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Tag Archive for: market research

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
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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.

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market research healthcare cybersecurity

3 Types of Market Research to Benefit Healthcare Cybersecurity Startups

September 16, 2022/in B2B Buyer Persona Research, B2B Competitive Landscape Analysis, B2B Market Research Blog, B2B Marketing Blog, Blog Posts, Brand Research, Sales Enablement Marketing /by Raeann Bilow
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It’s no secret that the tech industry has been experiencing some unsettling circumstances recently. Nearly every week, another major tech company announces more hiring freezes or layoffs.

While much of the tech space is entrenched in uncertainty, there are certain segments within it that remain resilient. One such area is healthcare cybersecurity – one of the fastest growing among venture capitalists right now. In fact, the healthcare cybersecurity market is expected to reach $35B+ by 2027, more than triple its size in 2020.

During such a rapid growth period, companies run the risk of making the wrong decisions and quickly squandering any potential success. Conversely, making the right business decisions during this time can help a company to expand and scale sustainably.

B2B market research is a key component to helping a rapidly-expanding healthcare cybersecurity startup grow in the right direction. Here’s how market research – particularly buyer personas, brand research, and competitive landscape analyses – can all be instrumental in setting a new company up for success.
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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 /by Ashley Wilson
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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.

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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
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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.

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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
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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

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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.

user persona research

How Does a Person Fall in Love…with Your Product?

May 12, 2021/in B2B Customer Experience Research, B2B Market Research Blog, Blog Posts, Product/Service Research, User Personas /by Krista Daly
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Users aren’t buyers. Unfortunately, B2B companies typically skip over this essential fact.

It is also true that B2B companies tend to buy buyer persona projects quite frequently, and user persona research much less so. We believe this is a mistake. Both research efforts are equally important, and the failure to do either one can lead to a lost customer down the road.

One reason for this divide is that marketers typically purchase buyer persona projects, not product research. These marketers are rightly concerned about the buyer’s journey, how buyers influence each other in the buying committee, and the customer’s key buying criteria. Regrettably, with all of this emphasis on managers, directors, and VPs, minimal attention is placed on users. And users can make or break a product’s success. Read more

Market Opportunity Study

Market Opportunity Research: What’s the Point?

April 8, 2021/in B2B Market Opportunity Research, B2B Market Research Blog, Blog Posts, Product/Service Research /by Krista Daly
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Research needs to be acted on. Otherwise, what’s the point? A market opportunity study is one of the most powerful tools a business leader can use to drive that change.

Too often an organization falls down the rabbit hole after launching a market opportunity effort, simply because they can’t see the path forward.

At Cascade, we don’t just drop market opportunity research on your (virtual) desk and walk away. Instead we stick with you to make sure you learn, apply, and drive change inside your organization.
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Market Opportunity

Market Opportunity: Go Beyond Quant to Get the Right Insights

March 23, 2021/in B2B Market Opportunity Research, B2B Market Research Blog, Blog Posts, Jobs-To-Be-Done, Product/Service Research /by Krista Daly
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When considering market opportunity research, you may think a straightforward quantitative survey is enough to get to know the landscape. But if you don’t understand why your customers think the way they do and the environments in which they operate, you can’t possibly have the whole picture, and you’ll end up creating a bad game plan.
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Market Opportunity Research

Market Opportunity Research: Demand Evidence and Think Critically

March 9, 2021/in B2B Market Opportunity Research, B2B Market Research Blog, Blog Posts, Product/Service Research /by Krista Daly
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You have a hypothesis: There is a problem you want to solve, and you’re pretty certain you can envision a solution that provides more value than everything already on the market.

Like a scientist, you need to test that hypothesis to ensure you’re on the path for success. In this case, you’re doing market opportunity research rather than an experiment.

Market opportunity research identifies if there is a market, if there is a need, and if it will be profitable.
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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
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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.

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