People Lie! That’s Okay. But What Does This Mean for Marketers?

There are many things that bring us together as a human race.

Love.

Awe.

Loss.

and lies.

The plain truth is that EVERYONE lies. It is biological. Science has shown that children less than 2 years old have learned to lie and practice lying when it benefits a need. It is, in fact, one of the first weapons that we have against perceived danger and we perfect our use of it before we hit our adult life.

This great Louis C.K. bit about his dilemma with his own daughter’s lying in order to get out of trouble is an example of this:

Some Lies are Just Bad

These are lies that as you say them, your stomach knots and you begin to sweat. These are the lies that you knowingly told out of cowardice and you’re consciously aware that being found out would hurt others and yourself.

I’m not talking about those lies.

I’m talking about little lies. Lies that we even tell ourselves. There are some conscious versions of these (often called little white lies), but most of the time, they are subconscious.

Lying Has a Bad Rap Sheet

Lying has gotten such a bad reputation for good reason. It can be harmful and hurtful. And because of this bad rep, someone who has told a lie becomes a LIAR. A person of devious intent and bad character. A bad person lies and a good person doesn’t. So it is understandable that many of us believe that we don’t lie because we are not bad people.

But, we’re lying to ourselves about our non-lying practice. This self-deception creates an interesting dynamic where our lies have simply turned into skewed truths that we categorize as something other than lies. A situation where we don’t even realize we’re committing the act of lying.

This is when marketers face a challenge.

What A Customer Really Thinks vs. What They Tell You

Most people don’t want to criticize someone. When only 4% of your customer base will tell you when they’re dissatisfied – that leaves 96% of customers who leave you wondering. So it is supremely important to listen to every interaction a customer has with a brand and listen for clues before things get ugly.

If you’re lucky enough to get feedback from a customer, positive or negative, make sure to document it. Take a look at your feedback over time and see if you can pick up patterns or common themes.

But when you do this, you must also look at the meaning behind the words. If you have complaints your product doesn’t come as expected, be sure to dig into what expectations there are versus what is delivered. If you get compliments on your product, try to understand not only what features they like, but why. Decipher what your customers are telling you into what they actually mean and you’ll fare better.

What a Customer Really Thinks vs. What They Say Online

Social media and online personas is another sticky situation where people are ALWAYS lying. Customers online only publish what they want to share about themselves– their own personal brand.

Marketers risk taking what someone says on social media as the gospel of what someone truly wants. And even more mistakenly, what they will buy. Social listening is important, but it is also important to understand that what you hear online may not reflect reality. People share the parts of themselves that they want known at that time in their life. Sometimes what is shared is just plain false.

 

 

As a marketer, online feedback can certainly be a building block to success, but it should never be the only tool used. New products, campaigns, and initiatives should always be validated through multiple avenues as a part of your process.

What a Customer Really Thinks vs. What They Say in a Survey

The common survey given to customers should be used with caution.

Surveys can give very high level information, like the general tone of your audience and some basic details about who they are. But surveys are inherently flawed.

First, survey results are only data of the people that take the survey. That group of people may not represent your actual target audience or their needs. Your respondents could be the ones who enjoy the experience of clicking boxes and answering questions, the ones who have extra time on their hands, the ones who like incentivized gifts, the ones that are very engaged with your brand, or the ones that had such a bad experience they want you to know it.

Secondly, survey answers are often untruths that don’t reflect reality. They are what people THINK they want you to hear or what they THINK they remember.

A classic example is the “How did you hear about us?” question. It usually looks like this:

Knowing that it usually takes about 7 – 13 interactions before someone takes notice and buys, a truly honest response would be:

“Quite a few places. I saw an ad online for your slap bracelets that I didn’t click on. Then I randomly read a great blog post about 90s style coming back that someone shared on Facebook. After that, I forgot about you. But a friend of mine was talking about you and mentioned a really cool article about 10 surprising ways that slap bracelets are saving the world. So she sent that to me and I signed up for your email newsletter. Your emails were cool for a while so I followed you on social a few months after that. I think I got something in the mail too, but I don’t remember. Then I got a hankering for some chocolate. And went shopping and saw your end cap and it reminded me that I had been considering getting one of your slap bracelets so I grabbed one while I was there. Either way, it was a few months before I remembered your brand name and gave you my money.”

What that survey answer will actually tell you:

“online ad”

My fictional slap bracelet company chooses to gut their end cap display, stop email, go dead on social, limit content marketing, and put all their efforts into more online ads. All because of a false survey answer.

Guess what? Your customer lied (probably because they don’t actually remember) and you’re making a huge mistake. Good luck.

What to Do

The best way to combat the “lies” is to listen empathetically and deeply to your customers. Talk to them in many ways: online, in person, in email, in focus groups, on the phone, etc. Don’t focus on one thing and don’t dismiss what they tell you. Take their responses at face value and then understand that there are hundreds of backstories and motivations behind each of them.

Use your data and a bit of gut about the human condition (Your gut? Yes! Isn’t the talent to understand behavior why we are in this profession?) and find the common threads from all of your marketing efforts to better help your customers.

Then, be sure to check new initiatives with your customers before moving on them. Don’t assume that when someone says “Yeah… that could be nice. Sure.” on a survey that it means they will buy your new product.

They won’t. Because they lied to you and really mean “no.”