Why Qualitative Feedback Is the Most Valuable Metric You’re Not Tracking

For years, marketers have been obsessed with metrics and data-driven strategies, optimizing for numbers more than people.

Don’t get me wrong, data is important in marketing. But many of us have operated with the mindset that if we just gather enough numbers, we can predict exactly what will drive success. With every click, view and interaction being tracked, we’ve been rooted in data and perfect attribution models.

It’s easy to get swept up in the world of data. But if you work in the marketing field, you may have noticed a recent shift when it comes to measuring success. I know I have.

Privacy regulations have tightened, and consumer behaviors are changing faster than ever. Marketers now have less access to the granular data they once relied on, leaving us with fewer exact insights. Success is starting to hinge more on qualitative customer feedback and brand perception. Not just perfect attribution models.

It’s an important reminder of the humanity, magic and nuance needed in marketing, and that sometimes the most powerful strategies don’t come from numbers alone.

In some ways, I feel like we’re returning to the “Mad Men” era. Success centered around big ideas and overall impact, not hyper-targeted campaigns based on data. Today, marketers are rediscovering the power of qualitative customer feedback and good old-fashioned human insight and intuition.

So, marketers, it’s time to get comfortable with a little less data and a little more time spent connecting with your customers.

Related: 11 Effective Marketing Strategies to Help Streamline Your Startup

How to get the qualitative feedback you need

Here’s the challenge: as businesses grow, it’s harder to gather impactful qualitative insights. It’s not like the early days when you could pick up the phone and call the few customers you have. If you’re not careful, it can also quickly turn into a major timesuck (and a hindrance to your customers).

It takes time and effort, but there are a few old-school tactics that can make a huge difference:

Customer visits: Get in the room

Remember when businesses would send their teams to visit customers in person? It turns out it’s hard to replace face-to-face interaction. At Wisita, we’ve found that customers are far more honest in person, revealing product issues or feedback they might not mention over the phone, email or in surveys.

In fact, some of our most meaningful product pivots came from face-to-face visits or unscripted calls. I still remember a time when a customer walked us through how they were misusing a feature we thought was intuitive. It was a wake-up call. And it led us to overhaul the interface for that tool completely.

This type of direct “people feedback” is invaluable. It’s a core part of our user research and early stages of product design. We sometimes even bring product mockups and prototypes to meetings to understand if we’re building something of any value.

Face-to-face meetings aren’t always fully scalable. But it’s definitely worth the effort when you need honest insights.

Related: He Was Scared to Give His Business Partners Bad News. Then He Realized a Gamechanging Truth.

The power of the right surveys

Surveys are still one of the easiest ways to get feedback when done right. My first piece of advice? Avoid blindly sending out surveys to your customers without much thought to context or timing. You’re asking people to give up a chunk of time out of their day to help you out. So make their time worthwhile.

Also, think about your end goal for your survey. What kind of feedback would be most helpful? What point in the customer journey is best to ask for this feedback?

For example, if you’re diagnosing customer conversion issues, try placing a survey on your “help” and “signup” pages. It’s a simple but powerful way to understand why people aren’t taking the next step.

At Wistia, we learned this the hard way. We used to send out a big survey at the end of every trial period, hoping to understand what was working and what wasn’t. But the responses were all over the place. Too late, too vague. So we changed our approach.

Instead of casting a wide net, we added a single question directly to the signup page: “What’s holding you back from upgrading today?” The timing was everything. When people were in the moment, facing real friction, their answers got straight to the heart of what we needed to fix.

Survey format is also key. Look at Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys. The data output is useful, but the real gold is in the comments. The qualitative feedback is what tells the full story and helps companies find actionable insights.

Take the time to experiment with what survey mode and format works best for you.

Related: Take Control of What Your Online Presence Says About You

Customer story time

Sometimes, the best feedback comes in the form of a story.

Early on at Wistia, we listed our phone number on our website and encouraged customers to call with questions. Yes, we would help callers with their inquiries. But it was also helpful for us to hear what people wanted and where they were struggling. We were able to refine our product based on those conversations.

As we grew, we turned this idea into “Customer Story Time.” At our weekly all-hands meetings, we encourage employees to share customer conversations to help give the team insight into what’s working and what’s not. This simple practice of sharing qualitative feedback reminds the entire company of the human beings they’re serving and helps us best market our products.

At the end of the day, marketing will always center around connecting with people. The data will always be there and will continue to play a role in guiding decisions. But the sweet spot is when we take a step back, get comfortable with a little ambiguity and remember that humans are at the heart of everything we do.

The future of marketing is in the stories, the feedback and the humanity behind every interaction. Old-school marketing is back, and here to stay.