Comms Planners: The Importance of Consumer Data and Where to Find It
A primary role of the comms planner within a creative agency is to provide teams guidance on how to extend a creative big idea throughout the branded ecosystem in an integrated, affective and efficient manner. This means that as comms planners, our minds are deeply immersed in the creative idea itself and in how the latest channel technologies can work to extend it–this is where we tend to look first in order to uncover brand opportunities.
But campaign planning should not just be driven by creative ideas and technology–first and foremost it should be driven by data on consumer behavior. This sounds like a no-brainer, but it is actually something that often gets missed within the working process. As we begin to plan a campaign framework and think about tactical briefs, we should also begin to collect data points on the consumer target’s behaviors.
Consumer data is important for 3 reasons: It can reveal new opportunities, it can validate existing ideas, and, it can help sell in the work. Once it comes time to put together the client creative presentation, incorporate consumer data points within it to make your recommendations even stronger.
Where should we look to get this information?
- Account Planner: This should be your first stop. Some of the information you seek could be on the campaign brief, but likely it’s not as briefs tend to be high level. But, as the “voice of the consumer” within the agency, and because they typically have knowledge of any results tracking efforts the brand does, go to them and ask for more specifics.
- Agency Analytics Team: Sometimes, when you can’t find anything more validated, a simple, quick, MRI run can reveal a lot.
- Media Agency: Comms Planners should maintain a close relationship with the media agency– they might be the richest minefield of consumer data as they are often the ones tracking results on in-market work. Run initial thinking by them. Ask if they have done anything like it before and if they have, ask how it performed. Keep in mind though that even if a similar idea performed poorly before, it doesn’t mean that it couldn’t work now–just be sure to take what learning from the prior execution you can and apply them to the new idea.
- Platform Reps: When it comes to user behavior on specific platforms like Instagram or YouTube, no one has more information than the company themselves. Reach out to a company rep, tell them a little about your project and the consumer and ask them for any data points that will validate your ideas. And, they will likely even help you to see new platform possibilities.
- Industry Studies, Platform User Demographics: Even though we all know that nowadays data rules, the simple fact remains that some brands have very little knowledge of their consumer because they do a poor job of tracking performance metrics. If all else fails, look to data points from industry studies.
Some basic questions to consider as you sift through all of the data that you collect include:
- WHAT channels/ platforms does our target use most?
- HOW do they use those channels?
- WHAT can we learn from previous brand activity that can make this idea and campaign stronger?
