• Twitter
  • LinkedIn
(503) 212-0687 | hello@cascadeinsights.com
Cascade Insights
  • Market Research Services
    • B2B Customer Experience Research
      • Buyer Personas
      • Buyer’s Journey Research
      • Key Buying Criteria Research
      • Jobs-To-Be-Done Research
      • User Personas
      • Customer Satisfaction Research
    • B2B Product/Service Research
      • Market Opportunity Research
      • Concept Testing
      • Go-To-Market Research
    • B2B Marketing Enablement Research
      • Data-Driven Marketing Research
      • Message Testing
      • Brand Research
      • Thought Leadership Services
      • Partner Enablement
    • B2B Sales Enablement Research
      • Competitive Landscape Analysis
      • Win-Loss Research
      • Churn Analysis
      • Channel Research
  • Marketing Services
    • Marketing Strategy
    • Messaging
    • Content Marketing
    • Sales Enablement
  • Insights and Perspectives
    • B2B Market Research Blog
    • B2B Marketing Blog
    • B2B Resources
  • About Us
    • Our Story
    • Our Clients
    • Client Testimonials
    • Careers
    • Ethics Policy
    • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

Tag Archive for: B2B

B2B Messaging Frameworks: Grounded by Research, Activated by Marketing

B2B Messaging Frameworks: Grounded by Research, Activated by Marketing

October 17, 2022/in B2B Market Research Blog, B2B Marketing Blog, Blog Posts /by Ashley Wilson
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

Marketers often find themselves stuck when trying to create the right messaging frameworks for their organizations. Maybe it’s because they are nervous about suggesting a new messaging framework without the data to back it up. Or perhaps they weren’t hired to solve that type of problem; they were hired to drive existing marketing campaigns. So, they’re not confident in their ability to create new messaging. Or maybe it’s because they’ve been sitting at their end of the table for so long that they no longer even know what their buyers’ needs are.

Read more

Panel Providers Vs. Expert Networks

Panel Providers Vs. Expert Networks: Who Gives the Highest Quality Respondents?

July 21, 2022/in B2B Market Research Blog, Blog Posts, Uncategorized /by Ashley Wilson
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

Asking the right people to participate in your research study is just as important as designing and asking the right questions. You simply can’t have a successful market research project with a rushed recruiting effort at the start.

Sometimes, this means using a research vendor to assist with fielding the right participants. Vendors such as panel providers and expert networks are frequently tapped to identify respondents for research studies. But if you are using a research vendor and still throwing out a large number of respondents or are having trouble making sense of the data, it’s time to dig into the problem. And that may mean it’s time to switch to a new sample provider.

Read more

competitive landscape analysis

5 Pieces of Bad News a Competitive Landscape Analysis Can Deliver

June 22, 2022/in B2B Competitive Landscape Analysis, B2B Market Research Blog, Blog Posts /by Raeann Bilow
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

This is one of several blogs in our latest series, “Delivering Bad News to Good People,” where we explore different types of bad news we’ve had to deliver and how these discoveries help companies create meaningful impact within their organizations.

Marketers often have their own preconceived notions about a competitor’s success or failure in the marketplace based on anecdotal stories they’ve heard in the industry. A competitive landscape analysis can confirm many of these assumptions. However, it may also disrupt some of these beliefs by revealing unexpected challenges.

Read more

4 Types of Bad News B2B Brand Research Delivers

May 17, 2022/in B2B Market Research Blog, B2B Marketing Blog, Blog Posts, Brand Research /by Tricia Lindsey
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

This is one of several blogs in our latest series, “Delivering Bad News to Good People,” where we explore different types of bad news we’ve had to deliver and how these discoveries help companies create meaningful impact within their organizations.

B2B brand research can help to measure the relationship customers have with your company’s products or services. It may either confirm brand awareness hypotheses you already have, or it may surface new opportunities or unexpected perceptions among your buyers.

Sometimes, the findings uncovered in brand studies come as an unpleasant shock. Although initially upsetting, confronting the truth is a necessary first step to success. Once you understand where your brand stands, you can begin to address the gap between customers’ existing perceptions and how you want them to perceive your brand.

Perception precedes reality. – Andy Warhol

At Cascade Insights, we are often the messengers who deliver bad news to good marketers. Below, we’ve laid out four examples of bad brand news we’ve had to deliver, and how they were able to use that information to change the tides of perception — and reality — for their brands.

Bad News #1: No One Knows Who The Heck You Are

Will Ferrell Elf GIF by filmeditor - Find & Share on GIPHY

The context: We once worked with a cybersecurity client that was initially interested in learning about how their product compared to competing offerings.

In the survey that we administered, we asked respondents which cybersecurity organizations they were aware of. Their responses showed that our client’s product was not as well-known as what they had thought.

Key takeaway: Marketers often don’t like what the brand research tells them. But information — especially of the unpleasant variety — inspires action.

Once this client fully grasped the reality of their situation, they then had the leverage they needed to launch a smart B2B brand awareness strategy.

Bad News #2: No One Knows What You Offer

The context: One of our clients commissioned a brand study to investigate how recognizable their core offerings were to their clients. This client explained that its core offerings were foot traffic data, geo-contextual awareness, and point of interest data. Yet, at the same time this client wanted to expand from being seen as purely B2C focused to someone who could handle B2B needs.

We found our client had a very positive brand perception among B2C consumers. While this company’s social media presence was well-known, its B2B offerings were not as recognizable. In fact, almost 20% of survey respondents weren’t aware that this company offered foot traffic data. Given this client wanted to grow their B2B footprint, this was a challenging finding.

Key takeaway: While this may be perceived as bad news for our client, the study revealed key insights regarding its varying B2B and B2C awareness that enabled them to react, adapt and realign themselves with target customers.

Bad News #3: You’re Not Being Perceived How You Think

The context: One client of ours had recently made a significant effort to engage with the open source community and invest in a number of different open-source projects. After this investment, they wanted to conduct brand research to see if buyers recognized them as friendly to open-source.

Unfortunately, our research uncovered that buyers felt our client was not involved in open-source projects at all. To make matters worse, despite our client’s efforts in the open-source space, buyers didn’t feel that our client contributed to open-source projects. Further, our research revealed that buyers were more likely to work with a company that they perceived to be open-source friendly.

Key takeaway: Initially, this news was frustrating for our client to hear after already working to establish themselves in the open-source space. But, the research made it clear that they had more work to do. Additionally, it reinforced the value buyer’s placed on organizations who truly embraced open-source.

Bad News #4: You’re a Well-Known Brand, But Not a First Choice

The context: We conducted a brand study with a cybersecurity client who needed to determine their level of brand awareness. Our survey asked respondents what brand characteristics they felt were most important and how they would rate other cybersecurity on these attributes.

After completing the survey, we discovered that our client had a relatively high level of brand awareness. This result was a positive takeaway considering the market was so segmented. Despite this, only 5% of respondents said they would actually consider switching to our client from another vendor.

Key takeaway: You won’t be a good fit for everyone. But if you aren’t appealing to the customers you want, you need to know why. This brand study unearthed customer values that could inform the strategic messaging pillars to use in the company’s sales and marketing efforts.

We’re Not Always The Bad Brand News Bears

We’re not always the bearers of bad news. We’ve also seen instances where companies’ key brand attributes aligned exactly with what the market cared about.

For example, one of our clients wanted to conduct brand research to measure how well their customers’ perceptions mapped onto the company’s brand values. Our client believed they were perceived as a caring, friendly, and responsive online HR provider. Our research confirmed this hypothesis, and the respondents emphasized how much they appreciated that our client’s values aligned with buyers.

The point is, brand studies don’t always deliver bad news. They can also confirm positive sentiments about your products and services. But until you actually conduct the research, you won’t know the reality of where you stand in the market.

You Can’t Ask Life to Take The Lemons Back

In the well known game series “Portal,” Cave Johnson voices the following quote.

“All right, I’ve been thinking. When life gives you lemons? Don’t make lemonade. Make life take the lemons back! Get mad! ‘I don’t want your damn lemons! What am I supposed to do with these?”

Unfortunately, for Cave Johnson, and all of the rest of us, you can’t ask life to take its lemons back. Nor should you get mad about it. But you can make changes. Those changes can be a simple light that others in your organization can choose to follow. And that change in direction can lead to more prospects, customers, or market share.

If you’re tired of dealing with lemons, or you think you might have some lurking around, drop us a note. We can help you figure out what to do with them – instead of just throwing them back.

 


This blog post is brought to you by Cascade Insights, a firm that provides market research & marketing services exclusively to organizations with B2B tech sector initiatives. Want to learn more about the brand research we deliver? Our B2B Brand Research can help.

Special thanks to Sean Campbell, Co-Founder & CEO, Tyler Honsinger, Director of Research, and Raeann Bilow, Content Marketing Architect, for advising on this piece.

B2B Buyer Persona Research: Truth Over Templates

B2B Buyer Persona Research: Truth Over Templates

April 29, 2022/in B2B Buyer Persona Research, B2B Market Research Blog, Blog Posts /by Ashley Wilson
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

The power of a strong B2B buyer persona is undeniable. In the past, creating them brought a competitive advantage for companies that used them. Today, it’s more than just a benefit; it’s a necessity. However, if your personas are so generic that you can’t effectively reach your target audiences, you might want to think about basing those personas on a firmer foundation of truth.

Read more

B2B Buyer's Journey: Buyers and Marketers in the Blender

B2B Buyer’s Journey: Buyers and Marketers in the Blender

March 8, 2022/in B2B Customer Journey Mapping, B2B Market Research Blog, Blog Posts /by Ashley Wilson
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

COVID-19 threw organizations into a blender, with significant repercussions for the B2B buyer’s journey.
Read more

B2B Concept Testing

Make Better Decisions With B2B Concept Testing

February 11, 2021/in B2B Market Research Blog, Blog Posts, Concept Testing, Product/Service Research /by Krista Daly
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

Concept testing a new idea with your target market could ultimately save your business from the kiss of death. While startups and small businesses are at a much greater risk for collapse if a product fails, enterprises risk seriously damaging their reputations and losing substantial sales.

Concept testing your solution can help you make better decisions about designing, developing, and investing in your new idea for the best possible success.

Read more

B2B Sales Enablement

B2B Sales Enablement Strategy: Shorter Proposals Win

November 25, 2020/in B2B Marketing Blog, Blog Posts, Sales Enablement Marketing, Sales Enablement Research /by Sean Campbell
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

Proposal writing is somewhat counter-intuitive. Many sellers seek to impress with doctorate thesis style proposals. But, the truth is, the best proposals are shorter rather than longer. Smart B2B sales enablement strategies and tactics focus on the customer instead of the firm. Proposals also need to answer buyers’ unasked questions.

Unfortunately, the vast bulk of proposals I’ve seen over my life fail to meet any of these criteria. Here are some of the frequent errors I’ve seen with B2B tech sector sales enablement strategies and tactics and how to correct them.

Read more

Lead Nurturing: How to Woo MQLs

B2B Lead Nurturing: How to Woo Your MQLs

October 7, 2020/in B2B Customer Experience Research, B2B Customer Journey Mapping, B2B Market Research Blog, B2B Marketing Blog, Blog Posts, Marketing Enablement, Marketing Strategy /by Laura Johnson
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

B2B leads don’t become customers overnight. B2B marketers need to master the art of lead nurturing to guide prospects in their buying journey. At this phase, your content has piqued their interest enough to fill out a contact form or download a whitepaper. Now your job is to keep their interest. You have to convince them that your solution is the best fit.

Knowing how and when to make contact with your marketing qualified lead (MQL) is the key to winning them over. But, there are a few things you need to consider before you make your move.
Read more

B2B Buyer's Journey

B2B Buyer’s Journey: 7 Reasons Prospects “Swipe Left” Instead of Reaching Out

September 7, 2020/in B2B Customer Experience Research, B2B Customer Journey Mapping, B2B Market Research Blog, Blog Posts, Jobs-To-Be-Done, Marketing Enablement /by Laura Johnson
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail

First impressions matter, especially in the B2B buyer’s journey. Buyers identify the problem or need their company is experiencing and begin exploring their vendor options. They swipe left or right on potential matches based on nothing more than what they see on vendors’ websites.

The amount of time a prospect spends on all of that content you’ve produced is minuscule compared to the time you spent developing it. For example, Google Analytics data suggests that a reasonable target for average session duration on a B2B website is two minutes.

So much like a social media or dating profile, your site needs to be engaging right from the start.

Finally, buyers spend nearly half of their B2B buyer’s journey flying solo. A 2019 study from Gartner shows that buyers spend nearly half (45 percent) of their time in the journey doing independent research. Many potential leads are lost in this phase—without sales or marketing even realizing it. Why? Because something makes that prospect swipe left before they ever fill out a contact form, send an email or pick up the phone.

Read more

Page 1 of 6123›»

GET IN TOUCH

hello@cascadeinsights.com

(503) 898-0004

WHAT WE DO

Market Research Services
Marketing Services
Subscribeto RSS Feed

Blog Categories

  • B2B Buyer Persona Research
  • B2B Channel Market Research
  • B2B Churn Analysis
  • B2B Competitive Landscape Analysis
  • B2B Customer Experience Research
  • B2B Customer Journey Mapping
  • B2B Go-To-Market Research
  • B2B Market Opportunity Research
  • B2B Market Research Blog
  • B2B Market Segmentation Research
  • B2B Marketing Blog
    • Uncategorized
  • B2B Messaging
  • B2B New Product Launch Research
  • B2B Thought Leadership
  • B2B Usability Testing
  • Brand Research
  • Concept Testing
  • Content Marketing
  • Customer Satisfaction Research
  • Data-Driven Marketing Research
  • Jobs-To-Be-Done
  • Key Buying Criteria
  • Marketing Enablement
  • Marketing Strategy
  • Message Testing Research
  • Partner Enablement
  • Product/Service Research
  • Sales Enablement Marketing
  • Sales Enablement Research
  • User Personas
  • Videos
  • Win/Loss Analysis

Written by

Laura Johnson

Connect With Us

503.212.0687

hello@cascadeinsights.com

  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

B2B Market Research

  • Customer Experience Research
  • — Buyer Persona Research
  • — Buyer's Journey Research
  • — Key Buying Criteria Research
  • — Jobs-To-Be-Done Research
  • — User Personas
  • — Customer Satisfaction Research

  • B2B Product/Service Research
  • — Market Opportunity Research
  • — Concept Testing
  • — Go-To-Market Research

  • Marketing Enablement Research
  • — B2B Data-Driven Marketing Research
  • — Message Testing
  • — Brand Research
  • — Thought Leadership
  • — Partner Enablement

  • Sales Enablement Research
  • — Competitive Landscape Analysis
  • — Win Loss Analysis
  • — Churn Analysis
  • — Channel Research

B2B Marketing

  • — B2B Marketing Strategy
  • — B2B Messaging Services
  • — B2B Content Marketing
  • — B2B Sales Enablement

About Us

  • — Our Story
  • — Our Clients
  • — Client Testimonials
  • — Careers
  • — Ethics Policy
  • — Privacy Policy

Blogs

  • — B2B Market Research Blog
  • — B2B Marketing Blog
  • — Cascade Insights Blog
Cascade Insights is proud to be a member of the Inc. 5000.
Scroll to top