Listen up, because I’m about to tell you a hard truth that could very well change the way you’ve been doing business – if you’ve got the guts to take it to heart.
We’ve all seen those trotting out their stacks of research like it’s the gospel right?
They wave around their data and customer surveys like a queen with her scepter. But let me lay it on you straight: if you’re leaning on research like it’s the only thing keeping you standing, you’re doing it all wrong.
I know, I know. Research is the bread and butter of marketing, right? It tells you who’s buying, what they’re buying, and why they’re scribbling their names on the dotted line.
But here’s the thing: quoting David Ogilvy, “most use research the way a drunk uses a lamp post – more for support than for illumination”. They’re clinging to it, not because it’s shedding light on the path forward, but because it props up their shaky ideas and gives them something to hold onto when their creativity has left the building.
The Turning Point
Here’s where many trip up—they decide where they want to go, set their course, and then—and only then—do they look at research and justify the direction they’ve already chosen. That’s not strategy; that’s post-rationalization.
The Art of Informed Decisions
The art of using research properly is in letting it inform your decisions from the get-go. It means pouring over that data before you start, understanding the climate, and then plotting a course that’s actually going to get you where you need to go. It’s a dance between what the numbers are telling you and where your experience says you can push the boundaries.
Research should be used to find what’s no immediately obvious, to reveal the stumbling blocks before you trip over them, and to highlight opportunities that might otherwise be unknown.
The Approach
A true marketer uses research to challenge assumptions, to question the status quo, and to find new ways to talk to the human on the other side of the transaction. They don’t use it as a shield to hide behind when questioned. They use it as a sword to carve out new territories.
Striking the Balance
Striking the right balance between research and instinct is where the magic happens. It’s about using the data to question your gut when it gets complacent and to inform your gut when it’s ready to take a leap. It’s not about choosing between creativity and data—it’s about letting them move in unison, informing and inspiring each other.
Not as a Replacement
But here’s the cold, hard, inconvenient truth – all the research in the world can’t replace human insight and that gut instinct you feel in your bones. I’m talking about the kind of instinct that can sniff out a winning headline from miles away, the kind that can feel a market shift before it starts to turn. That instinct is what separates the businesses that succeed from the one-hit wonders.
Think about it. The campaigns that get chiseled into the Mount Rushmore of marketing greatness, they weren’t born from a pie chart or a bar graph. They came from someone rolling up their sleeves, digging into the grit of human desire, and crafting a message so potent it could wake the dead.
Where Do You Go From Here
So, what’s the game plan? Use research the way a sniper uses a scope. Let it guide your aim, sure, but remember that you’re the one pulling the trigger.
You’ve got to understand the beating heart of your market, the raw emotion that drives them. And then, you’ve got to speak to that emotion with words that burn so hot they sear your message into the brains of your audience.
I know, I get it…I’m being too graphic. But it’s important.
Bottom Line
Don’t get drunk on research. It’s a tool, not a crutch. Let it illuminate the dark corners where opportunity hides, but don’t lean on it so hard that you forget how to walk on your own two feet. Stay sharp, stay creative, and for the love of all that’s profitable, stay human.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not the numbers that are opening their wallets – it’s people.
