WHAT’S CHANGED?

Let’s be honest, when it comes to market research; the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Big changes in technology have transformed the research landscape but we’re still grappling with the same old problem… and that’s leveraging the flood of data and re-directing it so it’s infused into the business and has deeper, more meaningful impact. 

The customer experience beats to its own drum

You can put a face and a persona to your target market but it’s becoming more difficult to overlay it with the desired customer experience; only because that experience might not have been created yet. Your target market’s future isn’t static; it’s mercurial.

Customers are showing signs of abandoning big brands that traditionally dominated the market in favour of novel and exciting customer experiences. They’re making their own decisions because they’re tech-savvy and better informed and don’t need the safety net that a legacy brand offers.

Some of the most in-demand brands were birthed on the web and haven’t seen the inside of a bricks-and-mortar store. The great divide between traditional and budding online brands is narrowing by the day as customers take back control of their buying behaviour and insight-driven emerging brands push back.

Insight is your secret weapon – #1 Market Research Company in South Africa 

The time is ripe to become an insight-driven organisation. It’s the silver bullet that’s giving emerging power brands the competitive edge. If you can turn the analysis around from being descriptive to predictive and prescriptive; then you’re not only going to win the battle, you may very well win the war.

Data gathering is designed traditionally to tell us what happened and we overlay it with behaviour research to explain why it happened. When data helps us look into the future and tells us what could happen (predictive) or it helps us manipulate it into happening (prescriptive), we have a powerful advantage over our competitors.

Data everywhere but what to do with it?

Like the shipwrecked sailor on a life raft, “Water, water everywhere but not a drop to drink.” That’s pretty much what data overload is like.

We’re drowning in data but it’s not always data we can completely trust. Technology has created new routes we can take to uncover insight but it’s also created pitfalls we can drop into if we’re not careful. One good thing is technology is making it easier and cheaper to analyse data and disseminate it in the organisation.

Disruptive innovation shaking things up

Social media is transforming the market research playing field and it’s very exciting for data collectors. It’s certainly made it easier for market researchers to get those valuable nuggets of information. Data feeds from social media are generally unfiltered and lack bias because it’s real time and real life.

The trick with social media is to learn to master the platform. You’ve need to be a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn data mining guru to squeeze the value out of them.

Regardless of how social media is shaking things up, survey research is not dying or dead. We’ll always have to ask the right questions to learn more about our customers. What we’re seeing is a shift in how we collect it; from an active to a more passive approach using advanced market research software. This approach has made as the go-to market research company in South Africa. 

AI driving the learning machine

Artificial intelligence (AI) has already found its way onto the market research highway. What it promises is a means of doing market research faster and cheaper than before. It promises to transform the way research is done; from questionnaire development and field management to data analysis and knowledge sharing.

Data mining is exciting and definitely where AI holds its own. Complex analytics software can ferret insights out of data that’s already been collected. It also allows us to integrate multiple intelligence platforms; producing rich data banks for marketers.

Automation is another a game changer. The pressure to deliver faster, cheaper and better research can only be addressed by automating the research process.

Reporting goes virtual reality

Probably the most welcome change in the market research analysis is how it’s reported; it’s gone virtual reality where we can experience our customers in a far more intimate manner. Those days of endless overhead slides with bar and pie charts are almost, although not completely, over.

Reporting on insights is more insightful, almost like storytelling. It’s become more visual and interactive and obviously more engaging. Digital platforms make research findings more accessible across the business where a sense of the customer can be infused at a deeper level.

WHAT’S STAYED THE SAME?

What’s stayed the same in market research is the basic principle that quality data produces better information for better decision-making. Market research best practices are as sound today as they were yesterday and technology and AI can’t be allowed to undermine them.

Respondent privacy is as important today as it’s always been, possibly even more as the general public becomes better informed on how data is collected and used.

Innovation has been disruptive and there’s been interesting shifts in qualitative and quantitative research methodologies but there’s no denying it; the need for good market research is stronger than ever.

If you’re on a mission to be an insight-driven company with a healthy obsession with your customer, you need market research. It keeps you relevant and keeps your target customer at the forefront of your operations. Insight is the silver bullet you need in your arsenal if you plan to be around for a long time.

Interact – South Africa’s leading market research company and consultancy. For the best in market research. Read our top reviews from past clients.