Do you have the data you need to make confident decisions?
Relevant data is a key input to support effective decision-making in today’s rapidly changing market. It helps businesses minimise uncertainty and improve their odds of success.
77% of marketers agree that having audience data is crucial for successful marketing. It helps them optimise their strategies, plan the best media mix, and create content that resonates with their target audience, according to Hubspot’s 2024 State of Marketing & Trends Report.
Yet, despite its potential, many businesses are not using data to its full potential. Only 48% of marketers use customer journey data to create more personalised customer experiences. Even worse, only four in ten leverage data to shape campaign strategies, build brand equity, or guide product development. So how are they developing their strategy, planning their execution, and optimising their delivery?
As we begin 2025, the pace is not slowing. Economic influences, social dynamics, competitive pressures, and technological advances like AI are all impacting consumer preferences and behaviour.
There’s never been a greater need for data to contextualise, inform, and influence the choices marketers and business leaders make—whether about products, communications, distribution, pricing, or community contribution.
Reliable, representative data is the fuel for effective decision-making.
So why is it that so few businesses have ingrained this philosophy in their way of working?
The answer lies in the barriers businesses face when trying to be more data-driven.
Overcoming barriers to data-driven decision-making using research
While the benefits of data-driven decision-making are clear, many organisations still face significant barriers to fully adopting this approach. Challenges such as accessing the right audiences, data quality issues, privacy concerns, complexities in data integration, and obstacles in data analysis often hold businesses back.
One of the most effective ways to overcome these challenges is through survey based research. By gathering direct feedback from consumers, customers, influencers, or employees—the very people who drive or hinder business success— research provides valuable insights that can fuel better decisions.
Research technology like Glow simplifies the entire process, making survey building, data capture, analysis, and sharing easier by consolidating everything into one user-friendly end-to-end platform.
So why is it that even the most data literate within organisations, like marketers, aren’t using survey data more widely?
Perhaps this is because market research has traditionally been seen as expensive, cumbersome, and slow, the latter of which is an increasing impediment in a fast-paced business environment.
But none of those concerns hold true any longer.
As with many areas, technology has accelerated the pace of market research, improved its efficiency through automation and AI, and enabled more widespread access through easy-to-use software that substitutes specialist service providers.
The path to insight is not as long as it once was.
Research is now much easier to conduct and control due to the emergence of on-demand market research platforms like Glow.
These platforms provide a more direct route to insights through software and support solutions.
Glow is on a mission to democratise access to data, so that more people, in more roles, in more organisations can capture quality data to fuel better decisions.
Read on to learn how Glow can help various teams within your business make more effective, data-driven decisions.
How Glow supports data-driven decision-making across teams
Insights for Innovation and R&D Teams
Testing and tune-ups can pave the path to success in research, development, and innovation. The Glow platform accelerates market research for innovation and R&D teams, allowing for rapid concept testing in front of target audiences and tune-ups for products, services, and communications once they are in the market.
Glow has recently helped…
- A new skincare brand find the white space to launch into
- An CPG brand assess new product viability
- A beverage brand evolve its positioning post-launch
- A market research agency test a new home hygiene concept for a multinational FMCG brand
To see how Sirena Tuna used Glow to identify differentiation and extension opportunities, click here.
Insights for Research Experts
Glow enables researchers and analysts to keep a finger on the pulse faster than ever before, with capabilities to support simple to complex market research studies. With Glow, research and insights teams can identify and anticipate market trends and interrogate rapidly changing consumer behaviour to stay one step ahead of the pack.
Glow has recently helped…
- A market research agency conduct a comprehensive usage and attitudes study across 3 markets
- A B2B brand get to grips with the dynamics of a new market, the US
- A consumer goods brand refine positioning for a new segment launch
Click here to learn how Reckitt used Glow to evaluate and optimise the messaging strategy for its child nutrition brand.
Insights for Marketing, Brand and Content Professionals
With Glow, marketing, advertising, brand, and content professionals can test ideas before launch so they know the work will work. Validate and understand target segments, pre-test communications and messaging, and measure the effectiveness of your efforts – so you can prove the ROI for your marketing.
Glow has recently helped…
- A food business identify a brand ambassador across multiple markets
- A media agency track brand performance and assess campaign effectiveness within the automotive sector
- A PR agency build compelling communications for the travel sector
- A creative agency pre-test ideas for a food product launch
See how media, marketing and communications agencies have used Glow to superpower their marketing decisions: Generating breakthrough ideas with EssenceMediacom, bespoke audience insights with Havas, and agile brand tracking with Atomic 212.
Insights for Sustainability, ESG, and CSR Specialists
Through Glow’s unique measure of sustainability perception, the Social Responsibility Score, brands can gain insight into the social and environmental issues most concerning consumers and get clear direction on the issues their customers expect them to address. Glow can also help brands understand how socially responsible they are perceived to be, an increasingly important metric given that 64% of consumers say it influences brand choices.
Glow works with businesses like Mondelez, David Jones, 3BL Media and the Banksia Foundation to help brands take action on issues that are truly important to consumers.
Discover how Mondelez used SRS data to understand consumer perceptions of their ESG strategy to help refine their communications and guide ESG investment.
Glow for data-driven decisions
Business leaders know that the cost of a poor decision can be enormous. However, that’s no longer a risk you need to take, with Glow’s high-quality, on-demand research available at your fingertips right now.
Sam B
Senior Strategist,
Marketing Agency
Super service, terrific team and powerful product.
Gary S
Regional Director,
Market Research Agency
Super simple to use, fast with insights at the click of a button.
Joel V
Founder,
Market Research Agency
Fantastic platform, it’s become my secret weapon.
Zoe H
Program Manager,
Consumer Brand
Glow is leading the way in online survey platforms.
Join other leading brands, including EssenceMediacom, Bain & Co., Tourism Australia, Lego, Reckitt, Employment Hero, and many more, that trust Glow to support their research needs.
Learn more about how Glow can help you get the data you need to drive better business decisions, or book an intro with one of our research experts.