Editor’s note: Mario X. Carrasco is co-founder and principal of ThinkNow, a market research agency based in Burbank, Calif. The article was originally published by MediaPost under the title, “Strategists deserve better ResTech, make data accessible.” 

Strategists are the unsung heroes of the agency world. By weaving in data with storytelling, they bridge the gap between insights and inspiration. And it’s a heavy lift. The process of sourcing the right data to power their clients’ decision-making is often laborious, and the inefficiency steals time away from efforts to go after new clients. Data collection for many strategists involves endless hours of desk research combined with logging into multiple research technology platforms that force them to cobble together disparate data points and PDF studies to craft a data-driven story. Strategists deserve better, and we can do better. 

How can we, the market research industry, help the lone data advocate in the agency world? Here are three takeaways from conversations with strategists from across the globe:

  1. Focus on the UI. Many aspects of the research technology ecosystem are not new. Some of the tools strategists use are decades old and feel like it. Data does not have to be difficult to analyze but may require a shift in thinking and implementation. For example, data visualization has transformed marketing technology, and the technology and application have become more user-friendly. With the user in mind, research technology should look to adopt a similar approach, making it easier for strategists seamlessly to plug a data point into a presentation deck. 
  2. Multicultural/diverse audience sample. A flaw that plagues almost all research technology solutions on the market is the lack of robust multicultural and diverse audience sample sizes. As you begin to drill down into diverse audience segments, tools often fall short, having either unstable base sizes or the inability to display any results at all. As America continues to march toward a multicultural nation at an even faster clip than projected, research technology with a robust multicultural sample has become a demographic – and business – imperative. 
  3. Psychographic data. Market sizing, demographic data and product usage statistics are standard and expected at this point. But after the world received a wake-up call in 2020, the demand to connect with audiences in 2021 will need to go beyond the traditional data found in the majority of research technology tools to authentically connect with consumers. 

As the research technology landscape continues to grow, solution providers need to have the end-user in mind. Data for data’s sake has never been a best practice, and it's downright unacceptable now. Strategists are superusers of data and best positioned to evangelize the power of data among clients and stakeholders, who can be resistant to spend the funds needed for research. Embrace them and consult with them as the next generation of research technology is built. 

Because if your research technology tool is not compelling enough to be used in an agency pitch, or if strategists have to piecemeal your data, how are you adding value?