A solid marketing strategy is a key to the success of any business. But ensuring it is aligned with the vision of the business and the opportunities the market present is the challenge.
This is where strategic thinking comes in and at the heart of this is insight. In fact, the whole purpose of strategic thinking is to uncover insights. These can be defined as a relevant and meaningful realisation of the nature of something important to your business and how it affects your business outcomes. For example, they could come from getting a true understanding of what motivates your audience, why they do or don’t get involved with your brand, what they think about it and how they feel about it.
Insights are therefore vital in helping to define and evolve not just your marketing strategy, but also your brand. They are the solid foundation on which everything is built upon.
Different kinds of insights
An insight can come in different forms. It might be discovering that a customer need is currently not being met, finding out the differences between an existing market and a new one or simply highlighting what people really think about your brand.
They can however be split into three distinct groups;
The first is an insight into your current situation, looking at problems, opportunities, motivations or ambitions in the here and now.
The second are insights into the future. These highlight what is likely to happen and if it is not a desired outcome, how can it be changed into one that is?
Last and by no means least, are insights that let you go from where you are to where you want to be. These are problem solving insights that look at the bigger picture.
How to uncover insights
Insights aren’t epiphanies that come out of thin air, they come from hard work. They begin by collecting information, looking for issues and categorising findings. Then, it’s a case of analysing all the data and trying to find connections and themes. Asking questions every step of the way and creating theories that are tested again and again until one that cannot be disputed is found.
Throughout this process you need to stay detached and not let your own feelings or hunches get in the way. It is all too easy to jump to conclusions or let previous experiences lead where you go.
At the end of this process you should have a strong strategic insight that is not just relevant, but also meaningful. It should be the focus point of your business strategy and help build your brand and make a positive difference to your business.
If you’d like to know more about turning insights into outcomes, get in touch today. One of our strategy team will be happy to chat you through the process we go through to find your business’s insights and how we then use them to create a strategy that gets results.