Unlocking the Power of Consumer Insights: Steps and OKRs for Organizational Success

As a professional working in the field of consumer insights, I am often asked by colleagues and peers how the function can be optimized to enhance its impact on organizational success. In particular, there is interest in defining Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) that can help the consumer insight function become more powerful in driving the organization forward. Therefore, I have put together a set of suggested steps and OKRs that could help organizations achieve this goal.

To make the consumer insights function more powerful within a business, here are some practical steps one can take:

• Establish clear goals, objectives & key results (OKR’s): Clearly define the goals and objectives for the Consumer Insights function. This will help ensure that insights are aligned with the overall business strategy and are relevant to the key stakeholders and deliver on these OKR’s.
• Invest in the right tools and technologies: Invest in the right tools and technologies that can help streamline the research process, automate data collection and analysis, and deliver insights in a timely manner. This can include tools for survey design, data visualization, and predictive analytics etc.
• Be a Storyteller: As a custodian of insights based on app data, behavioral data, and primary research, it is crucial to triangulate this information with secondary research and other reports. The ultimate goal is to craft a compelling story that is easily understandable and actionable. While this may sound straightforward, it can be challenging for individuals and organizations to effectively communicate data and highlight key insights. Therefore, the Consumer Insights team should focus on analysing, synthesizing, and storytelling, leveraging our innate ability to tell engaging stories. By honing this strength, we can better convey the value of our insights and drive impactful business decisions.

• Build a skilled and diverse team: Hire skilled professionals with diverse backgrounds and expertise in areas such as market research, data analysis, and behavioral psychology. This will help ensure that the team is well-equipped to tackle complex research questions and provide actionable insights.
• Foster a culture of innovation: Encourage a culture of innovation and experimentation within the team. Encourage team members to explore new research methods, test new hypotheses, and challenge assumptions. This can help generate new insights and keep the function at the forefront of industry trends. Close monitoring of internal data and consumer connects are also a good and quick source of insights.
• Collaborate with other functions: Work closely with other functions such as marketing, product development, and customer service to ensure that consumer insights are integrated into all aspects of the business. This can help ensure that insights are translated into actionable strategies and initiatives.
• Last but not the least invite stakeholders to attend Field work for different studies, ask them to talk to few consumers & conduct few interviews, organize workshops. This works like magic as people perceive research to be an easy and boring job while some feel they know it all. Some of the Nitty-gritties which gets discovered during Field work like Probing and counter probing, real life examples, spontaneous recall of various marketing/product elements can be an eye opener both for you and research in general.

Another common question that often gets asked is how do we measure the impact of insights since it is an enabling function rather than a business function.

Credit to Suzy Hazelwood

Noting down some OKR examples that one can follow. One should tailor them to their specific business needs and goals. It is important to ensure that each objective is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) to help ensure success.

• Objective: Improve customer satisfaction and loyalty or Brand Image
• Key Results:
  • Increase customer satisfaction scores by 10% over the next quarter.
  • Reduce customer churn rate by 5% over the next six months.
  • Identify three key drivers of customer loyalty and develop initiatives to address them.
  • Increase score for a key imagery parameter through Brand track study

• Objective: Improve product development and innovation
• Key Results:
  • Identify and prioritize five new product features based on customer needs and preferences.
  • Increase the success rate of new product launches by 20% over the next year.
  • Conduct at least two innovation workshops with cross-functional teams to generate new product ideas.

• Objective: Increase market share and revenue
• Key Results:
  • Conduct a competitive analysis and identify three key opportunities for growth.
  • Develop and implement a marketing campaign that targets a new customer segment and increases market share by 5%.
  • Identify at least two new revenue streams based on consumer insights and develop a plan to launch them.

• Objective: Improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.
• Key Results:
  • Reduce the time and cost of consumer insights projects by 10% over the next six months.
  • Implement a new data visualization tool that improves the speed and accuracy of data analysis.
  • Conduct a skills assessment of the consumer insights team and develop a training plan to address any skill gaps.