GlobalWebIndex is a company providing my article. They are helping companies go from raw data to impactfull customer insight and saying it is more simple than ever.
We spent about 6 hours a day using internet devices. We approximately have 6 social media apps active. Seven people from ten, buy every month something online.
Companies collect endless amounts of data about us all the time. I think that this has become truly creepy. Our phones listen to us and gather information that is very private. Every day there comes an advertisement in front of me that shows me something that I just talked about. I am worried about the ethics of how the data is collected from us in everyday life.
Now, every forward-thinking brand knows that consumer-centricity is key – something that can only be achieved by putting deep insight in the driving seat. Because in the digital world, customer insight is everything. Data itself doesn’t help you without insight. We still need a human touch to go through data.
Study your dream client, research for insight
There are many ways how the research can be conducted, and the data collected.
What works, when, and why?
We need to know potential customers, Who is it? What do they do? Why do they do it? How do they do it? And it goes deeper than that. Are online behavior is a vital data to marketers.
Brand fit, human touch, targeted and universal at the same time. Brand needs to be easy to identify with and it needs to align with your brand identity to targeted clients.
Picture a buyer as detailed as possible
Using insight based on granular data ,you can create well rounded portraits of your target personas, painting a precise, detailed and holistic picture of your consumer and their path to purchase.
What are their interests? How they spent their time? Understanding perception, feeling and lifestyle. Most importantly put yourself in their shoes. This empathy will create lasting connections. For me this is the case indeed. If something ever feels like a perfect match it will draw some kind of a motion on the surface and then I´m hooked.
Then you know you have found the truth. This truth is your jackpot. But let’s not forget the timing. The information about insight needs to be in hands on the right time where we can use it.
“The goal is to turn data into information, and information into insight” Carly Fiorina, former CEO of Hewlett-Packard
We need to ask right question to make a good insight. Every insight tells a story about target audience, but the key to success lies in how we tell it. What story will resonate with this audience? And the key to success lies in how we tell it. I believe that this is the problem in many small businesses in Finland. A single entrepreneur has an idea of a product but they skip blindly to do a wide market research and build a profile to match their product.
Identify to your potential clients and stick to a story
I have a friend who has a wonderful product and ideology and brand book. His web page is awesomely stylish. But there’s hardly enough touch points. The problem is that the entrepreneur himself isn’t living and breathing the brand. He doesn’t really know what people are looking for. So everything he does is build on a very thin story. There´s no powerful brand face to relate to. And the face doesn’t align to the story that is given to an audience and that does not support the brand.
I myself have sometimes wondered this question. What story will resonate with my audience? I believe I have found it but maybe my market isn’t ready yet here in Finland. That’s why, I´m also considering to move elsewhere. When you try to sell a luxury product you need to give that same image all the way.
The core elements of a big truth on customer insight
Relevance: The insight is not only interesting, it’s relevant and unique to your brand.
Timing: It’s come at the right time, and you’re in a place where you can use it.
Originality: It’s generating new creative ideas and won’t lead to an experience your consumer has had a thousand times before.
Feasibility: You have the time and resource to use it.
“Any powerful idea is absolutely fascinating and absolutely useless until we choose to use it.” Richard Bach, Author
We need to take all our information, insights and universal truths into context and create a plan to act on it. Planning, actions and remembering what we want to achieve is crucial to keep in mind. This is something that often is lost while brainstorming starts with multiple ideas. I know myself that this is something that usually happens to me. Soon I end up with too many confusing ideas and lose focus.
Knowing your audience, channels and tactics to focus on will save you money and time and create ROI (return on investment).
The article: GlobalWebIndex: Creating Consumer Insight, the smart researcher’s guide