what we do

Data and Insights

Consultancy and data insights for storytelling

All great stories begin with a killer insight. Using actionable insights is intrinsic to Smoking Gun’s approach. It helps us to lead and strategically advise clients using facts - bespoke research rather than off the cuff hunches. What else would you expect from a data and insights agency?

Our approach to gathering data sets is methodical. It’s catered to the needs of the client and their marketing campaigns’ objectives, using both qual and quant research methods.

These can be from traditional workshops, focus groups and surveys. But we also use technology and tap into the abundance of consumer information available online to build a rounded and robust view.

One of the methods we use is analysis of Google search data. Another is deep algorithm social listening. This allows us to gather data from across the digital landscape pulling insight from forums, social media platforms and reviews. Then there’s your data, too – logging in to Google Analytics dashboards to see what’s working, sometimes in real-time.

How do we do this?

It’s digital marketing supercharged. By using two segmentation algorithms, we uncover topics your target demographic cares about and the opinion leaders they respect. We cluster people based on their shared behaviour – looking at the customer journey and how they interact.

This approach allows us to identify key stakeholders in conversations and individuals who connect communities to a topic or brand. It’s not based on reach, but the position of each stakeholder within a community, who knows them and how committed they are to sharing knowledge. This provides us with invaluable insights, integrating customer data with the user experience. Find out who your audience is and how they interact – which brand manager wouldn’t want to know this?

As a forward-thinking marketing agency, we also use a special algorithm that pinpoints the language central to conversations within online communities. We draw on a range of data sources from social media to your CRM or your website’s analytical cookies. We then cluster conversations which share the same language and reference points. This helps us to map key topics that would otherwise remain uncovered – be they in ecommerce, B2B or whichever industry you’re in.

How does this help our clients?

Supporting brand marketers not to ‘make noise’ but to achieve their organisational goals takes more than great ideas. To really move the dial on improving reputation, growing awareness, changing perceptions or increasing sales, ‘Inspired Insights’ is where it must begin.

This means brands can align content/ messages/ chosen advocates with what is front of mind for the target audience – making it more relevant and thus efficient.

Whatever your KPI, we’ve got the resources and the metrics to back it up. Whether you’re trying to explore what makes your audience tick, who influences your audience, or what your audience is talking about, we can gather robust data and insight that can tell you exactly that.

At Smoking Gun, we follow AMEC’s Integrated Evaluation Framework and have won SEVEN global AMEC Awards for delivering campaigns that truly have impacted business goals.

Looking to uncover the insights that matter and turbocharge marketing communications strategy? Talk to us today.

Other services

Brand Voice Development

Next-level innovation is only as good as the ship that steers it. Discover actionable insights that fuel ingenious ideas for trailblazing, multi-channel campaigns: your roadmap to ground-breaking disruption.

Social Media

Instagram. TikTok. Facebook. LinkedIn. Feeling overwhelmed? We’ll take you from shiny object syndrome to strategic social media planning. Those sexy campaigns you love didn’t crop up overnight. They’re the product of painstaking research, A/B testing and showstopping creative. Work with a social media agency that does all three.

Digital PR

Media relations has come a long way. In today’s digital world, we’ve got the power to build links, assert authority and grab headlines – not only refining what you’ll say, but when, where and how.

Influencer Marketing

Harness the most powerful voices in word-of-mouth marketing, specific to your sector.

Content Creation

Whether it’s a new product that needs a head-turning launch, an event to sell out or an industry topic to turn into headlines, we’re the team to catapult your digital share of voice. We know how to create irresistible stories that journalists want to explore and memorable social content that engages your audience emotionally.

Learn more