Can you look back to a time when business was booming, and your products were flying off the shelf, or when you were winning clients without effort? Then, another year, there was stoic silence. Numbers fly around, top line, bottom line, sales, revenue, debt, profits, and losses, but does that help you warm up to your customer base? Are you aware of what they want and why they seem so inconsistent? It is probably time to look at what your customers want; that is where consumer research can come to your rescue. From a new business, expansion, to product development, you cannot overlook the impact of market research. It helps you decode your target market, improve sales, and unleash business growth. Here are 7 reasons you should invest in Consumer research to improve your top and bottom line effectively.

Importance Of Consumer Research

1. Opening New Business Avenues

Well-structured research offers a wealth of Consumer insight. For starters, you can identify who is your actual audience versus your target audience. This helps tweak your marketing and outreach activities to reach the people who would benefit the most from your product line. It also helps you learn about what competition offers and how you can create ancillary products to upsell and cross-sell. You can further plan for targeted campaigns in specific locations having a high density of your audience demographics, which opens new avenues for business expansion.

2. Improving Brand Loyalty

Brand stickiness is what every business strives to achieve, and you can do that only if there is a consistent stream of sales and returning customers. Consumer Research in Marketing isn’t limited to creating new products or acquiring more customers. It also entails keeping in touch with your existing customers and potential customers so that you’re also meeting their expectations. This base of happy existing customers helps you test new products before you take them to market. They will also give you insights into what you need to do to convert one-time shoppers into repeat customers. Furthermore, if you notice an unexplained drop in sales throughout time, you can identify where the problem lies and fix issues before the losses are irreparable.

3. Creating Targeted Promotions

There are different types of Consumer Research that you can create to address a plethora of questions you need answers for. An ideal way to reach your customers is to create lucrative offers they cannot refuse. Beyond promotions and discounts, this research enables you to identify the right marketing platforms, promotional photoshoots, social media pitches, and even website layouts. Knowing what they want is winning half the battle. Decoding how to keep your customers happy enables you to know exactly what to address and how to address it with your prospective marketing strategy.

4. Identifying Platforms To Advertise

Budgetary constraints are a real problem in the post-pandemic world. With shrinking marketing and advertising costs, it becomes imperative to rethink how you want to invest in the best places to get the maximum returns. Knowing where to invest ensures you’re reaching the audience through channels where they’re most likely to spot your products. If you are unsure of buying ads on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, WhatsApp, or Twitter, consumer insight research can come to your rescue. Online ads can be turned to look beyond just the demographics. Tap interests, life events, and other parameters for better reach.

5. Keeping Track Of Market Dynamics

Consumers today are spoilt for choices, and with many options available at similar quality and price points, one small misstep can see people fall off the wagon. If you invest time and resources to know your customers, your post-sales service improves manifold, making you an easy choice for new consumers from competition to switch brand loyalty. In the course of customer research, you will likely discover unaddressed concerns, which may need a minor tweak to make your products more desirable. Furthermore, keeping track of product reviews is one way to identify dissatisfied customers from the competition. Another way is to tap segments that the market forces have overlooked. This would help you create a business proposition that is fail-safe and is a winner all the way.

6. Simplifying Decision-Making

One thing that comes out loud and clear in this conversation is that Consumer Insight Research makes it very easy to take some difficult decisions. Think about when your sales numbers helped you identify your low-performing sectors and what you did to turn the tide in your favor. Now, being armed with what consumers want, these actions can have measured outcomes than shooting targets in the dark. You can take a targeting approach to a price correction, marketing, and discounts armed with powerful insights into your end-users needs. Your business pitches will be easier to sell if your outcomes are rooted in reality rather than guesswork.

7. Setting Realistic Business Goals

At the end of the day, while your business revolves around your customers, you must also be mindful of your employees’ well-being. When you set ambitious and achievable goals, it boosts your employee morale exponentially. Without consumer research data, you cannot know if your goals are achievable and how you can plan to achieve and excel in them. Set the right direction your team can work on and see your business grow.

Everything said and done, remember, consumer insights research is not a one-time activity. As target customers’ sentiments change over time, you need to keep up with them through transient times. Research and execution go hand in hand.