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Grow More, Do LessWho Hires UsOur PhilosophyMeet Our FounderCrow & Pitcher Story
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Uncovering Your Perception Gap - A Data-Driven Approach to Accelerate Revenue Growth

Would you like to attract more loyal customers to your brand?

Most of us would! Here's a question that can help you achieve that goal...

When was the last time you thought about the gap between what your current customers believe and what your prospects perceive?

We call this the "Perception Gap". 

Discovering and addressing your brand's Perception Gap is a game-changer for your brand strategy, marketing plan and growth trajectory. Let's dive in.

What is the Perception Gap?

The Perception Gap is the difference between how your current customers view your brand and how your prospects (those considering your brand) perceive it. 

  • Current Customers: They know your brand, they love your brand, and (hopefully) they’re loyal.
  • Prospects: They may be aware of your brand or even willing to consider buying from you, but they don’t yet see your brand in the same light as your loyal customers do. So they don't buy.

In our work with B2C brands, we've seen time and again how this gap can be surprisingly large and how uncovering it fuels a brand into sustainable growth.

How Do We Identify the Perception Gap? 

We take pride in always taking a "data-driven" approach. Sometimes that means conducting formal market research and other times we're more scrappy. Either way, here's the approach we take to identify the perceptions and pinpoint the gaps:

  • Select Key Attributes: We identify 8-12 attributes that are crucial to your brand and category. There are a variety of methods we use to decide on this list together including public sources (like competitive advertising), your brand's priority focus areas and other tools.
  • Conduct Market Research: We survey both your current customers and your prospects, asking them to rate your brand on the selected attributes and to quantify the importance of each attribute. Depending on the nature of your business, the cost of this step can be surprisingly affordable.
  • Analyze the Data: This analysis reveals which attributes are most important and which have a perception gap. The intersection of these two factors helps us prioritize which attributes to focus on.

If an important attribute doesn’t have a perception gap, there’s little growth potential in messaging it.

The real benefit comes from identifying high-priority attributes that also have a gap to close.

Why is the Perception Gap Important?

Understanding the Perception Gap makes it easy to select your most important advertising messages. And stick with them.

 Here’s how: 

  • Eliminates Guesswork: Instead of guessing which messages will resonate, you use data to drive your decisions.
  • Prioritizes Impact: You focus on the messages that will bridge the gap, changing perceptions and behaviors. If there’s no gap to close, the likelihood of changing behavior is low.
  • Enhances ROI: By prioritizing messages that matter, you ensure your marketing dollars are spent effectively, driving higher returns.

Focus on what prospects need to hear in order to believe and act like your current customers

Close up of London Underground train door with logo and Mind the Gap signage on the ground

Real World Example

Below you'll see the Perception Gap Curve for "Brand X", a B2C brand. The green line shows the attribute association levels for current customers. The gray line shows the associations for the brand's prospects. The space in between is the gap we're looking for.

What do you notice about the data below?  

  • Which attribute was rated as most important?
  • Which attribute has the biggest gap to close between customer and prospects?
Perception Gap Chart for Brand X - an excel chart with a green line and gray line across 6 attributes, the largest gaps between the gray and green lines are for attribute 2 and 3

While Attribute 1 was rated as the most important attribute for Brand X to deliver, customers and prospects already have similar perceptions.

If Brand X were to focus all of it's marketing efforts on Attribute 1, simply because it's the most important, they risk wasting money. Changing perceptions of prospects on this attribute is not likely to change their behavior.

Weed out messages that are interesting but irrelevant

Attributes 2 and 3 have much larger gaps to close.

By focusing advertising efforts on messages that build the perceptions of Attributes 2 and 3, the brand was able to bridge the gap, attract new customers, and see significant growth.

The same excel chart as above but with 2 orange boxes drawn around attributes 2 and 3

Summing It Up 

With the Perception Gap technique, brands efficiently drive growth by focusing on what really matters. They influence their prospects to behave more like existing customers and drive real results.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you consider this powerful tool:

  • Are you messaging what your prospects need to hear to believe what your loyal customers believe (and act like them too)?
  • When was the last time you gathered customer insights and used them to guide your marketing decisions?
  • How could the Perception Gap technique shift the way you approach your marketing efforts?

Are you ready to close your brand's Perception Gap and attract new customers with ease? Get in touch today, we're be excited to hear from you.

Ready to accelerate your growth?

Schedule a free consultation to discuss how closing the Perception Gap can fuel sustainable growth for your brand

Schedule Today
Melissa Jacobs, CEO and Lead Strategist at Crow & Pitcher LLC

About the Author

Melissa Jacobs is the CEO and Lead Strategist at Crow and Pitcher LLC, a Brand Strategy and Insights Consultancy. B2C businesses hire Crow & Pitcher to gain a new level of clarity on how to target their ideal client and stop wasting time and money on efforts that aren’t effectively impacting their bottom line.