Ya Know: Knowing Too Much Makes For Bad Marketing...

One of PJ's friend's dads called me the other day for advice on buying an
Apple computer.

Since I own an iPhone, a couple iPods and half a dozen Macs, you'd think
I'd be a wise person to call. My problem: I knew too much. I had to stop and refocus my thinking. It was harder than I expected to get back to basics.

In their book "Made To Stick" the Heath brothers call this problem "the
curse of knowledge".

Here's a fun experiment they give: think of a familiar song. Now drum out the tune with your figures for someone and ask them to guess it. They likely can't. Ask them to do the same with a different song. When the tune is ringing in your head, it seems impossible that the other person can't guess it. But if you lack the vital information to guess the song, it will make sense.

When you know something well, it's hard to remember what it's like not to know it. Overcoming that is what separates a good teacher from a bad one. And a good marketer from a bad one.

Many marketers make the mistake of assuming their customers and prospects know more about their product or the category than they really do. I can't tell you the number of times I advise a client to include a basic piece of information in their advertising.

"Everyone knows about the guarantee," for instance one client told me.

"Really?" I replied. "I've worked with you for a year. I didn't know about
the guarantee."

That's what gives a firm like mine an edge. I know the market. I know my business. But I'm just far enough away to get into the average prospect's head.

Now if I could just use that approach in my marriage...

Takeaway: If you're too close, find an outsider to help you bring your marketing in focus. Better yet, ask your customers and prospect what they think. It may surprise you.