In yesterday’s USA Today (I know you are thinking the USA Today is not one of my normal reads, but hey I was on a business trip), shows how people like to manipulate numbers. The article, Summer Electric Bills Won’t Rise Much, puts a positive spin that electricity bills will only rise by 3% as compared with last year when it rose 4.3%. The other good news is that the 3% rise is in line with core inflation. The article even says that there is finally good news for consumers about energy prices and that air conditioning bills will not be a shock to consumers. Plus, did you know that lower electricity bills are good for the economy?
Pardon me if I don’t jump up and down for the good news. This is just a case and point of where any marketers, including the author of the article, can put a spin that lets you know the economy will be humming along because electricity won’t rise too much. I don’t know about you, but when anything goes up in price it is bad news, especially when it is for something that you have to pay for.
What does this have to do with marketing? Plenty. Any number you receive or analyze should not just be taken at face value. Really, what does it mean to your business? A high click rate or response rate may not be high enough. What is your competition doing?
Everything in this world is relative as Einstein explained; you just need to decide first what is it relative to? I always compared m
y numbers with last year, so I at least could explain the numbers versus prior years and explain the conditions of what led to good or bad numbers. Is Wall Street having a bad year? It doesn’t matter how good your programs are if you are in the brokerage space. Is it any wonder that the brokerage industry is having a great year because the market is up with no signs of stopping?
Every number you receive or publish should always be relative to something. Personally, it was always relative to last year’s numbers. Oh one more thing about the article – the good news does not apply to Maryland residents where price freezes are being lifted and their bills will rise by 72%. See, it is all about relativity.
PardonMyFrennch,
Eric
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