What do we mean by “marketing like a scientist?”

It’s not as ridiculous as it sounds, but marketing can be boiled down to a science. It’s why McQuillen Creative Group was created. The owner, Troy McQuillen likes to tinker with ideas in the design, development, and marketing world. And the reason why MCG has been in business for over 25 years is that we continue to experiment and innovate. We bring the quality of a big agency, but we don’t charge outlandish prices.

This week we’re going to share some ideas for how we approach marketing like a scientist would approach their experiments.

Mix up your messages to discover your audience’s interests.
Use A/B testing to hone your messages.
Segment your clients and customers.
Audit your performance.

Play around with your messages

Marketing at its core is supposed to be fun. As I’ve alluded to before, it’s like putting together a puzzle. In this case, that puzzle picture eventually forms into your audience or customers. So how do we put the pieces together? This is where you have to think like a scientist. You may have an idea about who you’re trying to reach, but do you know how well they will receive your messages?

In one case, if you’re trying to sell clothes, you should have a couple of messages created to sell the product. One message can tap into the emotional core of the customer. Another message could explain what a product is in a way that’s appealing. Steve Jobs famously touted the iPod as “1,000 songs in your pocket.” Apple is always experimenting not only on their products and software, but with their marketing as well.

Test your marketing like a scientist: A/B Testing

A/B Testing in marketing is much like a clinical trial. In this time of COVID-19, news about these trials is becoming more common. The way pharmaceutical companies test is that they give a portion of their subjects a vaccine and the other portion a placebo injection. This division of subjects allows scientists to read the data that comes back to them. In marketing, it’s a similar concept.

Let’s say we need to run an email marketing campaign for a fashion brand. This brand is putting on a sale, and they want to maximize their sales. There are two approaches we could take with an A/B test. An A crowd would receive a subject line saying, “Big sale, only happening this weekend. Check out the deals!” A B group would receive a similar email saying, “50% off all products! Open for details!”

These two subject lines say the same thing, but they convey two different messages. The A group received an email that creates urgency about a limited time sale. The second email shows that products will be half-off the retail price. It’s our job to interpret the data that comes back from these emails. Whichever has the better open rate and click-through rate will tell us what kind of message is more effective for our audience. But in a later campaign, we can switch the groups but use similar subject lines. This will tell us if there is a connection between the message and the behavior of our customers.

We get a little giddy when we can nerd-out and play around with our marketing campaigns.

Segmenting your audience helps you target customers

When you’re working on writing flashy messages for your marketing campaigns, you should be aware of the audiences you are reaching. If you are managing an email list, you should make sure that you’re not always sending mass emails. Often marketing is not a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. If you’re marketing like a scientist, you should be aware of the keys to targeting.

Most social networks have powerful tools to gauge interest and demographical indicators. Those are great metrics to have, but you have little control over how your message reaches specific customers. That’s where email marketing comes into play. Services like Constant Contact and MailChimp have powerful customer relationship management (CRM) tools. A CRM is a snapshot of your entire audience, and you can tailor your messages to specific groups. As you send emails, it’s important to tag contacts based on their behaviors (opening emails, clicking links, etc) and then target them with your messages.

Analyze your marketing performance

If you’re marketing like a scientist, you’ll be checking data all the time. It can be a little overwhelming at first, but there are a couple of key performance indicators (KPI) that you can track. The old way of marketing depended on raw impressions. The more eyes that see your product will mean more customers. That doesn’t apply anymore. A real KPI is how your customers or audience interact with your marketing.

This is why conversions are such a big deal in marketing. It’s a marathon and not a sprint. The brands that do best foster their customers to become dedicated buyers. This is either through the quality of the product or the lifestyle associated with it. You need to give your customers a reason to champion your brand. So when you tailor your message to them, they will be the strongest KPI of all.

Bring it all together

Now that you’re marketing like a scientist, you can keep experimenting and improving your work. Take a look at where you’re at now and figure out goals for the next year. It’s good to audit yourself annually to make sure you’re on track. You can look at your past projects and figure out how to improve them. You can figure out new campaigns for the new year. There’s always a way to make your marketing better.

But if you’re looking at the horizon and it seems like you’ll need guidance or support, call on McQuillen Creative Group. Our team has decades of knowledge and experience and we use the latest industry tools to make great websites, designs, and digital marketing campaigns.

Contact McQuillen Creative

Need someone to approach your marketing like a scientist? McQuillen Creative has been in the marketing game for over 25 years and we want to help your business. Do you need help with your social media presence? We offer month-to-month packages that scale with the needs of our clients. GIVE US A CALL and let’s see how we can create a brand strategy for your social media presence.

McQuillen Creative Group, Inc | 423 S Main St, Suite 1

Aberdeen, SD 57401 | 605.226.3481 | MCQUILLENCREATIVE.COM | MCQUILLEN CREATIVE ON FACEBOOK