Throughout our careers as marketers, we develop biases that innately shape the way we think and behave. These biases develop with life and work experiences, culture as well as our general beliefs. Although a marketer’s intuition is a valuable asset, in most situations we need to slow down, think and assess our decision-making process.
No matter which industry you work in, these biases are universal and can be difficult to spot. These biases can permeate every decision and lead you down some wrong paths at work or even at home. Recognizing these biases is the first step to freeing yourself from these pitfalls and getting you well on your way to better decision making.
Excessive optimism AKA Overconfidence
You can have a great idea that your entire team loves and your client is also on board with. However, beyond your circle, the ad concept may not perform as great as you think it will. INSTEAD: Ask people on your team to play devil’s advocate or look for flaws in your ideas. A collective approach can spot potential pitfalls before they occur.
Overweighting the Start Point and Bad Anchors
Here two factors come into play. First, confirmation bias, where you tend to look for evidence that supports your argument, and secondly, anchoring bias, where you start at the wrong point in the process. Both of these points have a similar effect, and that is missing the big picture or not even seeing the picture in the first place. INSTEAD: Follow the scientific method, and use evidence to make hypotheses, not make assumptions and selectively look for evidence to match. Start from the beginning first.
Looking at the Future Irrationally
What’s worse than pretending you have a crystal ball, a faulty lookingglass. For most of us, it is just human nature that losses always loom larger than gains. So we always have some aversion to change or taking risks that can disturb the status quo. INSTEAD, try scenario-based planning and analyze all the choices you have in front of you so you can alleviate any anxiety about the future.
Socially Induced Bias
When you work in a team or as part of an organization you can suffer from two different types of biases. The first, groupthink, results from taking everyone’s input and trying to find something that satisfies everyone, which is usually not the best possible decision. Secondly, when you start thinking that your target is ‘similar to me’, making you believe people have the same thoughts or behaviors as you do, which for the most part is false. INSTEAD, have a clear decision-making process that is not susceptible to derailment from too many voices and realize that some decisions have to be made without everybody’s acceptance.
We all have our own biases and some we may never get rid of, but at least if we can be aware of potential pitfalls in our decision-making process we can better navigate the minefields of our industry. Some decisions will have to be made purely on intuition, but when the stakes are high, slow down and question if there are biases in your thought process so you can realign yourself accordingly.
BIASES AREN’T ALWAYS BAD
Once you understand these biases, you can use them to your advantage. As a marketer, you can get people to buy a product using their own biases. You can also use biases as a negotiation tool such as being proactive and setting your own anchor point. You can even lean into other types of biases, such as overconfidence which can work well to project an image in order to sell a point or a service.
Remember, it’s not always about avoiding them, but using them to your advantage.
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