“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we don't know we don't know.” --Donald Rumsfeld
Of all the adjectives you might use to describe former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, does “marketer” come to mind?
I didn’t think so, and I’m not suggesting you call Mr.Rumsfeld for your marketing needs. That’s what The Wellynn Group is for. But this quotation from Mr. Rumsfeld (in which he was referringto Iraq) inadvertently makes an important point about marketing and communications: good research is important.
We talk to business people all the time who are convinced they know everything they need to know about their customers, including why they buy and how they think and feel. Sometimes these clients are even correct. More often, they are only partially correct and sometimes they are just flat out wrong—and not always in a way you might think. For example, we have conducted research that proved target customers actually thought better of the business than our clients supposed.
The point is, no matter how much you think you know about your customers, why wouldn’t you want to be sure, especially if you want to invest time and money into a marketing campaign?
The good news is: research need not be expensive or time consuming. Of course, traditional research tools such as telephone surveys or focus groups are significantly valuable for both the quantitative and qualitative information they provide. But the advent of on-line survey panels, on-line communities, and email surveying has greatly reduced the cost of research and made it easier to have steady stream of measurable feedback from customers.
We frequently counsel clients not to skimp on research, even if only to confirm what the client already thinks he or she knows. To paraphrase Mr. Rumsfeld, you should know what you know, know what you don’t know, and try to identify the unknown unknowns. That’s why research among your target audience is so important. Investing even a little into research up front can protect you from misspending a lot later on.
