If you’ve been involved with marketing for any extended period of time, you’ve probably heard common adages and axioms, such as:
- It costs 5 times more to win a new customer as it does to stop one from leaving.
- The best way to grow revenue is to target your top customers for repeat sales.
- Advertising works best when it’s focused on the segment most likely to purchase.
- Most word-of-mouth happens from the most loyal customers.
Did you know that there is no empirical evidence to support any of these statements? In fact, all four are wrong according to marketing science researcher, Professor Byron Sharp, in his amazing book, “How Brands Grow.” If you don’t believe me, I highly recommend that you read his book. The video below gives a little taste of the misconceptions and mistakes that most marketers make according to Professor Sharp:
