The COVID epidemic highlights the importance of ceaseless research in every aspect of your business, as technology and opinions are changing every day. It might seem like a no-brainer, but when it comes to research and data gathering, the bottom line is that a brand should always be thinking of its customers. Ethical data research is vital, especially in times when lives have changed dramatically, and consumers have heightened-sensitivity to the way brands speak to their customers. Don’t overstep your boundaries in the interest of making a profit; instead, consider how you can research, whether through quantitative surveying or qualitative dives into your customer base, and use what you find to improve your product or services. You are the sherpa for their customer journey; make sure they get to their destination safely and happily. In the end, you’ll see a return on your investment in research when your customers trust your brand and feel like you care about them as individuals, not just as dollar signs.

Consumer Approval as Priority

Your customers are your number-one asset, so treat them as such. Their satisfaction is your ultimate goal, and it will, in turn, widen your reach, enabling growth. While it’s easy to see customers as numbers on a spreadsheet or likes on a social media page, the truth is that you can glean even more valuable data from them when you talk to them. Find out what they’re thinking and use that information to affect change in your business strategy. Customer journeys can be documented through surveys, interviews, videos, social media, focus groups, and more. At Antonio & Paris, we can help you determine the best and most innovative strategies for finding out what your customers and potential audiences think, feel, and desire from brands like yours. It’s what we excel at, in fact. Then, you can become the hero of their customer journey when you show them you’re listening.

Tools to Track

How do we do that? Our team of experts and brand futurists specializes in gathering information from consumers in a variety of new ways that most other marketing and branding professionals haven’t tapped into yet. Our passion lies in discovering opportunities and threats before they even become apparent in the market by talking to the people who will be leading their fellow consumers toward brands, products, and services they love. Other research we conduct is based on human nature, tracking the habits and instincts that seem to be hard-wired into our very DNA. We communicate with and study consumers daily to find out their passions and their foremost needs so we can relay that to our clients and help them create a plan of action based on this data. To paraphrase Jerry Maguire, we help you help them.

A Dynamic Relationship

Of course, research has to benefit your brand, too, but there’s a difference between gathering data solely to sell to a third party or simply to boost your numbers for the sake of vanity. Conduct brand research that you can use to drive change, and the positive response in your customer journeys will result in improved ROI. In other words, bring your customers with you on the road to success, don’t leave them behind. If you do, they’ll move on to greener pastures—and it’s a lonely view from above.

Now is not the time to “wait it out” or rely on old habits. When you’re ready to talk about disrupting the flow of traditional consumer insight processes through our brand research programs such as consumer documentaries, digital diaries, playground sessions, and more, give us a call!