They say the key to good marketing is knowing your audience. Which, frankly, is a bit rich coming from an industry that once sold us Go-Gurt and pet rocks.
Still, in the age of digital marketing—where even my toaster has an Instagram account—market research is the thing we all pretend to understand. It’s like wine tasting: full of jargon, wildly subjective, and suspiciously popular with consultants in cardigans.
But somewhere between the buzzwords and bar graphs, market research does something extraordinary: it helps us stop guessing. Which, for me, is a relief. Because when I guess, things tend to catch fire.
Market Research: Not Just for People Who Enjoy Clipboards
At its core, market research is basically snooping, but with spreadsheets. You’re just gathering data on what people want, why they want it, and whether they’ll Venmo you for it.
You can:
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Spy on competitors without getting sued.
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Predict user behavior without reading tea leaves.
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And best of all, justify your poor decisions with colorful pie charts.
Suddenly, you’re not making a wild guess. You’re making a data-driven guess, which feels more responsible and significantly more likely to be approved by your boss.
Audience Research: Because We Still Don’t Know What People Want
If you’ve ever tried to write a marketing message that “resonates,” you know it’s like trying to cook dinner for a toddler, a vegan, and someone doing intermittent fasting.
Market research, however, gives us a cheat sheet:
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What do they click on?
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What do they ignore?
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How often do they lie about being “very satisfied” just to finish the survey?
We learn their pain points (I too have lower back pain and existential dread), and then we develop personas—essentially Sims characters with job titles—so we can say things like, “Let’s target Mia, the 34-year-old dental tech with a soft spot for ethical startups and oat milk.”
Competitive Research: The Socially Acceptable Form of Stalking
You know that person who casually checks their ex’s LinkedIn once a week? That’s you now, except your ex is a rival SaaS company that just launched a new feature with too much confidence.
Competitive analysis lets you:
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See who’s winning.
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Steal their ideas (ethically, of course).
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And write a smug blog post explaining why your platform is better.
It’s like passive-aggressive dating, but for business.
Primary Research: Ask Questions. Try Not to Cry at the Answers.
This is where you actually talk to people—your users, your prospects, the confused guy who signed up once in 2019 and never came back.
You run:
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Surveys (“On a scale of 1–10, how would you rate the pain of using our product?”)
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Interviews (ideally not over Zoom during a fire drill)
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Focus groups, which are just support groups with snacks.
Primary research is raw, unfiltered, and often brutal. But it’s also enlightening. Like when you find out everyone hates the feature your CEO insists is “the future.”
Secondary Research: For the Lazy, the Frugal, and the Sane
If primary research is making a soufflé from scratch, secondary research is microwaving last night’s takeout and calling it “fusion cuisine.”
You read reports. You analyze trends. You stare at industry charts like they’re Rorschach tests.
It’s cheaper, faster, and requires less human interaction—which, frankly, is a win.
Journey Mapping: Because Apparently Customers Have Feelings Now
This is the part where we imagine the customer’s emotional state while clicking through our website. Are they frustrated? Delighted? Trying to unsubscribe?
Mapping the customer journey helps us:
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See where people drop off.
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And most importantly, stop them from rage-quitting at the pricing page.
You get to feel like a digital therapist. “Ah, yes, I see here you encountered friction during checkout. Let’s unpack that.”
Using Market Research Like a (Reluctant) Pro
So you’ve gathered your insights. You’ve got charts, graphs, and at least one intern crying over Excel formulas. Now what?
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Define goals. Real ones. Not just “go viral.”
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Pick methods. Surveys? TikTok polls? Interpretive dance?
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Analyze the data. Ideally with fewer tears.
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Apply it. Actually change something. Don’t just slap it in a PowerPoint and move on.
And finally—measure the results. Was it worth it? Did your conversion rate go up? Or did people just get really good at ignoring your emails?
Why Frictionless Is the Best Thing Since Decaf Espresso
Enter Frictionless: a platform designed to take all of the above and make it slightly less painful.
It helps with:
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Audience analysis (without requiring a degree in data science),
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SWOTs (so you finally understand your weaknesses beyond “cries easily under pressure”),
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Persona-building (no glue or glitter involved),
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And collaborative strategy development (where no one yells during meetings, allegedly).
Basically, Frictionless is what happens when Google Sheets and therapy have a baby.
Final Thoughts: In Research We Trust (Most of the Time)
Look, market research won’t solve all your problems. It won’t save your failing product, rewrite your cringey email copy, or make you better at small talk at networking events.
But it will give you direction. And data. And a slight edge in a world where most people are still winging it and calling it “agile.”
So go forth. Research. Strategize. Pretend you know what you’re doing.
We all are.
Consider engaging with Insivia to align your marketing and sales strategies. Our expertise and dedication to client outcomes make us the ideal partner for your journey.
Written by: Andy Halko, CEO & Founder
I started Insivia in 2002 and for over 22 years I have had the chance to work directly with hundreds of companies and founders to redefine or reinvent their businesses.