Marketing and Sales Analytics: Proven Techniques and Powerful Applications from Industry Leaders

8. Practical Testing—An Underused Approach to Insight

A few years ago, a very wise client of mine said, “Cesar, you have to remember that in the end every marketing program we do is a test, whether we set it up formally that way or not. What’s important is whether you are open to learning from the result.”

For me this was a profoundly important insight. I, along with many others, had fallen into the trap of thinking conventionally about testing as a phase between design and implementation, or as a capability that you bolted on after you had set up your basic infrastructure for ongoing execution. Or, worse: it’s not uncommon to hear a mid-level marketing manager say words to the effect of, “We’re too busy executing the program to measure and test ...