50. Marketing - Art or Science?
Estimated Reading Time: 1 minute
This is my final newsletter for 2024.
In case you did not notice, a few weeks ago, I changed the name of this publication to Marketing Scientist. I believe the new name makes the Promise To The Customer (PTTC)—you, my readers—more straightforward:
Think Like a Marketing Scientist with Data & Behavioral Research.
There is an eternal debate about whether marketing is an art or a science.
I like to believe it sits at the intersection of both. While we now have many tools and technologies that make measuring every aspect of marketing possible, consumer behavior remains complex, emotional, and often inexplicable.
Even though data and analytics may make us feel that marketing outcomes are predictable, they are not. Humans are ‘predictably irrational’.
Yet, just because marketing can’t be a pure science doesn’t mean we marketers can’t think scientifically.
Just as science embraces data, experimentation, and systematic processes, marketing can apply a similar mindset:
We can frame marketing ideas as testable hypotheses. For example, we can test whether offering free shipping will increase conversions by x%.
We can design experiments to isolate the effects of specific marketing actions. For example, we can test new customer acquisition channels by piloting campaigns on small audiences.
We can use data to identify patterns, anomalies, and insights instead of relying solely on intuition. For example, we can measure customer lifetime value to prioritize high-value segments.
We can treat campaigns as iterative processes rather than fixed plans. For example, we can launch minimally viable campaigns and adjust them based on real-time performance metrics.
We can test how psychological principles (e.g., loss aversion, anchoring, social proof) influence decision-making. For example, we can test whether urgency messaging (“only three left in stock!”) increases conversion rates.
Marketing may never become a pure science, but adopting the scientific mindset ensures that, even in the dark, we’re heading in the right direction.
In nearly two decades of marketing experience, I’ve noticed that while many marketers draw inspiration from culture, top brands, and seasonal trends, there’s often little discussion about insights from academic research. Journals like the Journal of Marketing, Marketing Science, and Journal of Consumer Research are full of valuable ideas, but they’re often too long or written in overly complex language to be easily accessible.
That’s where Marketing Scientist comes in. I’ll distill these publications' latest and classic findings into quick, easy-to-digest insights. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting in B2B or B2C, Marketing Scientist will deliver science-backed marketing ideas in just 60 seconds!