All the marketing projects I work on begin with a research phase. Where I seek a deep understanding of the market I’m working on. It can be quite daunting if it’s a category I know little about. 

Here’s what I’ve learnt on how to improve your desk research skills.

1 Be clear about what you’re looking for

 Give yourself a clear research brief. There are two topics to get clarity on.

 Firstly, the overall objective. For example:

 ‘To get a deep understanding of the world of health and fitness apps’

 Then, within the topic, the specific questions you want answers to. Such as:

 a)    Who are the dominant brands in the categories?

b)    What are their key features?

c)     How do they make money?

To add depth to your brief, add supplementary elements. For example, the key issues to overcome, timeframe, length of report, and hypotheses to explore. But as a bare minimum, be clear on the objective and the specific questions.

2 Seek a diverse set of information sources

Now your research begins. Start to look for information and data. Google is your friend here. Look out for reliable, reputable sources. Market reports, websites, blog posts, Youtube videos, reviews. Create a folder and bookmark all the most promising ones. Become adept at speed reading. With your objective and specific questions in mind, you’ll soon get a feel for what looks promising. Most of the information you’re looking for will be free.

As well as online sources, but there may well be ‘real’ books or publications to read. Take a trip to your library.

You may decide to supplement your desk research with your own research. This adds freshness and depth. These could be interviews, focus groups, observations, product immersion, etc.

3 Become a great notetaker

Once you’ve gathered your material, your analysis begins. This is where your notetaking skills, come to the fore. I’m old-fashioned as I use post-it notes and pens to capture my notes. One fact /observation per post-it note was how I was taught.

It’s vital at this stage to structure your thoughts once you’ve gathered them. There are broadly 2 ways I tend to do this.

Go back to the key questions that you defined upfront and create separate pages for each. I tend to use big A2 notepads or flip chart sheets so it’s easy to spread information around. Place your post-its on these sheets

Or, create a story structure. Imagine the report you want to write, then write the sections/chapters. Use this to place and organise the post-its. It also makes the final report writing so much easier. 

Sometimes, incorporate well-known analysis frameworks to organise your thoughts. Tools such as a SWOT analysis can aid comprehension.

4 Keep a bibliography

Whilst making notes, keep track of your sources. This helps in several ways.

You can attribute specific facts to sources. It makes your analysis more robust. It helps when creating arguments or defending your point of view. It helps you keep track of what you’ve covered. 

You can add your bibliography as an appendix to your report. It demonstrates the breadth of your analysis.

5 Spot patterns

This is where the more profound analysis takes place. Where you add real value. As you get deeper into the research, patterns start to emerge. Keep looking for them.

It takes time, practice and patience to get skilled at pattern recognition. Sometimes they emerge unexpectedly. Always be alert to them.

Move post-its around. Create themes, re-group. Re-cluster. You may see similar words/phrases emerging. There may be similar behaviours. Similar stages in a company’s growth. Similar reasons for success or failure. Whatever the questions you’re exploring, look for the repeating patterns. Label them, seek to understand them.

These become the higher level ‘insights’. The big ‘a-has’ of your study. It’s where you make sense out of chaos. The more research you do, the more confident you’ll become in the veracity of the patterns you spot. You’ll be able to draw parallels across different categories or consumers, see the bigger picture, and make more insightful conclusions.

6 Look for outliers

Whilst pattern spotting is at the heart of your analysis, don’t force-fit everything, Don’t ignore the facts/observations that don’t fit. The outliers. These could be the start of a new trend or could become a counterargument or a counter-trend.

Always look out for the anomaly, the disconnect, something fresh or emergent. Something that doesn’t quite feel right. It adds richness and originality to your study.

7 Create a compelling narrative

Finally, bring everything together. There’s lots of advice here on how you create and deliver a powerful presentation. For example, create a compelling structure. Make your presentation emotional. Make your slides as powerful as possible.

Summary

No matter what your category, you’ve got to do your research. It’s important thinking time. These are the tips that work for me. It starts with a clear brief. Look far and wide for information. Read effectively, capture your notes using a clear analysis framework. Keep track of what you’re reading. Spot patterns but don’t ignore the outliers. Then pull together a powerful narrative that brings it all together

Copy these tips, adapt them. Create a process that works for you. You’ll get a deep understanding of the topic you’re researching. You’ll find answers to the questions that are nagging you.