A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of co-presenting with Steve Mast, the Chief Innovation Officer of Methodify, on the subject of ResearchTech and how it fits into the MarTech stack. If you're looking for ways to future proof (and recession proof!) your business, this is a can't miss. Why?

I launched my first business, OTX, in June of 2000. As it turns out, nearly the worst time to start a business, as in 2001 the “dot com” bubble burst. Fortunately, we had a diverse client base and a technology platform that was literally revolutionizing the way movie studios and CPG firms conducted research, and we not only survived the recession, we thrived. In 2003, OTX was ranked the fastest growing research company in the world. But it wasn’t just a strong product and good fortune.

So it’s been said that marketing is like sex… everyone thinks they’re good at it. I can assure you, at least when it comes to marketing, everyone is not.

A recent MIT Sloan School survey of more than 4,000 managers found that only 28% could correctly list three of their firm's top strategic priorities. Only 28%! Given that, it’s no wonder that even the best laid strategic plans fall flat mid-year and victim to a strategy-execution gap.

I’ve read a fair number of articles on growth over the course of my career and I can tell you, firsthand, how easy it is to get distracted by the newest, shiniest bauble of advice. Just like the latest tech device or a cool new app, it’s easy to grab on to new ideas and hope for the best— without really having an understanding of how impactful a new strategy or tip or trick might truly be.

So... you feel like you have a new business idea, product or service you want to pursue. Now what? You need a framework so you’re not going at a reinvention or pivot willy-nilly.

Trade shows and events are typically one of the largest marketing expenses for B2B firms. They can be magical from a brand awareness and PR perspective or, on the downside, a total boondoggle for sales and marketing teams. I often hear sales folk enthusiastically evangelize an event without being able to quantify the number of sales qualified leads generated or demonstrate conversions to sales after their return to an office.

Most growth-focused businesses have processes in place for ensuring customer satisfaction and loyalty, but what does it mean to have a truly customer-centric business, particularly as it relates to marketing?

Whether you’re an entrepreneur or an intrepreneur, one of the biggest determiners of success and, ultimately, growth, is how you respond to failures or setbacks.

Trying to envision what’s on the horizon in 2019 and how it might impact your strategic planning? The innovation we see in the market research industry impacts the way we research and, subsequently, interact and market to consumers on many levels. Trends like mobile, passive data collection, artificial intelligence and machine learning have been consuming media attention in 2018— but there are even more innovate marketing and research methods we can glimpse in the pipeline.