Is your Digital Strategy to hide in the herd?

Hey my friend… So good to see you.

Yeah, you.?

I would like to invite you out for dinner and I have found a very special restaurant.?

Very special…?

Forget Michelin stars, Noma, The Alchemist or any of the other amazing places here in Copenhagen.?

I have found something truly exceptional.

Something truly exceptional

I mean really.?

The most average restaurant in town.?

Hell yes.?

Average service, average location, average ambiance and not least... average food.?

Doesn’t that sound amazing??

Nothing “not-to-like”, nothing to hate… and absolutely nothing to get excited about.?

I can basically promise you an utterly unremarkable meal with no highlights.

Like they say “nobody ever got fired for being average, right?”

“Nobody ever got fired for

being average, right?”

Isn’t that just what you are looking for??

No??

Do you mean you would honestly prefer not to put down your hard earned money for a meal like that or would you rather look for someone who might try just a little harder?

My wild guess is yes…?

When we look for a new pair of shoes, computer, vacation or whatever - average is not really a unique selling point.?

Average is not really a unique selling point

We simply do not get delighted or excited by a product or experience with an average rating.?

We strive for something better for the price.

hmm…?

So why do so many people still want to know the average conversion rate, average bounce rate or average rate of product return or even the average basket size from every random Tom, Dick and Harry in digital and online business?

Sorry it took me so long to get to the point, but I just needed to paint "a picture".

Because I still hear a suspiciously large number of people really interested in benchmarking against the average in digital, when they would never do it for anything else.

A suspiciously large number of people

are interested in benchmarking against

the average?

And especially for their own effort. There is most likely a reason there are no awards for "The Most Average Webshop", because everyone would hate to win it.??

Maybe because being average is not a strong competitive position and to a lot of people simply another word for mediocre.

So why do we have this fixation with average in digital???

Insights and value come from the outliers and extremes, not the averages.?

Insights and value come from the outliers and extremes, not the averages.?

Could it be a lack of knowledge, fear or worse simply habit? Since we are uncertain how to be a top performer in this field, we constantly try to navigate from the middle, so we can ensure we are not a total embarrassment.?

Because that is what everybody else does, right?

Like I just said right, “nobody ever got fired for being average” and it does feel safe standing in the middle of the herd, even if the grass is not that good there. I guess the good reason to benchmark against the average is, that if we are doing average at least we are not failing.?

But we are not succeeding either.?

Is your digital strategy to hide in the herd?

So my friend, I guess the final question is, if your digital strategy is to hide in the herd or to get ahead to get the good grass.?

Do your digital activities gravitate toward the middle or the top?