You’ve spent time and energy launching what you thought was a killer marketing campaign or website, only to find out that it didn’t get the results you expected.

What happened?

Well, it could be a consequence of limited research. According to a report from Forrester Research, it’s estimated that 37% of advertising spend is wasted because of inaccurate data.

Research can feel like an ill-afforded luxury and time suck. But it’s necessary to lay the groundwork for effective and meaningful designs. Without doing research, you’re flying blind, putting your business at a disadvantage.

Set the tone for your design with market research

It’s easy to think, “We don’t have time for this. Let’s just get it done!”

But with design, jumping straight into it without doing any or minimal research can mean missing out on opportunities to make it easier for customers to see that you’re the right solution.

Research serves as a blueprint for your design projects, providing your team with the motivators, obstacles, and aspirations of your current and future customers. With all of this information on hand, your marketing pieces will speak directly to gears turning in their heads.

Let’s look at what could happen when it’s left out of the equation.

Lack of research creates a domino effect

Without the valuable insights that come with market research, you’re putting the design of your marketing campaigns and other communication channels at a disadvantage.

So, let’s look at what can happen with a design when you skip this very important step.

Digital and print design that misses the mark
Can you imagine what would happen if you opened a store without knowing what to sell to customers? It would be a complete waste of time and resources.

The same can happen with your company’s marketing.

If we apply this to a website or print design, not understanding the audience on the receiving end and what they’re looking for means you could create something that falls flat. Even with a beautiful design, it still has to meet customers where they are, and you can only do that if you know them.

Ineffective marketing materials
Your brochures, emails, direct mail, and other marketing pieces are doing a lot of heavy lifting to facilitate conversations with customers that you can’t have in real time. But if you don’t know who they are, their pain points, or what they want to achieve, those marketing materials, no matter how beautifully designed, won’t resonate with them.

Now, how can you get this information about your customers?

Practical ways to use research

Whether you’re a startup or a small business, there are ways to dig deeper to get to know your customers.

These are a few of our favorite methods.

Start with what you already have
Dive into your website analytics, social media insights, and even product reviews to see what people are saying and doing as it relates to your brand. These sources are gold mines for getting information about user behavior, demographics, challenges, and goals.

Plus, you can get most of this information for free.

Check out your competitors
Take a look not only at the products your competitors sell but also how they talk about them. As you do, it’s also helpful to consider questions like:

– What seems to be working for those businesses?
– What opportunities exist for differentiation?
– Are you seeing an opening you can take advantage of?

While the answers to these questions will enhance your design strategy, there’s something to remember when scoping out the competition.

The goal isn’t to copy. It’s to understand the landscape. If you approach research with this in mind, you can avoid potentially taking too much inspiration from what other businesses are doing.

Here’s a real world example.

Police Security Flashlights (PSF) brought us in to redesign their MORF headlamp product packaging. They had a great product, but their packaging wasn’t connecting with customers. PSF realized they needed to understand who was buying their headlamps and why.

To figure out what customers wanted and identify their challenges with similar products, we listened to online conversations, read reviews, and analyzed interviews. As part of our analysis, our team also examined PSF’s competition, scrutinizing how they positioned themselves and their products.

From this research, we identified three buyer categories, which revealed the requirements and frustrations people experienced with previous purchases. These insights guided us during the redesign to showcase all the benefits of the MORF headlamp to potential customers.

Go directly to the source
Talking to current and potential customers reveals a lot about what they want from a product and the company that sells it.

Online surveys that measure customer perception and sentiment, as well as polls, can provide helpful insights and trends you may not otherwise find.

However, one of the most powerful ways to get those gold nuggets of information is through conversations and interviews with your target audience. They can tell you what’s going on in their minds when they decide to purchase, opening up a new world of understanding that helps shape your future marketing.

Let’s look at another real world example.

As organizers of Pride Run ATL, Front Runners Atlanta didn’t just want more people to sign up for the race. They wanted to make sure participants and allies felt truly included and celebrated. For this to happen and reach a broader audience, they wanted to create a slogan that would extend into the design for the race’s brand campaign.

To start, we interviewed event organizers, spoke with runners, looked at the history of the Pride Run, and reviewed articles and videos about the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ runners. The goal was to build a clear picture of what this event meant to people.

And what did we find out? It was more than a race. It was about finding a safe space, about being accepted, about celebrating who you are. People wanted to be part of a community, a family, where they could be themselves and feel seen without judgment.

Based on these insights, we came up with slogan options that reflected movement, unity, and acceptance. The final slogan, “We See You,” was a powerful message conveying to every participant, whether they were a participant, supporter, or community member, that they were welcome. For the brand design, we took the slogan and translated it into a playful, colorful typographic treatment that was a big hit before, during, and after the race.

Good research leads to better design

Good design blends creativity, strategy, and research to produce a very effective result. When you have the right amounts of each, your marketing conveys your message while creating a connection with the people engaging with it.

Market and competitive research can significantly improve your design outcomes because it gives you data that leads to a more coherent, informed strategy.

This analysis also provides your creative team with a rationale for the design decisions made, ensuring that your marketing message is one people want to see and hear.

Luckily, you don’t have to go at it alone. When you partner with a creative team that puts research at the forefront, your design will work harder to speak to what motivates your audience, whether it’s online or in print.