People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel -Maya Angelou
I had the opportunity to see Danny Meyer speak this week (yes, that Danny Meyer, the legendary restaurateur behind Union Cafe, Gramercy Tavern and Shake Shack). I’ve been a long time follower of Danny, who is a famous alumnus of my alma mater, Trinity College. We even shared the same major (I was two years ahead of him and didn’t know him). So, I was thrilled to see him on the agenda for the Drift HyperGrowth Boston event.
Danny spoke about growth and how it took him many years to figure out how to both grow and be successful, which for Union Square Hospitality, is all about customer service. However, what really struck me was his focus on the immeasurable.
While many restaurants offer great food – he noted that many restaurants will get points for having “the perfect chicken, great wait staff” etc. These ‘measurable’ experiences account for only 49 out of the 100 points you need to score to be successful in the restaurant business. The other 51 points, according to Danny, is immeasurable. How does the restaurant make you feel? Months later, you may or may not remember exactly what you ate, who served you, or what was on the the menu. But, if you have a phenomenal experience, you will always remember that restaurant positively.
Lost in the measurable
In many ways, Danny’s experience in the restaurant world is similar to that of digital marketers. The science of digital marketing (and what you can measure) keeps getting more and more sophisticated. Companies can now see user journeys, multi-step click steps and where visitors have gone over time (including other sites), and even what visitors’ feelings are while using your site.
But, what companies aren’t doing enough of is really getting into the heads of customers and prospects and creating experiences that are even more rewarding than those companies only focused on on the 49 points. Focusing on the immeasurable, marketers make their site more memorable because visitors know where to click and find the content they need to ultimately find the product they want.
In our relentless focus to accumulate more and more data and make everything measurable in marketing, we’ve lost sight of the human to whom we’re marketing. I personally believe that we are at a crossroads and it’s time to let the pendulum swing back to balance the “data” and listen to how the customer thinks and feels about our marketing and our products. Let’s bring the customer- not just their data- back to the forefront!
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About Janet
Janet was the first CMO of Constant Contact, and part of the team that created much of what is known as inbound marketing today. She has also held leadership marketing roles at what is now 3M MicroTouch and HP. After creating HSG, a product and marketing consulting firm, alongside fellow entrepreneur Nitzan Shaer, they soon realized that market research is long, expensive, non-actionable, and does not work at the pace of digital marketers. As a result, they created WEVO – the first company to optimize website experiences before going live. WEVO uses target audience testing to diagnose web pages without the need for live traffic. With actionable, validated insights, WEVO enables you to pinpoint reasons why customers aren’t converting, empowering marketers with a low-risk way to uncover why people take action.
