By Julie Rose

As your fiscal year is coming to a close, new questions and challenges can arise as you finalize spending on this year’s budget:

• Wondering how you’ll accomplish your annual goals?
• More workload and pipeline of projects than your team can execute?
• Questioning how to keep saying “Yes” to internal stakeholders? 
• Not enough time or resources to meet multiple requests for actionable insights from leadership, product development, marketing, or strategy? 

SIVO Insights On Demand Talent™ Can Help 

SIVO’s On Demand Talent is a great solution for Insights Professionals and Teams facing the year-end crunch – with more initiatives than bandwidth to get it all done. We leverage our extensive pool of fractional Insights Talent, with years of experience and expertise, to help you achieve your business objectives. 

We recommend three key steps for evaluating and making the case internally for hiring contract Insights talent.

As workforce talent continues to evolve, there is no shortage of options, including interns, short or long-term contractors, contract-to-hire, or direct hire. Below, we highlight the advantages of On Demand Contract Talent vs. a Full-Time Hire:

Prove the Need for Incremental Resources

Some of our clients have struggled to make the case to their leaders for permanent incremental headcount. Instead, they started with SIVO’s On Demand Talent to show value to the business. This step helped them demonstrate the benefit of having additional resources.  Let SIVO help you get the additional headcount you need in 2024.

Get Expert Consumer Insights with SIVO

We have started ODT engagements in as fast as one week. To discuss your needs and how we can match the talent with the best expertise for quick solutions in your organization, visit SIVO On Demand Talent or email Contact@SIVOInsights.com.

By Natasha Weith and Leslie Turner

Successful market research begins with experts designing, collecting, processing, and analyzing data.  Impactful market research goes a step further. The true power lies in how we translate that data into compelling narratives that drive action and resonate with stakeholders. Storytelling in market research reporting is an art form, one that transforms raw numbers and consumer responses into meaningful insights that can shape business strategies and decisions. Here’s a closer look at what makes effective storytelling in market research and some key components to consider.

What is Storytelling in Market Research Reporting?

Storytelling in the context of market research reporting involves presenting data and insights in a way that is not only informative but also engaging and impactful. It’s about crafting a narrative that resonates with your audience, aligns with their business objectives, and drives actionable outcomes. Effective storytelling ensures that the findings are not just understood but are also memorable and persuasive, facilitating better decision-making. This requires experience and creativity.

Key Components of Effective Storytelling in Market Research

1. Client First: While Market Researchers must be completely dialed into the consumer to gather the learning and identify the insights, a good story puts the client and their business question at the center. It's tailored to land with their business needs and challenges. Understanding the client’s industry, their pain points, and their strategic goals allows you to frame the insights you’ve discovered about consumer perceptions, behaviors, needs, etc., in a context that is relevant and impactful. This client-centric approach ensures that the report is not just a collection of data about their consumers and market but is a valuable tool to guide the client’s business decisions.
   
2. Objective Focused: Every research project starts with specific learning objectives. A good story directly addresses these objectives. This means the report should clearly show how the findings relate to the initial goals of the research, providing answers to the questions posed at the outset. This focus ensures that the report remains relevant and valuable.
   
3. Actionable: Insights are only valuable if they lead to action. Strong, actionable recommendations are crucial. These recommendations should be directly linked to the research results and relevant to the business context. They should provide clear steps or strategies that the client can implement to address the issues or opportunities identified in the research.
   
4. Engaging: A compelling report needs a hook. This is where creativity comes into play.  It should appeal to the senses, be visually interesting, and tap into the emotions of the audience. This involves using compelling consumer stories and narratives to create a sense of empathy and relatability with the consumer learning.  Interesting visuals such as videos, photos, charts and infographics also make the data more accessible and memorable.
   
5. Easily Understood: Clarity is key. The report should be written in a way that is conversational and articulate. Avoid jargon and complex language that might confuse the audience. Instead, aim for simplicity and clarity, making sure that the key points are easily understood by all stakeholders, regardless of their familiarity with the subject matter.
   
6. Succinct: Less is often more. Every part of the report should have a reason for being there. Be concise and to the point. Avoid unnecessary details that might detract from the main message. A succinct story is easier to digest and more likely to hold the audience’s attention.  A useful tip is to use the appendix to document other facts that are interesting but do not relate to the research objectives.  
   
7. Credible: Trust is fundamental. Ensure that the data and insights are credible and backed by robust research methods. Transparency about the research process and the limitations of the findings adds to credibility and helps build trust with the stakeholders.
   
8. Clear Structure and Flow:  In addition, a good story has a clear structure with narrative flow. This requires experience and creativity because a well-told story is not just heard; it is felt, remembered, and acted upon. It should have:
   • a brief introduction and background to set the stage
   • an executive summary to highlight the key findings and recommendations
   • detailed findings to share relevant data and proof points
   • suggested next steps
     
     This logical flow helps in guiding the audience through the report, making it easier to follow and understand, and ultimately inspire action.

Beyond the Report

While the report is typically a critical deliverable in a market research project, the storytelling doesn’t end with the report. It extends to the presentation, follow-up working sessions, and/or stakeholder meetings. This means thinking about how the insights will be communicated beyond the written report. Engaging presentations, interactive discussions, and follow-up conversations with key stakeholders can enhance the impact of the findings and ensure that the insights are effectively implemented.

Expect a Well-Told Story from SIVO

At  SIVO, Inc., we believe that storytelling in market research reporting is about more than just presenting data; it's about creating a narrative and presenting it in a way that is compelling, memorable and inspires stakeholders to act in service of consumers and the business. This all starts with the SIVO team listening to your needs and designing and reporting in a way that delivers real business value.  

Contact us via our website form or email us at Contact@SIVOInsights.com today to schedule a discovery call!   

by Kerry Juhl

Consumer Personas are a great tool for bringing your consumer target to life for your organization, to inspire growth ideas, new brand experiences and product innovation.  It is a representation of your target segment based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative data.  It summarizes your consumers’ lifestyle, values, needs, challenges, and preferences, so that it can be easily shared and digested across the organization.

At a high level, here is SIVO’s guide on how to build consumer personas: 

• Collect quantitative data via consumer segmentation: Start by identifying the market your product plays in and divide this universe into consumer groups that have similar characteristics, such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioral patterns.
  
• Identify patterns within the segment: Analyze the segments to identify common patterns, trends, and preferences among the different groups. Look for insights that can help you understand their interests, pain points, and buying behaviors. At this point, teams can narrow their focus by choosing one or a few consumer segments that are most likely to need and have the potential means to purchase the product or service that you offer.
  
• Dig deeper with qualitative research: Once the consumer segments have been identified, conduct qualitative research, to delve deeper into the consumer mindset and better understand what makes them unique and relevant to the business. Using techniques such as focus groups, in-depth interviews, in-store shop-alongs, or in-home ethnographic research, you can uncover the underlying motivations, emotions and values that drive consumer behaviors and purchase decisions. This deepens the teams’ empathy and intuition about the consumer segments.
  
• Create consumer personas: Develop distinct personas that represent key segments that are important and relevant to your business. The personas should not portray one specific consumer but should be a semi-fictional representation of an ideal customer within a segment.  Overall, the persona should include a name, age, job, hobbies, mindset, goals, challenges, and a brief back story.  Note: Psychographics, goals and purchase motivations are most important in understanding what problems the persona has that your company can solve.  
  

Building your Consumer Personas 

Key information that should be considered when building consumer personas includes:   

• Demographics: Age, gender, location, marital status, education, income 
• Psychographics: Interests, values, attitudes, lifestyle, personality traits
• Goals and Motivations: What they aim to achieve, what drives their decision-making 
• Pain Points and Challenges: Obstacles they face, problems they want to solve that are related to your market
• Buying Behavior: Where and how they shop, preferred channels, factors influencing purchase decisions, in relation to your industry or category
• Media preferences: Preferred media channels, social media usage, favorite websites, online communities

Check out these other SIVO blogs on consumer targets and  consumer segmentation, to better understand the inputs and context for consumer personas. 

Making Consumer Personas Interesting

The goal is to bring the consumer to life in an interesting and inspirational way. This information needs to be interesting and easy to read so that it gets internalized by the organization. Here are a few tips: 

Keep it Brief:  A good persona should be 1 to 3 pages in length.  Ideally, there would be a 1-page summary and if needed, 1 to 2 follow-up pages with actionable details and insights. 

Use Visuals: A persona should be visually interesting.  Use photos, graphics, or infographics to bring the consumer persona to life and make them feel more tangible and relatable to your team. 

Use Narratives and Quotes: Storytelling is an important part of building your persona. Use the data to create a short 1-paragraph narrative that describes the consumer persona – who they are, what they need, and their underlying motivations.

Include a Key Consumer Insight: It is important to include a one-sentence insight that describes the underlying motivation that would make them potentially interested in buying your product or service.

With the data summarized and visualized into clear and succinct personas, it is easy to understand and empathize with your consumer target, i.e., the segment of consumers that will inspire your growth ideas, marketing communications, promotions, distribution plans and new product innovation. Your team can now tailor brand messaging, content, and product offerings to align with the needs and preferences of key consumer targets. It is also easy to socialize the learning across the organization and agency partners in an efficient and effective way. 

Maintaining Relevance of Consumer Personas

Consumer personas are foundational marketing and insights deliverables that will inspire your teams’ growth ideas and guide your agency partners for years. For this reason, you need to invest in ongoing maintenance to ensure continued relevance to your organization. Depending on the volatility and competitive dynamics within your market, you will want to: 

The success of your consumer persona profiles depends on the quality of your research, the depth of your understanding and getting it to land within your organization and with agency partners. Regularly leveraging the personas while also iterating and improving upon them will help you stay in tune with your consumers and maintain a competitive advantage in the market.  

Your Source for Expert Customer Insights 

At SIVO Inc., we are dedicated to helping our clients understand their consumer targets by designing and executing consumer segmentations, following up with qualitative research and building consumer personas. We can then facilitate activation sessions with your team to develop action plans and strategies that leverage these insights.  

Reach out to us at Contact@SIVOInsights.com or go to SIVOInsights.com today to schedule a discovery call and connect! 

When you read the news these days, regarding women leaving the workforce, the outlook and reality seem bleak. According to the Wall Street Journal,

“Due to challenges created by the COVID-19 crisis, more than 1-in-4 women are considering downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce completely.”

The White House Fact Sheet, April 21, 2021 also reported,

“There are now 3.7 million fewer women working than there were in February 2020, in large part because of the pandemic, eroding more than 30 years of progress in women’s labor force participation.”

Not only are these the facts, but this has been my reality. I have spent the last decade and a half building a business career in a traditional corporate setting, across Consumer-Packaged Goods companies that span from cereal to mascara. I’ve built a rich network of connections, and grown my skillset to span across sales, marketing, research, and innovation. I’ve invested in my career, but COVID-19 made me re-evaluate where my investment was most needed.

Trending

Do customers want to ‘hire’ your product?

Maintaining a Work-Life Balance During Lockdown

When the lockdown hit in March of 2020, I added an entire workstream to my day job: manage childcare and distance learning for my two young children. I also lost my part-time nanny, my relief and respite, due to the pandemic. I did not know how I would stay afloat, deliver against my job’s requirements, while also ensuring that my kids got what they needed.

COVID realities created both unreliable childcare and unreliable school days. One exposure could turn any sense of schedule or order upside down. Some of those months went by in a blur. I recognized something had to give. I had to give. I had to make a change for myself and my family. I chose to leave my corporate job to explore something more sustainable for my life.

Fast forward to early spring 2021 and some of the facts and realities haven’t changed all that much. While the nation is becoming hopeful with relaxing Covid restrictions and rise in vaccinations, women have not as readily returned to the workforce. This year, I shifted to the gig economy and started a new career as a Research Strategy Consultant with SIVO’s On-Demand Talent team, a local women-owned agency that really understands what it looks like to do the work you love while also being present for your family.

Working for a Women-Owned Agency and Getting Support

For me SIVO has been a beacon, offering me a way to continue investing in my career without compromising my family, especially during a pandemic. SIVO is a woman owned and operated business founded on the belief that the world needs more people doing what they love. SIVO recognized 12 years ago there was an overflow of great talent that wanted to work but NEEDED flexibility, especially parents juggling family and childcare demands.

I’ve learned that part of making it ‘work’ as a working mom is to find the type of work that meets your needs. Workplace norms have pivoted to meet marketplace realities. My advice to women is to consider something that fits YOUR lifestyle priorities instead of the other way around.
I love being a part of an organization like SIVO, a company committed to redefining what work looks like. SIVO is helping companies work differently through their On Demand Talent (ODT) practice, which helps fill in resource gaps for short or longer-term engagements. Sometimes a company just needs an extra perspective on a special project, or someone to fill in during a parental leave.

On-Demand Talent with SIVO

SIVO’s ODT can provide the right talent – at the right time – so that companies can keep moving forward without disrupting workflows or putting additional strain on existing staff. I am currently on an ODT assignment and am loving the opportunity to work on unique business problems while, not only continuing to nurture my professional career, but also be the kind of mom I want to be for my family.

 Schedule a Discovery Call Today

Are you curious what working differently looks like? – just ask. SIVO Insights can help you figure out the best path forward for you or your company to get the resources – and talent – you need. Schedule a discovery call today to get started.