Why now?

Increasing competition in a digital environment is forcing an evolution in how brands market and sell their products. To keep up with constant change and skyrocketing expectations it’s essential to build your strategy around the customer. And here’s the kicker - the majority of brands today are still not customer-led, leaving abundant opportunities to capture market share.

Now we’re already reaching

the next evolution.

We’re in a digital age that is

constantly accelerating.

This has thrown us into a new world, where brand

does not hold the same power.

You need more than a brand strategy

The difference is clear - before, a customer had a limited number of avenues to become exposed to a brand. Now, more people than ever before are browsing and buying online. Increasing trust in digital environments is forcing an evolution in how brands market and sell their products and services.

Before today, brands could get by with a limited understanding of their customers. But now, when your next customer could be 3 clicks away from choosing you or a competitor product, a deep customer understanding is essential. Brand and customer strategy must work together.

What is a customer strategy?

A customer strategy is an essential piece of foundational thinking for brands that want to achieve customer-led growth. It translates a deep understanding of your customers into actionable strategies for your teams. A great customer strategy unites teams around what customers really need, which helps you offer seamless end-to-end experiences for customers throughout their journey with your brand.

Signs you need a customer strategy

Are any of the following scenarios familiar?

Lack of
consensus

Around the right strategy or route forward in terms of go-to-market or product strategy

Lack of
certainty

Around target audience (e.g. going for B2B or B2C), or where the value in the market lies

Discrepancies in approach

Taken by sales teams and marketing teams in acquiring new customers

Lack of consistency

In communication or outputs of creative agencies, lack of clear direction for campaigns and key messages

Lack of evidence for decisions

Worries that actions taken are not evidence-based or rooted in clear market data or behaviours

Strategy echo chamber

Worries about strategy development in an echo chamber, are we just making assumptions about our customers? Are we really talking to people like us or do they want something different?

Segmentation fatigue

Significant effort in rolling out customer segmentations that teams are not using consistently or find difficult to internalise and therefore difficulty extracting the value from the work

Segmentation renewal

A need to update segmentation work constantly and reintegrate the new findings into the business because the world (and customer behaviour) changes so rapidly

Observe comms today and you’ll see a lot of the following:

Over emphasis on brand without speaking to the customers’ Job to Be Done, which lacks clear relevance for the customer
Over emphasis on the customers’ problem without demonstrating credibility as a brand to solve it, which means the customer needs more convincing

Great brands know both who they are and how they connect. Great comms nail both relating with the customers’ Job to be Done and clarity around how the brand is best placed to solve it.

Core components of a customer strategy

TARGET AUDIENCE

How your audiences segment based on buying behaviour

Agreement of a defined target audience, and how buying behaviour differs across key personas.

AUDIENCE UNDERSTANDING

A deep understanding of your customers

Clarity around the characteristics of your target audiences demographically, attitudinally and culturally.

JOBS TO BE DONE

Identifying the Jobs to Be Done of your target customers

Clarity on the underlying needs driving buying and switching behaviour.

BUYER’S JOURNEY

An assessment of the forces impacting a customer

Reality check on the role or importance of brand in your industry (it might not be that important to customers and that’s ok).

COMPETITION

Mapping out the competitive landscape

Definition of the competitive context from a customers’ perspective

ROLE OF BRAND

The importance of functional and emotional needs

The extent to which your market is driven by functional (product capabilities) or emotional reasons (brand)

Work with us

The majority of brands today are still not customer-led, and they’re not built around customer Jobs. So this represents an opportunity to gain an advantage over competitors by elevating customer-led thinking to its rightful place, ensuring it is a habit that is widespread and pervasive within your organisation.

We can help you set the foundation for your customer strategies using an evidence-based approach and proven behavioural frameworks that bring the kind of clarity your teams need to move forward with confidence.

WORK WITH US

DISCOVERY

Customer research and strategy

Identify key audience segments and their JTBD, map out opportunities in a competitive context, understand what customers’ value about your offer today and how to build on it.

Find out more 

DEEP DIVE

Product / UX

VENTURE LAB

For VC’s or venture-backed startups - confidently launch new ventures and build a compelling investment case with product-market fit validation.

PROPOSITION BUILDER

For brands looking to innovate and launch new offerings - create a prototype for a new proposition, test with target customers and validate demand before investing in product development

Marketing

GROWTH STRATEGY

Predict the size and value of opportunities, inform your roadmap by prioritising which JTBD and audience segments to target first.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP & ABM

Customer-led development of thought leadership content and marketing materials which will drive engagement.

Brand

BRAND STRATEGY

Inform your brand strategy and positioning with a focus on communicating how your brand delivers what customers most value.

BRAND TRACKING

Monitor ongoing brand performance and KPIs including the strength of customer associations of your brand with key JTBD.

Not sure where to begin?

Get in touch with us and we can help you decide what to do first.

Untold Insights delivers customer research and strategy for a digital world.

CUSTOMER STRATEGY

Ensure the customer is at the centre of your product, marketing and brand strategies.

A clearly defined customer strategy is becoming one of the most important things you can implement in your business today.It will become your guiding light for growth by championing an excessive focus within your business on what matters most:

the customer