Trial and error are often the path to success.
Sometimes you just have to try something and learn as you go. A few years ago, I conducted research on concepts for a new healthcare-related service. Most of these ideas were quite well developed. However, while we were designing the research, the client mentioned one idea they had that was so ‘out there’ that they didn’t quite know how to describe it. In fact, they even struggled when discussing it amongst themselves. That being the case, the client felt we should hold off on testing this idea.
I pushed back a little, pointing out that squeezing in one more concept would not be a big deal. I said, “look— just write something up. It doesn’t matter how bad it is. We’ll show it in the first group, see what people say, adjust accordingly, and then show it again to the next group. By the time we get to the end of the research, maybe we’ll have something.”
The reaction to the concept in the first group was primarily confusion. But, after some discussion, the participants began to understand the idea and made suggestions as to how to better describe it. We took this feedback, edited the concept, and showed a revised one in the second group where it did a little better.
As the research went on, we continued to adjust. By the final group the participants understood the idea fairly well, but still didn’t quite know what they thought about it. Afterwards, the client felt they had a much better understanding of what their idea was, and what they needed to do internally to continue to develop it. About a year later we showed fully developed descriptions which performed very well among individuals in certain consumer segments.
Just taking your best shot and adjusting along the way can be nerve-wracking, but it’s also effective— iteration is often our greatest teacher. We live in a staggeringly intricate world, and many systems and situations are so complex that they simply can’t be intuitively understood. It’s naïve to think you can design a perfect approach up front. Don’t’ fall into the trap of thinking that knowledge and experience alone will lead you to an optimal solution. This principle applies to all aspects of our lives, and certainly to marketing and market research.
Here are some examples of how a trial-and-error approach can be used in marketing and market research:
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Some of my clients routinely optimize marketing tactics like service bundles, promotions and banner ads by introducing something in a limited geography or for a very short period. They see how it perform, tinker with it a bit, and then broadly introduce the optimized tactic.
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When I write a discussion guide, I make a point of including multiple possible ways to ask questions, and several back-pocket exercises to be used if the primary exercises don’t work as hoped. It’s not realistic to think that everything I put into the guide is going to elicit the desired information, and it’s important to be ready to turn on a dime.
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When screening research participants, give yourself plenty of time for recruiting. It’s likely you’ll learn some things during the first few days of screening that will make you realize you need to make some changes to either the research specifications or the questionnaire.
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When designing research, consider breaking it into multiple phases. Depending on your objectives it might be valuable to have time to step back, think, adjust and do some more research. A phased approach can allow that.