Marketing Research Mix
The Marketing Research Mix pairs qualitative methods like interviews with quantitative ones like surveys and usage data, so a single method's blind spot doesn't end up driving the decision.
Each step moves from naming the decision to running qual and quant side by side to chasing down where they disagree, rather than settling for whichever result is easiest.
Reach for this when…
- A survey gave you a clean number that doesn't match what customers say in person.
- You're about to bet real money on a hunch and want more than one kind of evidence.
- Stakeholders disagree and each is citing a different, single source.
How to run it
- Name the decision the research needs to inform, not the topic generally.
- Pick at least one qualitative method (interviews, focus groups) and one quantitative (survey, usage data).
- Run them close enough in time that findings can be cross-checked.
- Look for where the methods agree and where they contradict each other.
- Resolve contradictions with a follow-up, don't just average them out.
A worked example
Situation. Sanne de Vries runs Boerenslim, an agritech SaaS business in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and her churn survey said price was the top complaint.
Applied. She ran ten farmer interviews alongside the survey and found the real issue was that the app needed signal most farms didn't have, price was just the easiest thing to blame on a form.
Result. She built an offline-sync mode instead of cutting price. Churn dropped within two release cycles, the survey number had been pointing at the wrong fix.
The catch
Running more methods costs more time and money, and it can produce contradictions you don't know how to resolve. It also tempts people to cherry-pick whichever result supports the decision they already wanted. The mix only pays off if you're honestly willing to be told something inconvenient.
A number and a quote that disagree are both telling you something. Don't average them, chase the disagreement.