How to position research as a business growth tool

Most companies see research as a cost.

The best companies turn it into a growth opportunity.

• An expense line item.
• A supporting function.
• A “nice-to-have.”

That’s the wrong way to look at it.

The highest-performing businesses don’t just use research, they build their strategies around it.

Done right, research doesn’t just inform decisions, it can creative a competitive advantage.

Here’s how:

Research starts with the right questions

Most businesses do research reactively.

❌ “What do customers think of our latest campaign?”

❌ “How do we compare to competitors?”

These are useful but don’t directly tie research to opportunity or growth.

High-growth companies take a different approach.

Because growth isn’t about what you’re doing right, it’s about what’s holding you back.

They ask:

✅ “What’s stopping our best customers from spending more?”

✅ “What market segments are growing the fastest, and how can we dominate them?”

✅ “What are the hidden reasons customers choose us over competitors?”

The best research doesn’t just describe, it drives decisions that impact revenue.

Position your research as an investment

Why does marketing get budget, but research often gets cut?

Because marketing teams talk in ROI. Research teams talk in insights.

Executives need to see research as a revenue-generating tool.

Instead of saying:

“We need budget for customer research.”

✅ Say: “A 5% increase in customer retention (driven by our research) could add $5M to our bottom line.”

If research doesn’t connect to revenue, risk reduction, or efficiency gains, it won’t be prioritised.

Here's 3 frameworks Head of Insights I've had coffee with this year use to drive business impact

They all follow a structured research playbook to ensure insights aren’t wasted.

Here are three of the best:

Competitive Intelligence (CI) Research
→ What are competitors missing?
→ How can we differentiate?

Market segmentation & targeting
→ Where is demand growing the fastest?

Opportunity assessment
‍→ Which market shifts represent real growth opportunities?

As a researcher, it's important to remember how your company makes money!

Companies grow in three ways:

1. Expanding the core business (Optimising what works)
2. Innovating into adjacencies (New markets & offerings)
3. Pursuing breakthrough opportunities (Transformational moves)

And research plays a role in all of them, because company growth with the help of research isn’t just about execution, it’s about knowing where to place your bets.

The businesses that position research as an ongoing, strategic function will outperform those that treat it as a one-time project.

How to make research a true growth driver

📌 Step 1: Redefine your research. Stop asking for insights, start demanding revenue-driving answers.

📌 Step 2: Link research insights directly to business impact (ROI, revenue, efficiency).

📌 Step 3: Use structured frameworks to turn research into decisions.

📌 Step 4: Align research with your company’s core growth strategy.

📌 Step 5: Treat research as a continuous process, not a one-time activity.

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Next week: "How to confidently defend your Insights"

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