Think Like a Marketer, Even If You're Not One

(Stolen from my Better Research Blog)

Often times researchers sadly forget to think like marketers, business people, or consumers when evaluating what needs to be measured and how. Here are some great marketing principles you can embed in your mind when you're designing your research projects, programs and budgets (courtesy of Seth Godin).
  • People don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.
  • If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. Good marketers realize that it is an investment.
  • Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not. Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations.
  • Products that are remarkable get talked about.
  • Marketing is the way your people answer the phone, the typesetting on your bills and your returns policy.
  • You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time. And people, once unfooled, talk about the experience.
  • You’re not in charge. And your prospects don’t care about you.

Seth's blog is must reading...

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