Jeff's Strategy Course

A Quick Guide to Strategy Research

• Written By Jeff Humble

guide to strategy research

In the business world, strategy is often portrayed as an act of solitary genius, but that is outright wrong.

If you look for the origin stories of strategies, and you will find stories of visionary CEOs who invent a brilliant strategy in a stroke of genius after years of sharpening their business instincts.

While these stories might be good PR, they’re completely unrealistic.

The best strategies come from research…and a lot of it.

Strategy is not only about budgets, presentations, and execution. At its core, it’s also about discovery. You have to look deep to find a source for strategy, and that can only come from research.

For the best strategists, strategy research is a neverending thing.

The five activities of strategy research

Let’s look at the different things strategists might research to develop a strategy.

1.) Understanding Market Dynamics

Are you fighting the next wave or riding it? Markets constantly evolve, and you’ll need continuous research to get ahead of the curve. Luckily, there are already lots of sources for market insights that are ready to be discovered.

Sources of market insights:

  • Third-party research firms like Forrester or Gartner
  • Industry reports from places like IBISWorld or Statista
  • Whitepapers from thought leaders
  • Research papers in economics, strategy, and consumer trends
  • Financial documents for industry leaders
  • Digital analytics aggregators like Google Trends
  • User research insights
  • Stock market data
  • Management consulting firms like McKinsey

Your goal is to anticipate the future, so you will want to zoom in and out to get the big picture. You can go big with indicators like your country’s GDP or micro with specific data from your company’s sales. You will probably consume and create many graphs to display this market data.

2.) Uncovering Customer Needs & Pain Points

Customers are fickle, and you’ll need to form a deep understanding to predict their behavior. The best way to do that is to talk to them.

Sources of customer insights:

  • User interviews
  • Ethnographic studies
  • Concept tests
  • Usability testing
  • A/B testing
  • Customer segment analysis
  • Discussion boards
  • Niche communities

In-depth user research is the only way to address these unmet needs. The most common method is to conduct interviews, but you might also run surveys, concept tests, and analyze behavioral user data to determine the gaps in the user experience. To keep track of this customer data, you can create a user journey map to help others understand the gaps.

3.) Analyzing the Competition

Strategy is about finding a niche in the market, so you must understand how you fit in with the competition. Keeping up with all the new features and offerings is a full-time job, so make time weekly for this type of research.

Sources of competitive insights:

  • Websites & product pages
  • Press releases
  • Social media posts
  • Employee blogs & interviews
  • Review sites like Yelp
  • Advertising campaigns
  • Email newsletters
  • Patent filings
  • SEO tools
  • Financial statements

You can do desk research on various factors, such as marketing campaigns, customer types, and business models, to figure out how your competitors tick. Your competitors’ social media profiles and public websites can be a goldmine if you know what to look for. Once you have enough data, you can conduct a SWOT analysis to understand your learning.

4.) Leveraging Internal Strength

Strategy isn’t only about external research but also internal research. Strategies should capitalize on the unique things that only your company can do. So, you will want to know all about the secret capabilities and other sources of power at your company.

Sources for internal insights:

  • Resource audits
  • Capabilities assessments
  • Human resources audits
  • Financial performance
  • Operational data
  • Digital analytics

You can get this information using company financials, past internal presentation decks, and internal interviews. A list of strategic insights is a great way to display the data you find internally that might strengthen the strategy.

Trendspotting combines user and market research, but it deserves its own category because it’s crucial to a strategy that anticipates future behavior. Spotting trends is specifically focused on consumer trends and technological advances. Good trend research can be your secret weapon to uncover the next big thing before your competitors.

Sources for trend information:

  • Industry publications and reports
  • Trade shows and conferences
  • Consumer behavior analytics
  • Social media platforms (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, TikTok)
  • Technology blogs and innovation journals
  • Government reports and regulatory updates

Tools like Google Trends, industry blogs, and trend forecasting websites can be valuable resources for trendspotting. Once you uncover a few trends, keep an updated list of strategic insights you can present alongside your strategy.

Three mindsets to go pro with strategy research

The whole point of strategy research is to get a spark of creative inspiration that will take your strategy in a new, improved direction.

But this spark doesn’t happen in the mind of a single person, and it doesn’t happen overnight.

Here are two things to keep in mind while doing research:

  1. Share the research workload.

    Doing strategic research can be a career-changing activity, but it should be a solo activity. The things you discover can save your company millions, and taking all of that work for yourself can be tempting. However, sharing the research workload will improve the research results because more eyes on the research will reduce personal bias. Ask for your help and invite others to do strategy research, too.

    Consider a group working session if any aspect of your research can be collaborative. This will help you avoid personal bias and utilize other people’s viewpoints. Or if you have in-house expertise in analysis or synthesis, ensure those people are involved. And make sure that you share and discuss your results with an open mind at multiple steps along the strategic journey.

  2. Iterate on the research results.

    Strategic research can always be improved…even after you think the research is “done.” Strategic research is risky, so you should never trust your first instinct. Instead, examine the results from multiple perspectives and use those perspectives to improve your insights. Presenting your research is the perfect time to find gaps and biases that others can improve, so be sure to schedule time for editing your research after every strategy research presentation.

  3. Take a continuous mindset.

    Ideally, strategy research never really stops. The competitive landscape is always shifting beneath your feet, so you will have to stay on top of your research at all times. If you think of research as a single phase in a project, your research data will never be up-to-date. Strategy is about finding that timely window of opportunity, so make sure you’re ready and up-to-speed on the trends and market shifts that matter.

Why strategy research is important

Hopefully, you can see how valuable research can be in evolving your strategy. If you take your strategy research seriously, you should

If you take anything away from this article, remember this:

You can’t brainstorm your way to a strategy.

You will have to do your research, and you better be thorough. Strategy is extremely risky, so you’ll want to de-risk the process with in-depth research.

I hope this guide helps you get an idea for where and what you’re looking for with strategy research.