You have probably created a structured plan when creating your project. A blueprint that has guided you to move forward with your project. And while that all sounds proactive and you are proud of what you have accomplished, you have made it to your pitch deck, and as you are presenting, you realize you forgot an essential part of the entire reason you started this research for your marketing plan.
You: Embarrassed
Them: Confused
You: Scrambling through the files in your brain to figure out what happened?
Granted, this is a dramatization, but the chances of it happening is not zero. So which brings us to the next question, how do you prevent this situation and stop yourself from looking like a “Surprised Pikachu” meme in front you the essential people in the board room? Well, don’t look too far! The process is simple and can apply to your market plans, personal goals, and brands!
Why not practice something that can be well-rounded for everything you do in your life and be the talk of the office? Introducing the excellent concept called “Designing with the end in mind.”
How To Prevent Chaos In The Board Room As you already know, researching your data and info is tedious to get enough information to move forward with your dedicated research. As a refresher, here are five steps to market research:
Identify a research need
Design the research study
Conduct the study
Analyze the results
Share the research insights
Conducting these steps leads you to create the perfect project, but if you were to focus on Step 3 of the process, there’s a lot of information that can go into this one section that can lead you to make a few mistakes! First, it’s important to note that when deciding what type of research you want to conduct, you ask the right questions regarding what is essential to your marketing research plans! If you aren’t sure how to determine those questions, you can always mock up your research and outline your project to the critical parts. For example, you can create multiple slides on PowerPoint or even write/draw out your report. Here, you can input slides or spaces on paper where exactly you want to put certain pieces of your research, or your data set tables that explain enormous data you have researched and studied on your research journey.
Once done with outlining, you can now have a bird-eye view of what exactly is going into the report and ask yourself the questions you need to move forward before presenting this project to the room. If you still aren’t sure about your information, here are some questions you can ask yourself to help you move forward with your report:
Is this the information I need to make these specific decisions?
Will the data in my report answer my research questions for my client?
Is there any information in my study I’m not going to use or not practical to answer my questions to make a final decision?
With this, you can have a better idea of the information you are sharing with your clients and stakeholders, and most importantly, make sure you share ALL of your information!
Why Should This Be Important To You? Granted, knowing this information may make you the number one in your office, and while that is great, you can also apply this beyond the cubicle.
As a designer, marketer, editor, or whatever you consider yourself in your industry, you can take these tactics and create roadmaps for your brand. It never hurts to plan, and most importantly, plan where you can perhaps catch your own mistakes or learn more about different insights that can help you move forward with your projects. Practicing this on your own time will make you a strong pitch deck connoisseur and make you more aware and ready for any bottlenecks found during your market research.
What type of skills do you use to help you prepare for your research? What kind of questions do you ask yourself to make sure your data can be legible to everyone at your board meeting? How do you outline your pitch decks when presenting your marketing research on your designated projects?
Start the discussion on my page and get the ball rolling with other marketers!
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