Bad Data = Bad Decisions: How Neuromarketing Saved a Brand Over $300K in Marketing Waste

One of the reasons I pivoted my 7-figure marketing agency to focus on neuromarketing is because I saw firsthand how bad data leads to expensive mistakes.

As a marketer and entrepreneur, guiding my clients to success with integrity has always been my top priority. So when I started questioning the accuracy of survey and focus group data, I had to ask myself:

How do we get customers to reveal what they truly think and feel?

Businesses want to make data-driven decisions, but if the data they’re using is incomplete or misleading, they’re just making educated guesses—and those guesses can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Why Traditional Marketing Research Fails

95% of decision-making happens subconsciously.

(Harvard Business School, Gerald Zaltman)

That means most consumer choices are emotional, instinctive, and driven by cognitive biases—yet businesses are relying on self-reported data that only captures the 5% of decisions people are consciously aware of.

This is where neuromarketing changes everything.

How a Two-Week Neuromarketing Test Saved a Brand $300K

A beauty brand we worked with was about to invest $300K+ with us into a multi-channel campaign based on traditional surveys and A/B testing data. Their website was live, their SEO was previously managed by someone else, and they were convinced they had optimized their messaging and visual presentation for their ideal customer.

It would've been easy to launch the campaigns and collect the check, but their lack of reliable data had me pump the breaks. Instead, we ran a two-week neuromarketing study with their ideal demographic using:

• EEG Testing – To measure real-time brain responses to their website and ads.
• Eye Tracking – To see what their audience was actually looking at.
• Facial Coding – To decode subconscious emotional reactions.

While I’m no stranger to surprising neuromarketing insights, these results were shocking—and proved just how misleading traditional data can be.

• Visitors weren’t even looking at the CTA button—instead, their attention was fixated on a visual element completely unrelated to conversions.
• The tagline they believed was “emotionally resonant”? It actually triggered skepticism and disengagement.
• The model’s expression in the hero image subtly signaled distrust, lowering intent to buy. Though she was undeniably beautiful, her look felt overly “done.” Given that the brand was positioning itself around natural ingredients, this disconnect made sense. But instead of relying on instinct, we had solid neuro-based data to back it up.

But it wasn’t all 'bad' news.

The analysis also validated their pricing strategy—when tested against similar products, their packaging and overall presentation aligned with consumer expectations, reinforcing its value.

From Bad Data to Smart Decisions

By using neuromarketing tools instead of just surveys and A/B tests, we helped them:

• Redesign their website layout to guide attention toward high-converting areas.
• Reconsider their brand stance and visuals based on real emotional engagement.
• Adjust their ad creative before launching—saving them over $300K in ad spend on an underperforming campaign.

The Takeaway: Smarter Data = Smarter Marketing

If this brand had moved forward with traditional data alone, they would have wasted six figures on ads that didn’t convert. Neuromarketing gave them the full picture—not just what their audience said they liked, but how their brains actually responded.

If you’re making data-driven decisions, make sure your data is actually telling you the truth. Because when it comes to marketing, what people say and what their brain does are two very different things.

Would you run your marketing differently if you knew exactly how your audience really felt? To learn more on how neuromarketing can help your brand, message me on LinkedIn.