Marketing and the maritime industry share an important planning characteristic that will never change.

It is the need for sound navigation — the art of determining where you want to go, then finding your way and getting to where you want to arrive.

Since sailors first took to the sea, they have relied on navigation at sea to ensure a vessel’s safe passage, avoid hazards, and reach the intended navigation.

The primary goal of your business is to earn a profit or reach objectives…which, like the mariners, requires avoiding hazards to reach a goal.

No matter whether one is at sea or land, reaching those goals requires solid planning before steering in what you believe to be the right direction.

Many businesses resist research to navigate

According to Thomas Redman, “The Data Doc” who runs Data Quality Solutions, resistance to using data – and the research that generates that data—is surprisingly common.

Often, the first reaction to calling upon research to help guide marketing efforts is “We know our business and don’t need someone else to tell us what to do,” or “We cannot afford it.”

Neither excuse is valid and neither excuse is going to give you a clearer idea of how your marketing program should be shaped.

What kinds of research is available?

You have a choice.

Formal research, which requires an expenditure for the systemic gathering of information and analysis of that the data that results from the research.

Informal research is the observation of people, information, and events as they occur and asking yourself “What does it mean and what does it suggest?” In other words, common sense, based on what you see and hear.

So how can you conduct research…without a big budget?

Remember what Thomas Redman said about the first reaction to research? “It costs a lot.”

Without a research budget, that leaves you with informal research.

The good news is that informal research can be conducted on a budget that uses only a modest amount of time and can still provide significant insights into what your audience is thinking (or not thinking) about the products and services in your particular industry.

Thanks to Google and the internet, secondary research — published information — on your industry is readily available.

If you discover good existing research, you may find it sufficient to use and properly cite for your content marketing objective instead of conducting new research.

A basic internet search or prompts into a generative AI tool can lead to industry association data, libraries, government reports, etc.

Another place to look is right at your fingertips…your business’s internal information, such as marketing stats, sales data, and related information that can be accumulated to provide insights on trends, opportunities and direction.

Other creative ways to conduct research

If secondary research reveals gaps that more formal research could fill, you may want to undertake an original research project. Qualitative research (e.g. personal interviews, focus groups) or a quantitative study (e.g. surveys) or a combination of the two may be useful.

If you have a college or university nearby, you may want to talk to someone in the business school to learn if a marketing class might want to undertake a study on your behalf for a modest grant, plus expenses.

Or, if you have an experienced statistician available, you can explore the notion of conducting a limited survey of existing or potential customers or build in a satisfaction survey that reflects how customers feel about a particular item like customer satisfaction or recommendations.

Research can serve as a powerful resource for all of your marketing initiatives

Earlier, we talked about the maritime industry and its dependence on navigation.

It’s no different with business. Research provides information that allows you to more effectively navigate your business environment.

Whatever information you can share with your marketing team – including your PR resource – will provide direction that will result in more effective marketing and sales.

At Wellons Communications, we value and respect the importance of research

No matter how informal or formal, we welcome the availability of research to help make sound decisions on where to invest our time, and our client’s money, to help them get the maximum results from their marketing program.

We can even use your research as news and turn your observations into an authoritative observation that will establish and reinforce your status within your current and potential clients.

If you want to learn more about how you can conduct research on a modest budget, and how that research can serve as a rudder for helping to navigate your marketing program, give us a call and let us help you with the steering.