We’ve all heard these words, and we’ve all used them. Whenever I give a talk for marketers, this quote from Jim Barksdale (former CEO of AOL) never fails to get a laugh:

"If we have data, let's look at the data. If all we have are opinions, let's go with mine."

Sure, that sentiment from a CEO resonates with everyone inside an organization. On the Marketing team, though, it’s a gut punch.

Most marketing decisions we make—messaging, creative direction, product names—come with strongly held opinions. The problem is that real evidence to back up those opinions can be so dang hard to find.

Generative AI has made this problem worse. We can now produce seemingly infinite options in seconds, which can trick our teams into thinking they don’t need the briefs, the alignment, the deep customer understanding that used to be required before we even got started.

My POV? Instead of using AI to jump into craft, we should use it to become better listeners. 

SurveyMonkey's recent research found that 83% of business leaders say customer feedback is essential to decisions, yet only 54% actually collect it more than once or twice a year. That gap creates an opportunity to use AI to remove the friction that keeps teams from listening. AI can take on more of the mechanics, from building better questions to making sense of responses faster, so teams can spend more time acting on what they learn.

When you bring customer feedback in early, you can avoid the trap of “I feel like . . .” and test those feelings before you bet on them.

The anatomy of a brand decision.

We recently wrestled with these concepts ourselves. When our team set out to name a new market research solution, everyone brought thoughtful perspectives to the table. We grounded those conversations in market context, looking at SEO trends, competitive positioning, and customer intent, but we knew that wasn't enough. So we took the debate out of the room and put our shortlist of names in front of real people, including employees, current customers, and our target market.

We used SurveyMonkey's own name testing capabilities and, in a single afternoon, we gathered 4,500 responses that turned a subjective debate into a clear decision.

When “LaunchPad” emerged as the clear winner, our team still had to stand in front of colleagues and explain why this was the right direction. Armed with data from real people, the conversation shifted. We could talk about what our audience had actually told us instead of whose favorite name should win.

When we released a behind-the-scenes documentary about the project, one viewer’s comment felt validating: "Most teams just debate names until someone senior picks a favorite. Refreshing to see this backed by real data instead." Sorry, Jim. This time, we had the data.

Curiosity breaks us out of the AI loop.

We all think generative AI chatbots “talk” to us, but they just predict a string of words based on all the strings of words like it that have come before. This is why it’s so hard to generate anything truly creative or innovative using one of these tools. To break the loop, we have to do something innately human: get curious.

That instinct is under threat in too many modern workplaces. Our recent State of Curiosity research found that while 95% of professionals view themselves as curious, only 30% say their workplaces strongly reward that trait. That should concern marketing leaders.

A team that doesn't feel comfortable questioning an assumption will eventually build work on top of it. That work will most likely come out bland. The worst case scenario is that it comes out wrong, or even offensive.

The best decisions rarely come from the first answer. They come from people who are willing to ask another question, challenge an assumption, or admit they don’t know something yet. Curiosity gives teams the discipline to keep asking until the evidence points toward a direction they can believe in.

Creating the conviction to move.

Generative tools can hand us infinite ideas in seconds. The harder job for marketers is identifying the right idea and helping the organization see why.

Confidence grows when evidence gives teams a shared understanding to rally around. That clarity allows organizations to move faster, execute better, and stop circling around personal preferences.

Marketing will always involve judgment, and good marketers should trust the instincts they've built over time. Evidence from the broader market gives those instincts something stronger than “I feel like” to stand on.

Build listening into the work early enough for the answers to change what you do. You'll spend less time debating preferences, make better decisions, and move with a lot more conviction.