When planning for 2026 (and beyond), understanding how to use market research for brand growth is crucial. Not only will this provide data-driven insights to guide decision making, it’s a way to stay connected with your audiences throughout the year. Allowing them to be active participants in your strategic development will strengthen relationships and ensure what you’re offering is aligned with their wants, needs, and expectations.
Why Market Research Matters for Brand Growth
When planning for 2026 (and beyond), understanding how to use market research for brand growth is crucial. Not only will this provide data-driven insights to guide decision making, it’s a way to stay connected with your audiences throughout the year. Allowing them to be active participants in your strategic development will strengthen relationships and ensure what you’re offering is aligned with their wants, needs, and expectations.
The better you understand the people that you serve, the better you can serve them. So, with a human-centric mindset, truly listening to your audiences will provide the clarity, wisdom, and knowledge needed to move forward with confidence and agility. The alternative is relying on assumptions, best guesses, and hypotheses, which is as inefficient as it is risky.
That said, it can be difficult to fully realize the potential of market research. With so much to learn and so many topics to explore, we often see brands spinning their wheels – unsure of where to focus their energy and attention.
To help kick things into gear, we have a list of questions all brands should be asking themselves – and some tips for how to use market research for brand growth.
7 Questions Every Brand Should Ask Themselves
1. What does our brand stand for, and is it resonating with our audience?
Your brand’s identity, its mission, values, and promise, should align with your target audience’s expectations and preferences. Misalignment can dilute trust and decrease engagement.
Market research can help you uncover how your audience perceives your brand’s core values. Surveys and direct feedback will reveal whether your messaging resonates or requires adjustment to connect with your audience more effectively.
2. Who is our ideal customer, and are we effectively reaching them?
Understanding who your audience is and how they interact with your brand informs everything from marketing campaigns to product offerings. Are you focusing on the right demographics, psychographics, and geographic segments?
Through segmentation analysis and persona development, market research enables brands to define their ideal customer profiles. While social media analytics, CRM data, and other behavioral metrics address what customers are doing, hearing directly from specific audiences provides much needed detail and context around why they’re doing it. These next-level insights will help refine targeting strategies and lead to deeper understandings of the people behind the behaviors.
3. What is our current level of brand awareness and understanding?
Knowing how well-known your brand is among your target audience helps identify opportunities to increase visibility and recognition.
Brand awareness studies, using techniques like aided and unaided recall surveys, can provide a clear picture of how well your brand is recognized. These insights can guide marketing strategies to improve visibility in key markets.
4. How do customers perceive our brand compared to competitors?
A brand’s reality is defined by the customer’s perceptions, and its strengths are often framed in the context of its competition. Is what customers think, feel, and know about your brand aligned with how you want to be viewed in the competitive landscape?
Competitive benchmarking studies can help identify gaps and opportunities in the market. Tools like brand perception surveys and sentiment analysis allow brands to understand how they stack up against competitors in the minds of consumers.
5. Are we delivering consistent and exceptional customer experiences?
A strong brand isn’t just about messaging—it’s about delivering on promises at every touchpoint. Are your customers’ experiences aligned with your brand values?
Customer journey mapping and feedback surveys allow brands to pinpoint areas where the customer experience may fall short. Market research can also identify specific actions to enhance satisfaction and build loyalty.
6. What emerging trends or disruptions could impact our brand?
From hyper-personalization to sustainability expectations, staying ahead of market trends can give your brand a competitive edge.
Market trend analysis and environmental scanning will help brands anticipate shifts in consumer behavior or technology. This enables proactive adjustments to strategy, ensuring long-term relevance and resilience.
7. What stories can we tell to strengthen our brand's identity?
Consumers connect with brands that tell compelling, authentic stories. What stories resonate most with your audience, and how can you amplify them?
Story-focused research and psychographic insights provide a glimpse into the narratives that resonate with your audience. These insights can shape content marketing strategies and campaigns that amplify your brand story effectively.
5 Tips for Actionable Market Research
1. Leverage both quantitative and qualitative methods
Quantitative data provides measurable insights, such as brand awareness levels and customer satisfaction scores. Qualitative research allows customers to use their own words, uncovering the motivations, emotions, and stories behind the numbers. For example, pairing a large-scale survey with a series of customer interviews can provide both breadth and depth of understanding, ensuring decisions are well-informed.
2. Segment your results by persona attributes
Avoid one-size-fits-all conclusions by segmenting your audience. Analyze your data based on demographics, behavior, and geographic factors to understand different perspectives and tailor your strategies accordingly. Segmentation ensures that your messaging and offerings are relevant to specific audience groups, improving engagement and effectiveness.
3. Benchmark findings against competitors
Include competitive analysis in your research efforts to uncover how your brand stacks up. Identify areas where you can differentiate and carve out unique value propositions. By studying competitor strategies and customer feedback, you can identify gaps where your brand can excel and develop messaging that highlights your unique strengths.
4. Track and monitor changes over time
Brand perception and audience preferences evolve. Conduct regular tracking studies to monitor changes, identify patterns, and adjust strategies proactively. Longitudinal studies or periodic surveys allow brands to stay in tune with shifts in consumer sentiment, ensuring their strategies remain relevant.
5. Focus on producing goal-oriented insights
Data is only valuable if it aligns with your goals and guides next steps. Prioritize insights that directly inform brand strategy and development efforts, whether it’s revamping your positioning or launching a new campaign. Build results reports that highlight key takeaways and recommended actions, ensuring stakeholders can quickly interpret and act on the findings.
Using market research for brand growth in 2026 requires a proactive approach and a commitment to understanding your audience and marketplace. By employing strategic market research that asks the right people the right questions at the right time, your brand can achieve not only relevance but also a meaningful connection with its audience. Embrace market research as the compass guiding your brand’s journey, and you’ll be well-positioned to thrive in the dynamic year ahead.
For over 40 years, we’ve been empowering brands with the data-driven clarity, knowledge, and wisdom needed to thrive. To learn how our strategic approach can be put to work for you, give us a shout or schedule time for an intro call!
