualitative and quantitative research helps everyone understand what is speculation, what is bias, and what is "voice of customer."

Diversity in thought is indeed the secret sauce for innovative marketing! Here’s how we spice things up: Reverse Mentorship Program: We paired junior staff with execs as their mentors, flipping traditional roles. Fresh eyes questioned old patterns, leading to more inclusive campaigns. Cross-Department Brainstorms: Inviting teams from non-marketing backgrounds, like engineers or customer service, to our brainstorming sessions, brought unexpected angles to our strategies. One memorable shift was when a finance intern’s insight reshaped our ad spend strategy, proving diversity goes beyond titles and years of experience – it's about the richness of perspectives.

Beyond just seeking diverse perspectives within your marketing team, actively engage with cross-functional teams from other departments such as product development, sales, and customer service. This can provide a holistic view of the customer journey and the impact of your marketing efforts, ensuring strategies are informed by a broad set of insights and reducing siloed thinking.

Note: Data can be biased - see "Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez". It's not a silver bullet. Data is?better used for disproving an assumption. After 15 years of working in data, the default is for people to find stuff that proves their point. It's an echo chamber. If you start from the alternative, or you work with an analyst outside of your team, you're more likely to get a well-rounded perspective on your assumptions. If you're doing your own analysis, always take a step back. Are you misreading an "average", have you assumed a particular group of users "fits into a bucket" when in reality there are many subgroups there? Advanced data analysis can include things like K-Means clustering which can further remove bias.

Data speaks louder than opinion. When in doubt, rely on data to help you make decisions that are free of both conscious and unconscious bias. Your marketing decisions directly influence your brand value and no one wants to be associated with a brand that promotes or is influenced by bias.

Instead of just testing assumptions on current strategies, engage in scenario planning to imagine various future states of the market and customer behavior. This method can help uncover hidden biases by forcing you to consider multiple potential futures and how your marketing strategy could adapt to unexpected changes.

Biases in marketing are inevitable, but they don't define your outcomes. Acknowledge them, then pivot to storytelling and empathy. Understand your audience deeply, beyond data, through their stories and needs. Test your assumptions rigorously, and let real-world feedback guide your strategy. Marketing is about generosity and connection, not just transactions. Shift focus from selling to creating genuine value. This approach not only mitigates biases but also fosters authentic and effective marketing campaigns that resonate with your audience and stand out in the marketplace.