where are the client’s pains hidden?
Insight is an unsatisfied and unobvious human need, the solution of which will influence his consumer behavior. On its basis, a communication strategy and consumer interaction with the brand, as well as the company’s advertising message, are built.
But is there any win-win way to find that very “pain” of the client?
The search for insight is similar to the work of an archaeologist. Grain by grain of sand, you study the client’s motives, desires, fears and values more and more deeply. Unexpected interview questions or unconventional observations provide insight into the core of the consumer's mind. From dry data collection and standard questionnaires, you can easily get stuck in the sand: this will make it much more difficult to find the right hook.
To make it easier to distinguish a real and strong insight from an ordinary fact, there are two important factors:
Insight doesn't have to be harmless. For example, in the formulation “I really like ice cream, but it’s difficult for me to choose between a variety of flavors” there is no problem, drama or pain.
Insight is not the same as ordinary observation. “All people love to be served by a friendly salesperson in a store” is a statement of the obvious, not a true and unexpected wow discovery.
To speed up the search for that same consumer truth, you can use the following proven techniques.
Delve into yourself
If you are part of the target audience, then you can try to find insight by analyzing your own behavior. Pay special attention to everyday actions and try to ask yourself the question for each specific situation: “Why exactly this way and not otherwise?”
“Why do I buy a new diary if I have two more unstarted ones at home? Maybe I need it just for the sake of feeling some kind of life changes? — try to answer honestly and dig deep into your personal motives.
Puncture the information bubble
Social networks and search engines that we usually use monitor our activity, apply algorithms and filter information. As a result, we receive “selected” data about what we are likely to be interested in: as if you surrounded yourself with friends who only say nice things to you. A bubble can lead to bias and plunge you into the quagmire of your comfort zone. But if you want to go beyond the boundaries, to find something surprising and atypical, you will have to act radically – puncture the bubble.
Try opening a magazine you've never bought before, or chatting with a rare collector. Have you noticed how different their picture of the world is from yours?
Explore social networks
Any of them is an ideal field for observing and searching for the hidden and not so hidden needs and motives of people. The main thing is not to forget that the opinion of a particular person is not always equal to the opinion of the target audience as a whole. Therefore, any hypothesis must be tested on a larger number of consumers.
Marketers from one of the Russian digital agencies came up with an advertising campaign for a ticket sales service. So they found that many people go to the theater to be a different person for a while: hence the Instagram trend for demonstrative photographs in the foyer, with tickets in hand and in front of the hall.
Monitor review sites
A reliable source of insights is the weak points of products. What creates tension? Why is this product inconvenient to use? What conflict does this create between consumer and producer? The answers to these questions are easy to find in honest (sometimes even too honest) reviews. Don’t be lazy to check the reputation of users and pay attention to comments so as not to fall for custom work.
Conduct interviews with representatives of the target audience
Think about whether one of your friends is a fan of the brand from the completed brief, or perhaps your parents have a lot in common with the target character. Ask your friend in more detail about his favorite brands, find out what guides him when making a purchase, ask what he is missing in existing products. But do not forget about the disadvantage of this method – again, an insufficient sample, which requires verification and confirmation.
To find the right insight, it is not enough to simply identify a need. Focus on problems, conflicts, contradictions – obstacles that prevent the consumer from satisfying his desires. Dig deeper: what irritates, inspires, excites, touches a person? This is when your discovery will become a powerful platform for the creative team to work and develop a big idea.
