Faulty Memory

In marketing metrics, probably the most obvious barrier to accuracy is Faulty Memory.

For example, if you survey customers to find out which of your communications persuaded them to consider your company, many customers will not remember it accurately.

This is especially likely when they have been exposed multiple times to your marketing.

For example, a customer might remember that he was "sold" by a newspaper ad, or a follow-up post card, or your monthly newsletter. But if you've sent him several post cards or newsletter issues, or he has seen several different ads, he may not remember which one.

When Does This Much Inaccuracy Matter?

In that case, what you learn is better than nothing. Even if it is only roughly accurate, you may not mind. For more detail, see Reverse Tracking.

But, in contrast, let's say you have been testing different ad headlines, and you want to know which headline pulled the most responses. In this case, the unreliable recall of a large number of customers may cut deeply into the accuracy of your testing – so much so that that piece of research turns out to be worthless.

The cure is to start using Classical Tracking, which would give you far more accuracy because it doesn't rely on memory at all.

Return from Faulty Memory to Barriers to Accuracy

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