How many times have you reached out to friends and business partners to get advice about a marketing or branding concept? And how many times have you received fifty different opinions leaving you more confused than you were when you started? Over my two decades of marketing consulting, I've seen this situation play out over and over.  In fact, I've fallen into this trap myself.

It's a good idea to vet ideas, concepts and designs with people who fit your target profile. Their advice and input can in invaluable. But you need to look at it as research - not as a substitute for making a decision. In other words, there are things to be learned during this process - things that you may not have considered before you asked. However, ultimately you need to make your own decision as to which direction to go. Only you have enough information to make these decisions and only you will bear the consequences if you get it wrong.

The problem with vetting marketing and creative decisions with a group of "outsiders" (people who are not trained in marketing) is that they will not understand the criteria used to develop the concept or approach. They will simply make a knee-jerk comment or reaction (which has some value) but keep in mind that most people feel that they must "critique" the effort - finding something wrong with it is part of their perceived responsibility. It is almost impossible to put your approach in context for them.

Another issue that skews this sort of advice is that people generally prefer concepts and approaches that are safe, familiar and predictable. They will invariably suggest you remove any aspects that create tension, that are interesting or provocative. This is death for effective marketing. "Safe", "Familiar", and "Predictable" equals weak "me-too" marketing.

On the other hand, if everybody simply loves your approach this is a clue that you haven't pushed it far enough to be compelling. Effective marketing takes measured risks. If you are slightly uncomfortable about your approach,you are probably on the right track.

Now, I'm not saying you should go nuts and be offensive. The key is to find enough edge to be interesting and stand out of the clutter. Marketing by committee is well known to kill good strategies. Bouncing ideas off of your peers is not a bad idea. However you need to be careful not to base your ultimate decisions on this input alone. It is a great way to bring additional data into your process. But at the end of the day, your gut will tell you if it's right. I don't know about you but my gut is almost always right.

If you need some objective input on your marketing approach, message or brand, I'm happy to help. Contact me at www.claritymarketingsupport.com and I'll give you my opinion as a professional marketer. Just take it with a grain of salt.