Retail Marketers Must Take the Insight Track - Medallion Retail
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Strategy, Retail Marketing

Retail Marketers Must Take the Insight Track

POSTED ON: 01/27/15 Retail marketing insights

Some retail marketers believe that a killer campaign begins with a big idea. Those marketers would be wrong.

Before that fulfilling flash of brilliance, preceding that lightbulb moment and prior to that satisfying Aha! there must be an insight. Marketing initiatives based on conjecture, assumption or gut feelings usually miss the mark – even those driven by research.

Because research is not insight.

Of course, it’s critical to know your shopper – her demographic standing, her shopping style, her aspirations, her challenges. Data is mandatory, especially in this new era of technology-driven personalized retail. But data is just that, a collection of static information. To create something dynamic, the retail marketer must discover an insight.

Bridging that space between the facts and the idea, the insight is a thoughtful interpretation of data. It is a “read” of a situation that unlocks opportunities for marketing; it is research analyzed and applied. Insights are simple, universal truths.

Research supplies the “what.” An insight considers the “why” and the “what next.” Retail marketers must uncover that first; only then can an engaging, relevant narrative be developed. A great insight looks into the head and heart of the shopper and supplies a natural entrance point into her life.

Omnichannel marketing requires particularly strong insights, those able to support engagement across multiple touch points, devices and experiences. Retail marketers must find that simple, honest reality that impacts a shopper’s life and then use it to create a cohesive idea that speaks to her across platforms.

Not an easy task. (There’s a reason there is a lot more research out there than there are insights.) But it is a necessary one for retail marketers. Good insights lead to marketing that is personalized, timely, dialogue-driven and meaningful. Retailers that don’t start with the insight may find themselves out of sight.

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