Marketing: Art of Science?

A LinkedIn group I am in recently had a relatively lengthy discussion on whether marketing is an art, a science, or both.

I did not start the conversation, but I thought it was an interesting one because, when I talk about marketing, I define it as “the art and science of making sure you have what your customers want, and then making sure your customers want what you have.”

So where does the art come in? Where does the science come in?

To me, “making sure you have what your customers want” is primarily science. It involves doing research to determine:

Who your target market segments are

1. What product/service attributes are important in their purchasing decision
2. How you rate on those attributes
3. If they will buy from you
4. If they will be willing to pay a price that allows you to achieve an acceptable return on investment
5. What messages will resonate most with them
6. The best places to deliver those messages

The science of marketing can be used to answer all these questions. But applying this science is also an art. You need to know what research tools to use to obtain the answers. And you must know how to properly construct research documents to obtain actionable information.

So now that you know what your customers want (and whether you can make money giving them what they want), it is time to make sure they “want what you have.”

This traditionally has been the “art” part. Crafting the right messages. Appealing visuals. Being clever. Making the audience say “wow.”

And art still plays an important role at this stage...the leading role. Still, the role of science in this endeavor is expanding as technology has provided more tools to utilize science to make the art even more effective. Just a few of the many examples:

1. Web-assisted technology can play a vital role in making sure the right messaging is implemented. This ranges from logos and taglines to testing newspaper ads, television commercials, Web pages, e-mail messages, etc.
2. Once your target market is defined, data can be used to make sure you are using media most effectively and efficiently.
3. Search engine optimization techniques can be used to drive people to your Website.
4. Keyword analysis can be used to optimize your social media efforts.

Then, of course, comes the science of measuring results. Data can be used to measure the effectiveness of marketing, whether it is awareness/perception research to measure changes in awareness and perception, to ROI analysis to determine if your efforts are adding to profitability. This is true in both the offline and online worlds.

So I guess my bottom line answer is that marketing is still an art and a science. But technology has enabled us to expand the role of science, which in turn will make the art that much more effective.

Your thoughts?