Three-quarters of UK firms will boost market research budgets

Three-quarters (74%) of businesses in the UK intend to increase their marketing research budgets this year to improve their reach to potential customers, according to a new survey from Stravito, the consumer insights platform.

The study, which was conducted by research firm Censuswide in the last week of December 2020, involved 200 decision-makers at medium-to-large companies.

Key findings

• 76% of businesses plan to overhaul their customer engagement strategy in response to the disruption caused by COVID-19.
• 82% of decision-makers agree that data-driven insights are a top priority for them in 2021.
• 83% agree that improving communication and relationships with customers will be critical to business growth this year.
• 72% of respondents agree that their company needs to improve its knowledge and research-sharing capabilities to improve sales.

Key quote

“In this pandemic era, connecting to consumers on a ‘human level’ is more important than ever, and demonstrating empathy and understanding with customer concerns and needs is imperative. This process must start with comprehensive market and consumer research to help inform business strategy and understand exactly how consumer behaviour and expectations have adapted over the course of the very eventful last 12 months” – Thor Olof Philogène, CEO and co-founder of Stravito.