6 Ways to Socialize Your Insights
How to make sure your insights create business impact.
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By Kelly Pellico
In our last blog on the importance of simplicity, we touched on the complexity of today’s working culture; endless cycles of back-to-back meetings and exhaustion from our reliance on digital screens. According to research from Microsoft, our work calendars are out of hand. It’s reported that the heaviest Teams users spend close to 8 hours each week attending online meetings. And according to Zippia, those with upper management corporate jobs spend 50% of their time in meetings.
When it comes to socializing your insights, this means that your presentation – which represents the culmination of your work – is likely another meeting among too many meetings. And if you’re looking to engage senior-level executives in your presentations, it may be an uphill battle simply because they’re already inundated.
If you sit on the insights team of a client-side organization, partnering with an agency that will deliver great insights in an engaging and visually dynamic way is critical. But there’s an additional, often overlooked step, that can help you capture attention and create impact. That step is thinking creatively about how you socialize your insights.
Here are our top six tips for socializing your insights:
Use video to create a highlight reel
Summarizing your story in a one to three-minute video is a time-efficient and engaging way to communicate key insights. And, importantly, it has the added benefit of building empathy. With video, you have the opportunity to bring the voice of the consumer directly to your stakeholders. Weave in their most poignant talking points and use their words to tell the story. In this example, Hispanic women share the pleasure and empowerment they derive from their daily beauty routines, bringing to life the essence of the Latina beauty consumer and why she is such a powerful force.
Create a short teaser ahead of your presentation
Most people watch a trailer before they commit to sitting through an entire movie, so get your stakeholders excited about your presentation with a short teaser. Teasers can take many forms, including a video, a well-designed email, an audio clip or a data visualization. Whatever the form you choose, brevity is key. You want to deliver one or two nuggets of information to create intrigue and make them lean in. The goal is to give stakeholders a taste of what’s to come so they’re willing to invest their time in learning more.
Make your presentation interactive
If you want people to engage with your insights, you need to create ways to engage them. One simple way to engage stakeholders is by making the presentation interactive. Integrating games can be particularly effective. Give stakeholders a small homework assignment in advance, which can be a simple reading assignment. Then test their knowledge through quizzes or fun Family Feud-style matches. If you’re trying to socialize your segments, for example, send short persona highlights in advance of the presentation. Then during, play a game where a person is described and your stakeholders are asked to guess which segment they belong to. When we’ve used this technique at Vital Findings, even the C-Suite becomes actively engaged.
Deliver news bites straight to their inbox
Speak the language of the modern workforce by delivering easy-to-understand news bites straight into your stakeholders’ inboxes. Create 5-minute-read insights that you can deliver personally or via a designed newsletter. This is the ‘If you remember nothing else, remember this’ list. Links to deeper materials such as reports, infographics or videos should be included, but the primary list should stand strong without them.
Deliver your presentation via podcast
Those who can’t find the time to sit down and finish a book often turn to audiobooks. The audio format is great for busy, on-the-go people and can be an effective tool for spreading insights across an organization. Breaking free of their screens lets your stakeholders listen while they commute to work, or during their morning run – even while shuttling the kids to soccer practice. The portability and convenience of a podcast give your insights an easy-listen platform. For a few podcasting tips, check out an earlier presentation we gave at CRC.
Brand your insights team
While this piece of advice focuses on the team rather than the project, it’s a beneficial step to take. Creating a name and visual identity for your insights team will show cohesiveness and create familiarity and trust. The greater branding consistency you provide across your projects, the greater presence you take on within the organization, and the more likely you are to have a seat at the strategy table.
Use these tips to create a plan for socializing your insights, and help them become an indispensable part of your company’s strategic planning and decision-making process.