Align Insights with Business Objectives
Always focused on business goals and with an eye on the consumer, we asked these insights experts for their thoughts on just what makes insights strategy resonate with the team and the business.
One key point that is often overlooked is to truly understand the business. Deeply understand the business goals and challenges to ensure insights directly address them. One must also prioritize insights by focusing on the most critical questions and areas of opportunity.
“Define your objectives. What question are you trying to answer? If you don’t know, you’re not doing insights; you’re just making charts,” asserts Michael Bagalman, Vice President, Business Intelligence and Data Science, STARZ.
For Elizabeth Oates, Author, More Than Just Interesting: How to Build an Insights Function for Impact, aligning insights with business strategy comes down to delivering on actionability.
Oates observes, “A core principle of successful insights strategy is ensuring that insights are actionable. The true value of an insights function lies in connecting findings to specific, strategic business actions. Insights that fail to prompt action risk being merely ‘interesting’ rather than impactful.”
Impactful insights, after all, are the name of the game when it comes to corporate enterprises. Oates adds, “In order to ensure impact, the best, most impactful, strategy for insights is to align to business strategy. This means focusing on the key questions that will push the business plan forward. Knowing what’s important to the business (and when) will make insights impactful because they will be tied to relevant business needs – and therefore, action.”
Adapt, and Thrive
For Karen Kraft, Associate Director, Consumer Insights & Analytics, Johnsonville, a successful insights strategy comes down to a trio of core philosophies that the department needs to strive for:
• Reliable foundational knowledge.
• A memory.
• Willingness to adapt.
This foundation is also built with a driven focus on the consumer.
“Knowing who your consumer/end-user is, how your product and service is used, and what problems it, and your competitors, are solving is critical,” notes Kraft. “Additionally, understanding the jobs to be done in your category is critical for understanding how consumers are using your product or service today and what innovation opportunities there may be for tomorrow.”
While market conditions change and the competitive environment might evolve, it’s critical for the insights team to set the tone, so to speak, for the organization when it comes to the voice of the consumer.
“Both types of research gives the entire organization and your key vendor partners a common language when thinking about the consumer which further helps weave the consumer into the overall strategy of the company,” says Kraft.
The Perspective of Business Memory
Having a memory is an interesting perspective on insights, and we asked Kraft about this often-overlooked concept.
Kraft relates, “Insights must act as the memory of an organization. Knowing what you have learned, tried, succeeded in, and failed is important to avoid wasting company resources in the future. Brand management roles tend to turn over much quicker than insight roles do and insights owns a lot of knowledge, so it makes sense for insights to take on this job.”
This doesn’t mean that previous ideas aren’t welcome or should be discouraged.
“Rather, insights should be able to help understand the lessons of why something didn’t work and help evaluate what has changed, about the idea or the landscape that makes it worthy of revisiting again,” says Kraft. “Additionally, with the sheer amount of insights than an organization collects over the years, an insights team that keeps things organized in a manner that can help existing members of the organization remember what we’ve already learned and function as a foundational and historical knowledge base for those moving into or across the organization both helps save the organization money (no need to relearn what we already know) and makes sure insights is the first place executives turn to for information.”
Finally, there is the driving principle of adaptation. Kraft points out, the insights capability needs to be willing to adapt. “Sometimes the best way to learn isn’t affordable in terms of time or money. Being willing to adapt methodologies and being open to unconventional learning helps make sure that people don’t short circuit the insights team because they are too rigid. This also makes sure that when unconventional methods are being used to obtain insights, you, the professional, still can provide guidance on any risks or watch-outs associated with the learnings.”
It’s All in the Data
Justin Coates, Head of Global Market Research & Consumer Insights, Eastman, points to several factors that come into play to develop a robust insights strategy. This includes forming a data-driven corporate culture, executive level champions, and striving to become consultant-first market researchers. “You don’t need all three of these elements to succeed, but only having one (or none) can be limiting,” observes Coates.
He relates, “Although companies have more access to data than ever before, triangulating multiple sources of intelligence into actionable insights that can set, refine, and optimize a corporate strategy remains a lofty goal. Insights teams can set the foundation for a more data-driven culture, which leads to more data-driven decision making.”
It’s also key to shift the mindset of insights functions to move away from being the “hunters, gatherers, and owners” of data to being strategic consultants focused on data to drive sustainable, profitable growth for their companies, says Coates. “The services, structure, and capabilities of insights functions will evolve rapidly, focusing on driving business outcomes versus collecting data,” he says.
Finally, these changes often require champions at the top. Coates observes, “Some insights teams are lucky enough to have executive-level champions, while others need to earn the right. If you are working to earn the right, focusing your time and resources on solving some of the biggest challenges your company faces will certainly put your team on the map in the eyes of your executive team.”
Along with the aspect of forming executive relationships comes the process of building stakeholder management skills, notes Michael Nevski, Director, Global Insights, Visa.
“Learn to understand and manage stakeholder expectations early in projects. Clarify business objectives and expected outcomes before starting research. Regular check-ins during projects help avoid misalignment and ensure findings address key questions,” says Nevski.
Honing Your Strategic Skillset
Serving as a reliable foundational knowledge of the consumer, providing the company an organizational memory, and the willingness to adapt is not short on expectations for an insights professional or an insights team. So just how does an entry level or intermediate associate develop those skills?
It still always comes down to the fundamental task of knowing the consumer and knowing the business purpose.
“No matter what level you’re at, always think about what the business purpose is for the project you’re working on. If you don’t directly interact with the key stakeholder or client, ask the person that does,” suggests Kraft. “Even if you are just working on a small operational piece of a project, knowing how the research is going to be used and what business decisions are going to be made based off it can help you make sure that you’re doing your job the best way possible and help you identify a fatal flaw in the research design that others may have missed.”
Developing Your Storytelling Skills
So what insights strategy advice would you give the entry level or intermediate level market research associate?
Bagalman has a few suggestions, starting with asking the right questions. “Ask ‘So what?’ Every time you find a stat, ask yourself why anyone should care. If you can’t answer that, you’re just decorating slides,” he says.
Understanding the business and emphasizing storytelling are also key priorities, no matter what level of employee you might be or what you might be presenting.
“Your data lives in a story,” Bagalman says. “Think like an investigator: Don’t stop at the first stat. Ask why, how, and what next. Dig until you find the story behind the numbers. Communicate like a human. No one remembers a chart. Everyone remembers a killer story.” Keeping visualizations and presentations simple and understandable for your audience are solid ways to get your point across, he further suggests.
Mastering clear communication skills can serve anyone well in the corporate enterprise, recommends Nevski. “Practice translating complex findings into clear, actionable recommendations. Focus on telling compelling stories with data rather than just sharing statistics. Use visuals effectively but selectively to highlight key points. Consider your audience’s needs and adjust your communication style accordingly,” he says.
Priming for Partnerships
Oates suggests that developing fruitful collaborations and partnerships will also make, or break, the insights professional in the corporate environment. This also comes down to honest communication and trust.
She advises, “If you are new to this field – or even new to your role or organization – the first skill you should focus on is building partnerships. Insights aren’t impactful in a vacuum. Building relationships with your business partners will do several things. First, it will help you to understand their business, including what hinderances to success they face and how they make decisions. Knowing these things enables you to build an insights plan that will uncover and share meaningful insights. Additionally, if you build partnerships, you can build trust. Some days you will have to deliver bad news – and if you’ve built trust, your partner is more likely to lean in, even when you have bad news to share.”
For Eastman’s Justin Coates, partnerships should indeed be a top priority for any level of market research professional. He advises, “For entry level folks, I recommend building your internal network. As an insights professional, you need to think of yourself as a connector between teams, divisions, and silos across your organization. In fact, most strategies fail when it comes to execution – something really good leaders can rectify by activating their broad network to implement a strategy.”
Culture is a word often thrown about in the insights community, but it also remains a key consideration when it comes to insights. “The first step is to understand your company culture and how your company works,” adds Coates. “By networking across your organization, you will build your corporate acumen while also creating alliances and friendships for when you are in a more senior role. Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions or seek advice on your own work from senior colleagues, you will be surprised how generous most are with their time and thought partnership. While it takes courage and preparation to put yourself out there, the work will pay off.”
Ultimately, taking ownership of your insights might be the best avenue for taking it further down an actionable path. “Own the insight: If your analysis is solid, be confident. Present it like you’re delivering a verdict, not asking for permission,” says Bagalman.
Video courtesy of Boston Consulting Group
