In addition to providing research solutions to many businesses and marketing agencies, Communications for Research goes a step further by advising marketing agencies on how to get their clients to act on market research – because that’s where the proverbial “rubber hits the road”.
In the end, it doesn’t matter how valuable and insightful our market research solutions are if the end client can’t see value in it. If the marketing agencies we support cannot translate our results into results for their clients, then the value chain breaks down. We do our best to not let that happen, and to that end are 4 key things that we proactively advise:
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Understand the Audience
Long before marketing agencies present a market research report to their client, they need to analyze who they’ll be communicating with. Is it a sales executive who is primarily interested in practical recommendations? Is it a marketing analysts who has a deep interest in aspects like research methodologies? Is it a technical specialist who needs to see how recommendations align (or don’t align) with existing IT infrastructure and systems? This needs to be understood, so that the market research outcomes can be crafted and geared accordingly.
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Simplify and Organize
Even if (as noted above) the market research will ultimately be delivered to a technical or analytical audience, the information must be simplified and very well-organized. Extraneous information should be moved to footnotes, endnotes or appendices, as should supporting charts and tables (aggregate charts and tables might be suitable for the main body of the market research report itself). Consistent and clear use of headings, sub-headings, bullet lists must also be part of the presentation, as should a table of contents that allows different readers to quickly access the information that is relevant to them. Simply put: the information may not necessarily be simple, but it has to look simple.
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Make Practical Recommendations
It’s also important to ensure that all recommendations are practical and therefore actionable. Abstract and theoretical advice should not be part of the main list of suggestions (although they may be part of the broader narrative – i.e. implementing recommendations can help a company fulfil its vision, improve its culture, and so on). The easier your suggestions are to implement, the more likely your end client will take action! Doing this well shows that you understand your client's business and their role.
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Making Implementation Part of the Package
Even if a client is excited and on board with the recommendations, momentum can quickly fizzle out because things can get busy in a hurry. As such, marketing agencies should make implementation part of their package. That could mean incorporating how the insights gained will influence your agencies service delivery or factoring in a consulting portion of the services as a next step. Assume that the client is going to need support to turn valuable insights into measurable results.
Learn More
To learn more about how the Communication For Research team can help your marketing agency maximize client value and ROI using market research, contact us today. We have in-depth experience in this area, and can ensure that both you and your client succeed.
