“Where do I start?”
“Should I be doing customer research during this time – is it appropriate?”
“Our budgets have been cut – how can I afford customer research?”
“What questions should I ask given it is not ‘business as usual’?”
Sound familiar?
You may be still using the same marketing framework, guidelines or KPIs, but the world in which we operate has changed dramatically. Whilst it has been one-hundred years since the last global pandemic, we can learn from more recent events i.e. when the GFC shook the cage to understand why the need for customer insight is heightened during a crisis. Now more than ever, you need to understand your current situation, your customer’s situation and your competitors.
Often because;
A) Customer behaviour is evolving rapidly and there is no textbook or ‘how to’ video to help brands navigate this particular crisis…the main question is which behaviours will stick?
B) Research and insights are about making a business better; more efficient, more precise; all things that become even more critical when times get a bit tough.
C) Your customers and staff are feeling a mix of anxiety, uncertainty, frustration and want to know that brands and business have a plan and are working through to a post-Covid world.
D) This will be a ‘survival of the fittest’ and you don’t want your business still at the starting gate when the doors re-open
This is not a moment in time but a permanent shift in consumer behaviour. You can’t afford to do nothing, as your actions now will define what the market and your customers think of you as we come out the other side of Covid-19.
At Insights Exchange we believe there is no more critical time than now to elevate the use of data and insights within your organisation to help you navigate this period of uncertainty. Assumption and gut feel will only get you so far. Whilst the market has stopped, this shouldn’t mean your marketing should. You need to be asking the right questions, at the right time, with the right customer group as customer research is essential to diagnose the problem right now and inform how you redesign your business roadmap and strategy.
It is one of the reasons, we fast-tracked the launch of our Insights Exchange platform to enable us to help brands and business connect with expert and independent research, data and insights specialists in a fast and efficient way. These trusted experts and customer advisors can help you get the answers you need and use their previous experience to augment customer findings and ensure you are on the right track or recommend where you need to pivot.
As part of this thought piece, we reached out to some of our global, research and data insights experts to ask what they believe are the key reasons why business should focus on customer research during this time of flux and how it will ensure your business is out front as we emerge from this crisis.
So here are the 6 critical questions you should ask yourself to determine why understanding your customer is your best bet to surviving Covid-19.
Question 1: Has your customer heard from you?
Have you told them about your future plans? Do they know how your business, product or service will adapt?
Don’t go silent. Customers want to know that your business is still operating and focused on how to make things better for customers during and after this crisis. People also have more time on their hands and want to have a greater say in what businesses are going to deliver and how that will make their lives better. Capitalise on respondent availability and willingness to talk.
Question 2: Do you know what really matters to your customers right now?
We talk about collective human intelligence, but Covid-19 has delivered an opportunity to understand what truly matters to people on a global scale. Needs will have been stripped back to the essentials and customer behaviour greatly impacted. Brands and companies who want to offer people something useful in difficult times will have to understand this changing mindset.
“We need to keep our finger on the pulse, recognising that some of the behaviours now are going to become permanent and we (the client) want to make sure we are as relevant as possible in whatever the ‘new normal’ looks like, ensuring we are even more efficient than we were before.”
Insights Manager, Global Financial Software company
Question 3: How effective is your marketing communications in the Covid-19 environment?
What are your organisational values and how are they being delivered through your communications and messaging? Are these values still in tune with your customer’s attitudes?
Mark Ritson articulated this clearly in a recent post “Just because we are in lockdown does not mean that the usual rules of brand management do not apply.” It is important to get the tone of your messaging right during these times. The all too frequently seen ad campaigns based on ‘we are all in this together’ is simply not relevant for every brand and business. Ensuring your communications is connected to your brand DNA is.
It is a fine balance and whilst gut-feel can get you so far, sense-checking with your core target audience can give you the peace of mind to launch that campaign, to continue your marketing spend and connect with your customers.
Question 4: Is customer acquisition a reality or should retention be your focus?
“It’s an exciting time for brands to pivot and think of new and innovative ways to deliver products/services that fit the changing needs of consumers.” Pureprofile NZ
Customer acquisition will be challenging, and it is more important than ever for brands and business to double down on finding new markets, solidifying relationships with your current customers and grow your customer base. How can you win back lapsed customers or those that may have paused/cancelled memberships, subscriptions or regular orders? You need to understand ‘the new normal’ to ensure your product/service still meets those needs. Consider the following:
- Where are your new customers going to come from and what do you know about them? They are not necessarily going to be the same ones that have grown with you.
- What else can you offer customers either as part of your retention or acquisition strategy?
- People are working from home more, will their needs for many products and services in that space will be different? Are there opportunities for packaging innovations?
- Is there a heightened mindfulness of where goods and services are sourced and manufactured and increased willingness to buy local?
- Will customers look for solutions or products that enable them to minimise physical contact at least in the foreseeable future?
Question 5: Are you playing to win?
What new products and services will consumers be open to embracing? What can you offer to keep up with potentially changing customer needs? Can you be nimble and flexible to adapt?
We know this will be a survival of the fittest. You want to ensure your business is the one leading the pack when we emerge from the Covid-19 world.
“Consumers have been confronted with their worst fears – the real possibility of illness, death, unemployment, lack of access to fundamental needs such as food, water, security which means a reassessment of values and priorities is likely to take place. This has had an impact on the demand for products and services in recent years and into the future. It could be argued that because of the dramatic and sudden impact with Covid-19, the emergence of new trends and opportunities that may have taken years to emerge will be accelerated.”
Qualitative specialist, Melbourne
Lean startup methods will be required now. Don’t be afraid to test and learn with your customers. Consider testing new product ideas or an online service offering They want to help you succeed!
Question 6: How can you harness your existing intel to apply insights today?
What data and insights does the business already have that you can leverage and build on?
Lots of data is still being collected and made publicly available. Capitalise on this and bring your primary research and secondary data together in new ways.
Consider updating your data using prescriptive analytics or running an insights-driven guided workshop to pool your team’s customer knowledge and capture hypotheses and assumptions.
These can then be quickly and cost-effectively tested using an Omnibus or conducting a survey among your existing customers.
Wherever your business is right now, there has never been a better time to check in with your customers, understand their evolving needs, and reassess your competitive landscape. It’s fundamental to identifying crucial opportunities for your business to survive.
ABOUT INSIGHTS EXCHANGE
Insights Exchange is a revolutionary platform that connects world class research, data and insights experts with business change makers. Our purpose is to solve commercial challenges and global issues through the exchange of collective human intelligence, experience and connection.
So here are the 6 critical questions you should ask yourself to determine why understanding your customer is your best bet to surviving Covid-19.
Question 1: Has your customer heard from you?
Have you told them about your future plans? Do they know how your business, product or service will adapt?
Don’t go silent. Customers want to know that your business is still operating and focused on how to make things better for customers during and after this crisis. People also have more time on their hands and want to have a greater say in what businesses are going to deliver and how that will make their lives better. Capitalise on respondent availability and willingness to talk.
Question 2: Do you know what really matters to your customers right now?
We talk about collective human intelligence, but Covid-19 has delivered an opportunity to understand what truly matters to people on a global scale. Needs will have been stripped back to the essentials and customer behaviour greatly impacted. Brands and companies who want to offer people something useful in difficult times will have to understand this changing mindset.
Question 3: How effective is your marketing communications in the Covid-19 environment?
What are your organisational values and how are they being delivered through your communications and messaging? Are these values still in tune with your customer’s attitudes?
Mark Ritson articulated this clearly in a recent post “Just because we are in lockdown does not mean that the usual rules of brand management do not apply.” It is important to get the tone of your messaging right during these times. The all too frequently seen ad campaigns based on ‘we are all in this together’ is simply not relevant for every brand and business. Ensuring your communications is connected to your brand DNA is.
It is a fine balance and whilst gut-feel can get you so far, sense-checking with your core target audience can give you the peace of mind to launch that campaign, to continue your marketing spend and connect with your customers.
Question 4: Is customer acquisition a reality or should retention be your focus?
“It’s an exciting time for brands to pivot and think of new and innovative ways to deliver products/services that fit the changing needs of consumers.” Pureprofile NZ
Customer acquisition will be challenging, and it is more important than ever for brands and business to double down on finding new markets, solidifying relationships with your current customers and grow your customer base. How can you win back lapsed customers or those that may have paused/cancelled memberships, subscriptions or regular orders? You need to understand ‘the new normal’ to ensure your product/service still meets those needs. Consider the following:
- Where are your new customers going to come from and what do you know about them? They are not necessarily going to be the same ones that have grown with you.
- What else can you offer customers either as part of your retention or acquisition strategy?
- People are working from home more, will their needs for many products and services in that space will be different? Are there opportunities for packaging innovations?
- Is there a heightened mindfulness of where goods and services are sourced and manufactured and increased willingness to buy local?
- Will customers look for solutions or products that enable them to minimise physical contact at least in the foreseeable future?
Question 5: Are you playing to win?
What new products and services will consumers be open to embracing? What can you offer to keep up with potentially changing customer needs? Can you be nimble and flexible to adapt?
We know this will be a survival of the fittest. You want to ensure your business is the one leading the pack when we emerge from the Covid-19 world.
“Consumers have been confronted with their worst fears – the real possibility of illness, death, unemployment, lack of access to fundamental needs such as food, water, security which means a reassessment of values and priorities is likely to take place. This has had an impact on the demand for products and services in recent years and into the future. It could be argued that because of the dramatic and sudden impact with Covid-19, the emergence of new trends and opportunities that may have taken years to emerge will be accelerated.”
Qualitative specialist, Melbourne
Lean startup methods will be required now. Don’t be afraid to test and learn with your customers. Consider testing new product ideas or an online service offering They want to help you succeed!
Question 6: How can you harness your existing intel to apply insights today?
What data and insights does the business already have that you can leverage and build on?
Lots of data is still being collected and made publicly available. Capitalise on this and bring your primary research and secondary data together in new ways.
Consider updating your data using prescriptive analytics or running an insights-driven guided workshop to pool your team’s customer knowledge and capture hypotheses and assumptions.
These can then be quickly and cost-effectively tested using an Omnibus or conducting a survey among your existing customers.
Wherever your business is right now, there has never been a better time to check in with your customers, understand their evolving needs, and reassess your competitive landscape. It’s fundamental to identifying crucial opportunities for your business to survive.
ABOUT INSIGHTS EXCHANGE
Insights Exchange is a revolutionary platform that connects world class research, data and insights experts with business change makers. Our purpose is to solve commercial challenges and global issues through the exchange of collective human intelligence, experience and connection.
