Research – your research and why you should bother.
I think every business should conduct its own research, and here’s why.
It supports left-brained and right-brained thinking. The most effective marketing messages anticipate and respond to both sides of the brain.
Most marketing tends to focus on the right brain – seeking confirmation through intuition and feelings; most research appeals to the left brain – with facts, logic and linear ideas.
In short … use the data/research (left brain) and then appeal to the right brain with storytelling and data that helps people to visualise and imagine.
Source: Simple Psychology
And here a few reasons why you should bother ...
It’s great for profile;
It positions you with the research topic;
It gives you unique, valuable and helpful data and insights;
It provides you with a wealth of content to use across multiple channels – social media, website, literature, webinars, seminars, press releases, white papers etc.;
It gives reasons for clients to contact you;
It gives you a reason to reach out to clients and referrers;
It’s proven as a mechanism to help firms achieve greater growth.
And here are 3 practical ways you can easily engage with and undertake your own research:
Commission original research. E.g., local business/property trends, ask your local business/property community. Invite clients to provide feedback on what they want.
License existing research. A ‘quick’ and easy approach to get you started. It doesn’t cost too much. Of course, the limitation is the topics/research may be more limited.
Sponsor a 3rd parties planned/upcoming piece of research e.g., Moneypenny sponsor our What Clients Want Research and Conscious Solutions sponsor our Professional Services Marketing Survey. We both benefit from the arrangement – we have unique, relevant data plus in conducting and then sharing the research we can create profile opportunities and more. Research in collaboration with a partner is a way to offset/share costs and get additional resources and input to make your research even more relevant and thorough. It’s also a great way to align yourself with key brands and topics.
I hope this has inspired you to think about conducting your own research. There are many benefits to you doing so.
If you would like to chat about how or where you can get started ... do get in touch.