The value of external market research is well-documented and widely discussed, from customer surveys to large scale research projects with external partners, focus groups and more. Yet companies often ignore the value of exploring internal research when diagnosing friction in their brand, messaging and go-to-market strategies. This internal research is particularly important as marketers work to get a full picture of not only how the market views their organization today, but the internal alignment around their brand as well.
The Benefits of Internal Research
There are two primary benefits to internal research. The first has to do with the bottom line; internal research is typically more affordable than external research. Sure, it takes time, which requires resources that in some cases are already spread thin. But internal research doesn’t always require a lofty contract with an outside research firm or payment in the form of discounts and gift cards to customers and prospects. The cost that comes with internal research is not negligible, but it is, in most cases, worth it.
In some cases, bringing on an outside partner for internal research makes sense. Outside partners can be particularly candid about the internal operations of your organization, and most importantly, they can be sure valuable action can be taken from the results. By having a plan to leverage what is learned from the research, you ensure the act of conducting it was worth the effort.
The other major benefit to internal research is that it can unearth opportunities to smooth processes, clarify positioning and ultimately, land more sales. Stated simply, internal research can boost business. It can also help align internal teams, getting everyone moving in a more organized, consistent fashion toward their goals.
Who Should Conduct Internal Research?
The cadence with which your organization should take on an internal research project varies greatly depending on the growth stage of your business, market conditions, and available resources for execution—not to mention, internal feedback should happen beyond one-off projects, but we’ll discuss that later.
A good barometer on when to conduct internal research is to ask a few of these questions:
- Has the way you serve customers today evolved since you last visited your brand and positioning?
- Do you operate in an active acquisition environment, where new companies or services are brought into the fold?
- Are there discrepancies between how different internal teams and stakeholders speak about your brand to prospective customers?
- If you were to pick someone from the customer service team, or marketing team or sales team, do you suspect they might not be able to articulate the company’s mission, values and differentiators?
- Have you found yourself repositioning your product or service offering to leads that come in through marketing materials, or do you struggle to articulate this same concept to new hires?
The potential symptoms and pain points are numerous. Pulling insights from your team in these scenarios is a great way to start moving in the right direction.
What Constitutes Internal Research?
There are multiple different strategies for conducting internal research. The endeavor does not have to be extensive to be effective – though it certainly can be if necessary. For example, a simple survey sent to various leaders and individuals within the organization can provide quick, valuable data about the overall understanding of the company brand and effectiveness of core messaging.
A list of questions that offer a one to ten scale allows for people to indicate how sure they are about certain messaging, or how unsure they are about something like target personas. Conducting the survey anonymously ensures people feel empowered to speak their truth about the subject without feeling pressure to provide an answer perceived as “right.”
Compare survey results not just from individual to individual, but between teams. For example, an average core messaging clarity rating of four from the leadership but eight from the sales team may indicate that core messaging is not being utilized consistently across the board. Internal alignment is critical for overall brand messaging, so seeing low or inconsistent scores means more time and effort needs to go into marketing message cultivation and clarification throughout the year. Remember, having an actionable plan to address the shortcomings discovered from internal research is the most critical component of the research.
Don’t Wait for Specific Projects for Feedback
While the small to large-scale projects dedicated to internal research will bring valuable insights, and larger data sets, you don’t need to wait for a full-on project to gain useful information from your team. For example, when your sales and marketing teams meet—if they’re not today, they should be—there can be time set aside on a regular cadence to get feedback from sales conversations. The sales team, who regularly engages your target market, can create an internal feedback loop and help uncover points of friction in their process. These quick touch points provide regular updates as to how your positioning is landing in the marketplace today, without having to do a dedicated research project internally or externally.
No matter if you conduct internal research independently or with the help of an outside partner, annually or every few years, don’t underestimate the importance of uncovering and articulating how the business shows up for customers. By unearthing those internal hiccups through thoughtful research, brands can drive evolution and growth within their products and their teams.
Author
Get our newsletter and digital focus reports
Stay current on learning and development trends, best practices, research, new products and technologies, case studies and much more.
