XM Knowledge Base
Bring actionable insight, not just data
Chances are, an organisation has turned to market research to help them solve a problem. You know how much number crunching went on behind the scenes, but your audience doesn’t need to see all of that. Your task is to pull the whole story of the issue, findings and resolution together to show exactly where to take action and what the impact on the problem will be.
Enchant your audience with storytelling
People can’t resist a story. By framing your findings and recommendations as a story with a protagonist instead of faceless respondents, you can highlight the results and the impact of your research in a much more tangible way.
Here’s an example from the banking industry:
- Character : A farmer in a remote village
- The struggle : He uses an expensive cheque cashing service rather than a bank, because it’s a long bus journey on difficult roads to get to the nearest bank. He is caught between time and expense when managing his finances, which both take a toll.
- Market research findings : The village has a good internet connection, most people have smartphones, most people would switch to a mobile bank if it was accessible
- Proposed solution/ ‘happy ending’ : Introduce mobile banking so the farmer can manage his finances without leaving his village
Appeal to emotional intelligence
You want your audience to connect with your character’s story: to feel empathy for them, frustration for their predicament and curiosity about what will happen next.
When emotional as well as analytical parts of our brains are fired, we understand and engage with a situation. This emotional intelligence can provoke change.
Make your data visual
You’ll have to bring out the numbers and graphs at some point, and if you present quantitative research visually it’ll have more impact.
Dashboards are a great way to present at-a-glance information on single screens in an easy-to-understand format. If you can, try to find a market research platform that automatically takes your data and presents it in a series of engaging graphics.
Infographics combining text, images and statistics to highlight key elements of your findings and survey story are another great option. Good infographics can provoke change as they are instantly understandable and can distill complicated research findings into a few key takeaways and an easily processed story.
Don’t curb your enthusiasm
You’ve worked hard on your market research survey – designing, writing questions, gathering responses, analysing data and creating a presentation. Chances are, you are excited and passionate about your findings. Don’t hold back this enthusiasm – you are your survey’s best advocate, and the expert on it. Bring this passion to your audience when you present it – people find enthusiasts hard to resist.
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