Here's a sobering thought: What if the perceptions you have, as a marketer, don't match up with the perceptions of your customers or prospects? A recent research study by Spong PR suggests that is indeed the case.
The study found that "marketers overestimate how much and how frequently consumers are talking about brands," for example. Less than 1/3 of consumers (31%) say they tell others if they think a brand is doing a poor job anywhere from once a day to once a week. Marketers, however, think 88% of consumers talk negatively about brands from once a day to once a week. Marketers also think consumers are more forgiving to a brand than consumers might actually be. Less than half of consumers (49%) think consumers will always or eventually forgive a brand that has a long history of supporting causes or their communities but does something wrong; in fact, 15% of consumers say they will never or only occasionally forgive such a brand. Marketers, however, think 62% of consumers will always or eventually forgive a brand.
Consumer and marketer perceptions don't even line up when it comes to media. As sources of accurate brand information, consumers rate editorial at 14% and social media at 13%. Marketers, however, think consumers get accurate brand information via editorial channels only 6% of the time, while they rate social media usage by consumers at 27%.
Looks like marketers need to do some work when it comes to understanding consumers!
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