Why it's critical for marketers to have an experimentation mindset

Marketing has always been a balance of art and science when targeting and reaching audiences on a human level. For most marketers, art is the easy part. It’s improving our use of data, technology and analytics that is most difficult. That’s where experimentation comes in.?

By experimenting with behavior-based and data-driven targeting, testing, and analytical recommendations, we’ll not only have the potential to communicate more quickly, but we can also adjust in near real-time.

Historically, marketers and content creators lean on guessing what will best stick the landing. But relying solely on these traditional tactics – including white-board collaboration, replicating others, and being intellectually reactionary – is hardly the most probable way to distribute content that delivers on conversion.?

Instead, by combining this innate creativity with curiosity and consistent experimentation, we as marketers can more strategically change how we communicate.?

Imagine a campaign that took months to prepare debuts but ultimately fails to reach the desired real-world results. Ten years ago, it might have taken ten weeks to fully understand why the project was such a miss.?

Today, with just-in-time data, evidence, and artificial intelligence, not only are we instantly able to understand why the campaign failed, but we could have already run scenarios in advance to be in position to respond no matter how the campaign was received.?

The fact is, in every discipline, there is always room for growth when it comes to embracing an experimental mindset and any strategy-to-action proposal. This is especially true for content creators and marketers, both of whom have struggled to balance the time needed for ideation with the needs of their clients, the daily changes to the digital landscape, consumer demand for less copy, and a more straightforward user experience.?

The traditional, linear marketing approach is simply not moving fast enough to keep up with the speed of today’s consumers. Staying competitive in today’s digital landscape means being hyper-aware of the needs and expectations of today’s ever-changing consumers.?

To do this, we need to take chances, be open-minded and run scenarios using constant insights and analytics from which we can learn, adjust and make real-time, data-driven, and evidence-based decisions that deliver personalized, valuable content to the end consumer.?

This experimentation mindset is essential when deciding on the most accurate and efficient ways to change or simply rearrange copy, land a message, and inspire movement from the customer. Just as important, this curiosity and data-driven thinking frees up time for more diverse and creative thinking, which only increases the probability of developing a message that will connect with an audience on a human level and move them to action.?

This opportunity to be in a beautiful, never-ending dance with creativity, data, analytics, and experimentation, which can create unprecedented change in how we market to consumers, is upon us. The problem is most content and marketing firms need a dance partner to do it.?

More marketers need access to these solutions, intensive tools, and the consistent framework required to run multiple tests simultaneously to multiple segments. Every moment a marketing team isn’t innovating and optimizing, they’re losing out on an opportunity to connect with the audience their customers are most trying to reach.?

If there was ever a time to truly elevate and improve how we approach creativity and connection with an audience, regardless of how instinctively creative we may be, this is it.