How to move from data to insights to recommendations. Make sure you get more out of your agency or marketing research support.

1. Data Is Not Enough:
It needs to be turned into
insights

2. “The key to good decision making is not
knowledge. It is understanding. We are
swimming in the former. We are
desperately lacking in the la;er.”
- Malcom Gladwell, Blink

3. Data vs. Insight
Data = facts, either quan@ta@ve or qualita@ve
Data is easy, quick, one-dimensional
Response
Rates
Top Two
Box
Impressions
Likes
Likelihood
to Purchase
Page Views
Click
Through
Rates
Importance

4. Just geKng data is like going to a restaurant and the waiter plops all the raw
ingredients of your dish on the table.
Data Insights vs.

5. Data vs. Insight
Insight = outcome of a process that combines facts
with business knowledge, observa@on and
experience. Insights are more @me intensive and
mul@-dimensional and you have to know the
business ques@on and the business in order to
create insights.

6. How to turn data into insights
1. Know the business ques@on you’re trying to answer
2. Study the business
3. Analyze the data available
4. Bring the data to life through visuals
5. Look for themes in the data
6. Combine with other knowledge and determine insights
Data Insights

7. 1. Know the business ques@on you’re
trying to answer
It’s not enough to just field a study or look up an answer
to a ques@on that is thrown at you. You need to know
the background. What led to this ques@on or project?
How does it fit into the bigger picture? What will you
do with this informa@on? All of this informa@on will
help you obtain the right facts that will lead to insights.
Example: Some of our bank branches are more
profitable than others. We want to know if it is
the customers, loca@on, or sales team.

8. 2. Study the business
Look to understand the bigger picture. How
does the business challenge or ques@on relate to
their plans or the industry they are in? Talk to
people about the impetus for the request. How
does your project fit into the overall strategic
plan? What problem is it solving? In other words
– do your homework and get smart about the
business. Use this informa@on when crea@ng
insights.
To Do: Read the annual report and exis@ng strategic plans or other background
informa@on about the company, industry, and compe@@on.

9. 3. Analyze the data available
Now you have a pile of data from either a study you
fielded or secondary searching. Read through it.
What is it telling you? If it’s a dataset, run your
sta@s@cal analysis on it. Look at significant
differences across various groups. All of this analysis
will lead to addi@onal ques@ons. Try to find the
answers to those ques@ons. Fill your mind with as
much data and informa@on as possible.
Look at: Addi@onal resources can help the ques@ons
that will come up. Google searches, secondary
research and past primary research are great here.
Also talk to individuals at the company to see if they
have answers.

10. 4. Bring the data to life through
visuals
It’s oden easier to see the most relevant points
once is visualized. This can take many forms from a
simple pie chart to a more complex chart
incorpora@ng mul@ple data points. The main point
here is that the visual accurately shows the data
and that it is easy to understand. While words
should always be included to explain it, the graph
should be able to stand on its own if needed.
Think about: What is the best way to help the
reader understand the meaning of the data in the
quickest and most complete way possible?

11. 5. Look for themes in the data
Now that everything is visual, it’s easier to see how
the data relates to each other. Spend some @me
looking for similari@es and disconnects among the
data points. What does the data tell you? What
stories are beginning to form in your mind from the
data? What are the most impaceul data points? Do
they all relate to one area?
Look For: Trends, anomalies and outliers. What’s
different, what’s the same? Are there rela@onships?
Develop a hypothesis as to why the data looks the way
it does and think of ways to test your theory.

12. 6. Combine with other knowledge and
determine insights
By this point, the data should be making sense. You
know what it is saying. The key now is to combine it
with other research, business knowledge and
experience to help form the insights. Once you’ve
combined some points, think about what it’s really
telling you about the business. Now star@ng wri@ng
them out. Combine these and add to them. Now you
have insights.
Tip: Step away from all the work for a bit – go for a
walk or sleep on it. When you come back with a fresh
mind or new perspec@ve, you might see new things
and also determine the most impaceul insights. These
should be used to build recommenda@ons.

13. Data Insights Recommenda@ons
Data alone is not enough. You have to take it to the next level for it to
be useable. Data to insights to recommenda@ons wins every @me!

14. The brand story your clients think they have may not be the same one that their customers are
thinking. This is where Long & Short of It can help. We use insights based solu@ons to provide clear
strategic direc@on.
Branding
Brand elements connect the internal vision with the external
brand expression.
Strategic Planning
Measurable objec@ves, insights, strategy and tac@cs to achieve
the desired outcome.
Idea8on
Structured brainstorming yielding many ideas and then
dis@lled into a short list to be tested.
Innova8on
Design thinking process, tools, and methodologies to help create
new products, system, or solu@ons.
Customer Insights
Research to determine what customers are thinking, feeling
and doing.
Research
The cornerstone of everything; we employ all qualita@ve and
quan@ta@ve methods.
www.lasoi.com