Insights-driven marketing: Reshaping consumer market research
Understanding consumers has come a long way since the standardised consumer market research of the '90s. Gone are the days of simply knowing 'what the market is doing'. Today, consumer insights is where it's at, with insights-driven marketing replacing those outdated research models that merely scratched the surface of what consumers really wanted.
In this digital era, consumers practically control brands' narratives through their uncensored brand comments, opinions, reviews and conversations on online platforms. This means getting into the minds of your consumers has never been more important.
Insights-driven marketing that combines targeted market research and consumer insights is strategic, yields a significant competitive edge and centres around consumer need. Instead of asking what your consumers are doing, an insights-based approach asks why they are doing it.
It also provides a more complete, holistic view of your customers, detailing their pain points, aspirations and decision-making processes.
Getting to know your customers in this way enables your brand to make insights-informed decisions, which ultimately result in improved conversions, retentions and bottom lines.
Digital marketing consultancy WinSavvy quotes various benefits, including that companies that embrace data-driven strategies are six times more likely to be profitable year-on-year; that businesses that leverage data-driven strategies report a 5 to 8 times higher ROI; and that data-driven content strategies can increase engagement by up to 88%.
These statistics relate to brands that are efficiently harvesting data from all their customer touchpoints, deriving insights from the data, and adapting their brand strategies accordingly.
The dental department of consumer health firm Haleon, for instance, saw an 80% increase in consumer research efficiency while simultaneously, one of its brand's social media teams used insights to drive 272% year-over-year engagement growth.
Proof that when data is accurately gathered, analysed and used, the impact is enormous.
The sources from which to gather consumer insights have never been so prolific. Just consider the multitude of channels available to brands today through which to engage consumers and really get to know their needs. Surprisingly, the majority of the data contained within these channels is left unmined.
Forrester Consulting estimates that between 60% and 70% of all data within an enterprise goes unused for analytics. Knowing where and how to engage your customers to extract valuable insights is critical.
This is the increasingly important job of consumer market research firms, which are quickly adapting to changing technology and using new tech to improve analytics.
Researchers are employing generative AI tools, for example, to extract more detailed insights from their research. AI algorithms are also helping researchers to increase the contextual intelligence of consumer markets, improving forecasting capabilities.
This is the edge that is enabling brands to get ahead of their competitors, as they change focus from simply tracking trends or reacting to them, to accurately predicting the next big thing and even leading the way through the hype.
Ultimately data-driven marketing is reimagining the way brands perceive their customers. It is moving marketers beyond demographics to understanding the human behind the data, and in the process fostering meaningful customer engagement and loyalty.
Data-driven decisions are replacing gut-feel marketing, reducing risks and helping businesses make smarter, evidence-based choices.
Not only do consumer insights propel marketers to innovate in order to meet customer need, but they help to differentiate brands in the crowded market and gain market share.
Consumer insights also bridge the gap between marketing and ROI. Being in tune with your customers means better messaging; better messaging means better results.
However, it's important that brand owners consider an integrated approach to their research. Market research and consumer insights work better when paired together in a synergistic strategy.
This provides a comprehensive view of both the market landscape and customer behaviours – an absolute necessity in future-proofing brands in an increasingly fickle consumer environment.
BMi Research is a full-service market research provider delivering consumer and B2B research studies using qualitative and quantitative methodologies with modern field collection methods, including online, CAPI, CATI and PAPI.
Through our consumer behaviour and pricing intelligence research tools we deliver definitive research insights for data-driven strategies that help businesses grow.
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