The ROI of Research That Actually Lands
The ROI of Research That Actually Lands
What effective research really unlocks, and how to prove its value across the business.
Let’s be honest: research often gets treated as a cost centre. Useful? Sure. Nice to have? Maybe. But seen as a core lever of commercial value? Rarely.
That’s the problem.
Because when research is well-designed, well-timed, and well-landed, it’s not just informing decisions. It’s de-risking launches. Sparking innovation. Protecting margins. Opening up new markets. And keeping you closer to what customers actually care about.
But to prove that, we need to shift how we talk about research impact.
We need to shift how we talk about research impact....
Most research ROI gets lost in translation
Research doesn’t always translate neatly into revenue numbers. That’s why it’s often undervalued.
But the teams that prove their impact don’t just report on the research, they tell the story of what it enabled. They explore things like:
- What decision did this work accelerate or improve?
- What misstep did it help avoid?
- What opportunity did it help uncover?
- Who started asking better questions as a result?
When you trace research to business movement and not just knowledge gain, that’s when you start showing ROI that matters.
Show impact early, not just at the end
One of the biggest mistakes we see is when researchers wait until the final report to start thinking about impact.
If you want your research to deliver real value, build in a plan for impact from the start. You can do this by making sure you:
- Align early on the decisions this research is meant to inform
- Identify what success would look like in practice (not just insight quality)
- Plan how you’ll follow up on what happens after the work is shared
Great research doesn’t just answer a question. It moves something forward.
Insight that pays off
Here’s what high-ROI research looks like in action:
- The product team skips a costly launch based on real user feedback
- A marketing team repositions successfully using language straight from customer interviews
- Leadership invests in a new direction after seeing unmet demand surface in qual
None of that happens by accident. It happens because the research was set up to make a difference... and then actually followed through.
Make research ROI part of the culture
Don’t wait for budget conversations to prove your value. Make it routine to share things like:
- The decisions your work informed
- The shifts in thinking your insight created
-The time, cost, or effort saved as a result
Even better: co-create those metrics with stakeholders. Ask them how they’ll measure success and then build your reporting around that.
When research works, it’s a strategic multiplier instead of a sunk cost.
And the more clearly you can show that, the more influence your insight will have.
Not just at the end of the process. But at the start of every big move.
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