Market insights into action: a practical guide
From Wynter Games 19, 'The Playbook We Use to Gather Target Customer Insights' by Will Devlin, VP Marketing @MessageGear
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I remember early on in my career, I was constantly struggling to figure out how to use the data we were gathering. We had surveys, analytics, and tons of customer feedback, but at the end of the day, I found myself asking, “How would you turn market insights into action?” It’s one thing to collect insights. It’s a whole other challenge to use them effectively.
Over time, I developed a few playbooks that made the process a little easier. Today, I’ll share the three playbooks we use at MessageGears to gather target customer insights and, more importantly, how we turn those insights into actionable strategies. These approaches have helped us refine our messaging, drive growth, and build stronger relationships with our customers.
Before you can act on market insights, you need to understand who you’re targeting. For us, that starts with creating an ideal customer profile (ICP). Think of the ICP as a blueprint—it outlines the characteristics of your perfect customer, from their job role to their pain points.
At MessageGears, we use social listening tools to refine our ICP constantly. For example, one of the biggest shifts came when we realized that our ICP wasn’t just composed of technical users like developers or IT personnel but also marketers who were deeply involved in customer communications. After gathering this insight from social listening tools, we adjusted our messaging to speak more directly to the pain points of both marketing and technical teams.
Additionally, we keep an ear to the ground by monitoring industry conversations. During one instance, we noticed a growing frustration among enterprise marketers about their inability to segment customer lists effectively. By including this frustration in our ICP, we crafted messaging that resonated much more deeply with this audience.
The key takeaway here is this: your ICP is not static. Keep refining it based on the feedback and insights you gather. Don’t be afraid to pivot if your ideal customer profile changes.
One of the biggest mistakes I see marketers make is not acting on feedback fast enough. Gathering direct feedback from your customers isn’t just about listening—it’s about doing something with that information.
At MessageGears, we actively seek out customer feedback through surveys, reviews, and one-on-one conversations. In one of our recent campaigns, we found that customers were getting stuck at a specific step in our product’s onboarding process. They told us exactly where they faced challenges, and because of that direct feedback, we were able to immediately tweak the onboarding flow. The result? Our customer success team reported a 20% decrease in customer support requests for that same issue the following quarter.
Another example came from a product update where we thought we had delivered exactly what our customers wanted—more flexibility in our dashboard. But when we reached out for feedback, we learned that while they liked the flexibility, they needed more predefined templates for certain reports. This feedback directly led to us adding those templates, improving user satisfaction almost overnight.
This level of granularity allows us to turn customer feedback into actionable steps. Whether it’s tweaking a product feature or improving our communication, acting on feedback in real time helps us build trust with our customers and continuously improve our offerings.
Finally, it’s crucial to keep an eye on industry insights to stay competitive. Trends shift quickly, and if you’re not paying attention, you’ll get left behind. We use a combination of tools—such as social listening, competitor analysis, and even target affiliate marketing research—to keep tabs on what’s happening in the broader market.
For instance, a few years ago, we noticed an increase in industry conversations about the importance of first-party data as privacy concerns began to reshape the way companies collect information. By proactively adapting our product to better integrate with customers’ existing first-party data strategies, we positioned ourselves ahead of the competition. This move not only aligned us with a major industry shift but also ensured our clients were future-proofing their marketing efforts.
Moreover, we learned through analyzing industry insights that many of our competitors were moving toward more personalized customer experiences. Instead of just watching this trend pass us by, we’ve adapted our messaging and product to offer even greater customization options for our clients, especially in our dynamic email offerings. This keeps us relevant to the ever-changing demands of the market and ensures that our product roadmap is always aligned with customer needs.
By integrating market insights with our overall strategy, we ensure that our messaging, product updates, and even sales approaches stay relevant to both our current and future customers.
Now, I know all of this can feel overwhelming. Trust me, I’ve been there. But turning insights into action doesn’t have to be complicated. Here are a few simple steps you can take today:
In the end, turning market insights into action is about being intentional. It’s about understanding your customers, listening to their needs, and staying agile enough to adapt as those needs evolve.
When you have the right systems in place, the path forward becomes clearer. And when you take action, that’s when the magic happens.
By implementing these strategies, you can go beyond just gathering market insights—you can start using them to create real, tangible results for your business.
