What do you do when your internal team gets stalled by marketing conflicts?

Marketing conflicts are an everyday reality when promoting any brand, not just in bioresearch. Team members who disagree on the right approach can bring an entire campaign to a screeching halt and prevent new ones from ever getting off the ground successfully. How can you resolve conflicts while keeping the peace? Here are three easy strategies:

Start with a documented strategy

Many marketing conflicts can be prevented before they begin. All it takes is a clear marketing strategy that’s written down.

This may sound like a no-brainer, but in many organizations the strategy is only vaguely formed inside someone’s head — or worse, several people’s heads. Taking the time to develop strong customer profiles, brand voice, and other key strategic elements will help everyone stay on the same page. This simple benchmark can do a lot to minimize disagreements in the first place. And it can help you work through them if they already exist.

See it from the other side

Internal conflicts often happen because team members have different backgrounds and perspectives. For example, one person on your team might spend most of their time talking to journalists and the general public. Another might be working to form partnerships with other scientific organizations. These two people are likely see your brand differently, but both might have good ideas about what your brand needs — and both may be right.

When disagreements come up, make a sincere effort to understand how both sides see the situation. Does the other side have insights you hadn’t considered? Is one side’s support more critical to this campaign than the other’s? Would it be more effective to segment the campaign to take advantage of both strategies? Look for ways to capitalize on the strengths of each perspective.

Let your audience be the judge

When marketing conflicts can’t be resolved in a way everyone can buy into, put them to the ultimate test — your audience. Try an A/B test. Send out a survey. Bring in a focus group or two. Chances are one strategy will outperform the other. The data should put an end to all arguments about which strategy is most effective. And in the process, you’ll reconnect with the most important viewpoint here, your audience.