Generating true customer insight does not have to be a difficult task, although for many it is! The statistics, mathematics and complex formulae behind research is often enough to confuse and deter many marketers. This shouldn't be the case as some of the greatest campaigns and marketing initiatives are born from the simplest of insights.
Analysing raw data can be complicated, frustrating and, in many circumstances, yields no insight or understanding. This raises the question - are we perhaps doing something wrong? Thus, in Yellowwood's white paper we outline a number of common, hidden traps to avoid when analysing research.
1. The stand-out bias
To the person analysing the research, certain information may be more vividly recalled because they find it personally interesting. Be careful of aggregating this information if it applies to just a handful of customers. Learn to tell what is important from what stands out to you. Just because it's an interesting fact for you, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's relevant to your whole market or a customer segment!
2. Fear of rocking the boat
People often find the status quo comfortable and avoid taking action that would upset business-as-usual. This often leads to marketers ignoring or overlooking important information about customers because it goes against how they currently do things in their business. People often don't like taking risks when they don't have to, but ignoring negative feedback is a missed opportunity to leverage ground-breaking insight that could potentially allow a significant competitive advantage.
3. Justifying vs. Identifying
Marketers and business decision-makers often view research selectively in order to justify the decisions they have already made, instead of using the research as a guiding light to inform strategy. Justifying is about using evidence that supports your decision - which is often based on a pre-conceived idea - even when there is plenty of information to tell you otherwise. Look at research with an open mind and try to genuinely learn from your market.
4. Personal benchmarking
A very common trap is that marketers assume that what they themselves enjoy or what their preferences are apply to their target market. This completely ignores the context of the customer, who may be nothing like the marketer. Using yourself as the benchmark skews the way you view your market and results in misdirected and inappropriate customer communication. Just because you enjoy volleyball, doesn't mean that your market does too.
In conclusion
Shirley Harding, Head of Market Research at Standard Bank, said it best: "the real skill [of relevance] is being able to understand what you see and turn that into insight - it has become a rare skill." When we analyse the research that's available to us, we marketers have to make a conscious effort to get insight from the information. This means putting yourself in your customer's shoes, thinking about why they would feel a certain way, and really listening to what they have to say - without the filters of your own experience, interests and habits.
Our white paper highlights many ways to improve the quality of insight we generate and the ways we interpret information. Alana Dell, Consumer Insights Manager at KFC South Africa explained to us that since consumers use emotions to drive decisions, the job of the marketer is to understand why they feel the way they do. Pure data can't tell you that.
To achieve relevance, marketing needs to be based on real customer insight. It's essential that marketers understand what an insight is and how to extract true insight from the reams of purchase, response and behavioural data that's out there. Be careful of falling into the common traps of research analysis!
For more information, please contact Yellowwood on +27 (0)11 268 5211, email az.oc.doowy@ofni or visit our website: www.ywood.co.za
