7 Reasons Why Brands are Adopting Research Technology

As we continue to emerge from a global pandemic, many brands and businesses are still catching up with the pace at which consumer behaviour has changed. Consumers’ needs, wants, and behaviours have all rapidly evolved, and this creates a ton of pressure for brands to stay on top of trends.

Companies that want long-term success – and consequently, profit – for their products and services can’t ignore the changes taking place in the market. Instead, a savvy brand will leverage these changes to gain relevant, lasting information to inform their business plans for years to come.

This pace of change has only further underscored the value of research technology.

Full-service research was once considered the Holy Grail. However, it would often take weeks to get answers to the questions at the heart of research studies, and those answers came at a heavy cost. Today, Heads of Insights have access to tech-enabled consumer insights platforms that get them their answers in just days or hours – and at a fraction of the investment. This is crucial because 83% of insights professionals report feeling budget pressure, and 58% of those seeing a budget decrease will respond by looking for ways to increase efficiency (GreenBook GRIT Report 2021).

One area where organisations are finding efficiencies is through investing in technology. In fact, Gartner’s annual CMO Spend Survey found that organisations are assigning 30% of their budgets for tech platforms – and this is only likely to increase. That’s where research technology comes in.

Why are insights professionals turning to research technology?

1. Pace of change: In today’s noisy marketplace, brands are expected to make decisions in record time, so that products and campaigns successfully hit the market ahead of competitors. Faced with this shrinking time-to-insight, companies are often reluctant to undertake what they perceive as time-consuming research. Combine that with the ever-changing consumer, and that makes it even more challenging to connect with potential customers. However, it’s imperative that you do. Brands, now more than ever before, need to have real-time access to consumers’ evolving values and behaviours to drive business growth.
2. Time: Investing too much time in the research process means not having enough time to invest in the insights you’ve gleaned – and less value for your business. Modern research technology enables insights teams to avoid the long turn-around times and keep pace with today’s fast-moving marketplace so that they can stay ahead of their competitors.
3. Money: In many cases, insights professionals are being asked to deliver more actionable insights whilst investing less in terms of time and money. A tall task, indeed. Not only does research technology make your efforts more efficient, but those insights will also have a cascading effect on your marketing. Being aware of shifts in consumer behaviour and sentiment allows brands to effectively concept, execute, and adjust marketing campaigns in real-time.
4. Simplicity: Data can be complex and overwhelming for even the most seasoned professionals. Businesses are looking for solutions that easily get data into marketers’ hands so that they can make faster, immediate decisions to deliver business impact. Research technology provides them with the real-time reporting and data visualisation they need to move forward.
5. Risk mitigation: Between the time and cost involved in launching a new product or service, the risks are quite high. However, 45% of CMOs planned to introduce new products in 2021 as their primary strategy for driving growth (Gartner 2020 CMO Spend Survey). Research technology empowers them to do so through a nimble, test-and-learn approach.
6. Internal alignment: Real-time data doesn’t just enable marketers to make faster, more effective decisions. It also enables them to instantly answer business questions for their internal stakeholders. In turn, it allows the business to make better, more informed decisions and elevates the role of insights within the organisation.
7. Control: Many researchers aren’t equipped with the right tools to identify which opportunities that their business or brand should invest in. Research technology enables them to understand which ideas should be pursued – and just as importantly, which ones shouldn’t.

The challenge and how to adopt

Though DIY research platforms provide a time- and cost-effective solution, there is one catch: researchers are left alone in the wilderness, with nowhere to turn to when problems arise. And, of course, they always do. That’s especially problematic for smaller insights teams trying to respond to an ever-increasing number of requests from stakeholders across their organisation.

Many researchers simply don’t have the time or resources for the learning curve built into even the best of DIY platforms and tackling research projects by yourself can lead to significant bottlenecks along the way. Think about it: You’re on your own from survey creation to data analysis.

That’s where managed DIY solutions come in. To ensure that you get the insights you need, research technology providers are now offering automated solutions based on robust methodologies and expert assistance. These platforms enable you to action research efforts in real-time, so you no longer have to do it alone.

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