This week – Is that Fact, Opinion or a Guess?
The other day, listening to a podcast, I heard a word that has been rattling around in my head: “anecdata” which was used to refer to the anecdotal feedback you get to your marketing activities.
Clearly, it’s not actual data, although it is sometimes treated as such – but it resonated with me as we shout into the void with our podcast, newsletters, or stuff like this, or even our brand campaigns; often the data of its effectiveness is sparse, but you hear good things.
Typically, when I think of stopping something, like this weekly thought, my podcast, blog, or newsletter, I will get some anecdata that encourage me to continue.
The other day, in my client work, I heard from sales that prospects were more receptive as they’d heard of the company, so clearly, the brand work is showing signs of working, but as you know – this is fiendishly tricky to measure. So, anecdata from the mouths of sales and prospects is valuable.
However, anecdata is dangerous – we’ve all been there, the words “I heard” prefixing a bit of anecdata to justify a suggested course of action, marketing tactic or whatever it is. Often, it’s the much-maligned HIPPO – the highest-paid person’s opinion.
As I mulled over this idea on my walk this morning, I heard something else on another podcast (the splendid Keith Smith’s Fuel Podcast) that I think will help us validate our anecdata.
It’s FOG
- Fact
- Opinion
- Guess
Is this anecdata a fact?
If someone says they’ve heard of you, read your stuff or have used or shared it, I think we can consider a fact. Or a colleague is suggesting something that worked at a business they recently worked for, assuming they credibly saw the results (even though you can’t) we can consider it fairly factual.
Is the anecdata opinion?
I’ve already brought the HIPPO into the room – so that.
Is the anecdata a guess?
“This tactic will create more leads” – no mate, unless there is some data, and I don’t mean that a competitor is doing it (as I discussed as Green-Eyed Marketing) – that’s a guess.
So, anecdata; a valuable bit of insight to inform our strategy, but beware of the FOG.
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I’m a 3xCMO, now a marketing strategy advisor and podcast host at Rockstar CMO. Although, I’m not a rock star, but a marketing leader, strategist, content marketer, columnist, speaker, industry watcher, and creator of ART (Awareness, Revenue, and Trust) for the companies I work with. But most of all, I am an enthusiastic tea drinker.
You can find me on LinkedIn, Twitter, or now Threads! – or listen to my weekly podcast at Rockstarcmo.com
The half-baked thoughts shared on this blog may not reflect those of my employer or clients, and if the topic of this article is interesting or you just want to say hello please get in touch.