Market researchers are constantly looking for trends in other industries — but staying at the forefront of your own sector is just as important. With the industry continuing to grow, and data-driven decision-making taking on more cachet in every industry, there are great opportunities for forward-thinking market researchers.
This is obviously not an exhaustive list, but we think it’s a great starting point for thinking about investments in 2020 and beyond
Artificial Intelligence as a Service
For a long time, artificial intelligence (AI) has existed only in the realm of research institutions, corporations and governments. However, the rapid progress done on technologies like machine learning, relational databases, deep learning, and neural networks mean that AI is already a reality.
Improved Customer Experience to sustain brand loyalty
2020 will be the year of the customer. We’re seeing a major shift in faith about what marketing actually is. It’s no longer about trying to convince people to buy from or work with your company. Instead, the priority has moved towards providing fantastic customer experiences that will keep people coming back for more.
Employee Commitment
If systematic and friendly service is the keystone of great customer experience, how do we ensure we are providing this? It is of course, is in your employees. Your employees are the human face of your brand, so concentrating on interactions between your employees and your customers should be a key part of your marketing strategy.
Visualization as an important feature
With an explosion of smart speakers and voice search in recent years, you’d be forgiven for thinking that “readable” content is more important than visuals and design these days. While advancements in voice search are certainly influencing the way that we’ll create content now and in the future, you shouldn’t neglect visual content either. Research has proven that people favor visual content to plain text. You just have to look at the growth of image-focused platforms Pinterest and Instagram to see the proof of this.
Personalization of surveys
Increased data collection and development in technology have already had a huge impact on the level of personalization that is possible and on what consumers expect from their interactions with brands. Today’s consumers are flooded with marketing messages from multiple channels to the point where they have started to tune them out. Traditional advertising is losing its effectiveness.80% of consumers said that they’d be more likely to do business with a brand that provides a personalized experience.
Intercept surveys
These quick polls have long been carried out everywhere from shopping centers and cinemas to pubs, cafes and restaurants. These intercept surveys are short and satisfying to fill out, yet can yield useful customer insights which can inform and enrich branding strategy. Social media polling tools and real-time SMS data collection practices are expected to grow increasingly commonplace as more and more of our time online is spent socially — whether we’re scrolling through our Twitter feeds or watching videos on YouTube.
Many of these trends have been bubbling underneath the surface for the last couple of years. And are now ready to take center stage. Getting a handle on the key trends for market research will position you well to assist your brand with sensible consumer insight
That wraps up the main trends we feel are booming in the research industry in 2020.