You're torn between marketing and research priorities. How do you strike the right balance?

Striking the right balance in Marketing and Research priorities is very difficult to answer as a rule. But if you know what you're trying to accomplish (i.e.: generate leads) and you know who you're targeting, you have a good place to start. Now, you want to determine what the cycle looks like. Are you selling million dollar B2B software to large enterprises—long sales cycle and multiple decision makers—or low cost solutions in a more transactional way? Both have very different research programs to get the results you need to market effectively.

Balancing marketing and research priorities is challenging but essential for growth. As a consumer research enthusiast, I find integrating these disciplines key. Start by setting clear business goals and aligning efforts. Use consumer insights to craft resonant marketing campaigns. Encourage collaboration between research and marketing teams to share data and ideas. Stay agile to adapt to market changes and trends. Utilize advanced analytics and AI to understand and predict consumer behavior. This creates a feedback loop where marketing is informed by research and vice versa. This approach boosts engagement, drives innovation, and makes your brand stand out in the market.

Para lograr el equilibrio adecuado entre las prioridades de marketing y las de investigación, es importante seguir los siguientes pasos: 1. Establecer un plan estratégico que defina claramente los objetivos y metas tanto en términos de marketing como de investigación. 2. Asignar recursos de manera equilibrada entre ambas áreas. 3. Integrar la investigación en todas las etapas del proceso de marketing. 4. Establecer métricas de desempe?o que permitan evaluar el impacto tanto de las actividades de marketing como de las investigaciones realizadas. 5. Fomentar la colaboración y comunicación entre los equipos de marketing y de investigación.

It's usually more important to prioritize research ahead of marketing; research is essential to determine how to market your product or service. If you prioritize marketing over research your marketing effort is simply guesswork! Your marketing could be good based on judgement alone but you're likely to underachieve unless you've conducted solid research ahead of marketing.

Be aware that analyses of trends informs you about what has happened, not necessarily what will happen. The landmark book 'Megatrends' provides techniques to identify emerging trends that are not evident from analyzing historical data alone. It's too complicated to outline the technique, so read up on it, apply the principles in your industry, and it will help you be a futurist in your field!

Gain insights on the fly! On any given day you may have opportunities to speak directly with friends, family members, neighbors, sometimes complete strangers who are buyers, potential buyers, users, or non users in your product or service category. Just be friendly, engage with people when you can and ask them about their likes, dislikes, experiences within your category. Probe, listen, learn, and incorporate that learning with the hard data - either primary or secondary - that is available to you.