PEOPLE PAY ATTENTION TO THE ERRORS THAT ARE SEEN AT FIRST SIGHT, NOT TO THE REAL ONES THAT ARE HIDDEN
Description
People focus only on success stories, without understanding what caused that success, at the same time neglecting failures of other people.
Research:
In World War II, the Allied forces wanted to add protective armour to their warplanes. They had to decide where they should include it for the best protection.
Based on the planes that had been shot but successfully made it back some experts concluded they should add more armour around the tail, body, and wings, because that's where the bullet holes were.
But these were the planes that made it back to the base, meaning that the bullets weren’t fatal to the plane.
Abraham Wald pointed this and recommended attaching the armour to the areas that the surviving aircrafts had no bullet holes, instead. It's very likely he saved many lives and also gave birth to the concept of survivor bias.
Application
Data Analysis Blind Spots
Digital marketers often rely heavily on data analytics to inform their strategies. An unseen failure in this context could be ignoring qualitative data, such as customer feedback or social media sentiment, which might provide insights not captured in quantitative data. Recognizing and integrating these qualitative insights can lead to a more holistic and effective marketing strategy.
Ignoring Customer Journey Variations
Another unseen failure could be the assumption that all customers follow a uniform path in the digital marketing funnel. Marketers might overlook the diversity in customer journeys, leading to a one-size-fits-all approach. By acknowledging and adapting to the different paths customers take, marketers can create more personalized and effective engagement strategies.
