At this point in time, you have a list of dream prospects that you want to convert, and you’ve gone through the effort of researching them. If you are stuck on either of these steps, feel free to review our earlier blogs (Part 1 & Part 2) to help you move through those steps in the Dream 25 Strategy.

As you now review all the data that you’ve collected on these dream prospects, if you’re like most, you’re probably feeling a little overwhelmed on what to do from here. At this point we usually have people tell us, “I know all about my prospects, but what do I do from here to capture their attention?”   

The challenge of distilling all your newly collected data and turning it into some kind of coherent strategy for lead nurturing stops people in their tracks. The key to unlocking this roadblock lies in synthesizing research into themes. 

The Value of Analyzing Themes

By finding patterns within your research, you start to surface all the components that are important to your prospects. It's about understanding their why and all the things that cause them stress. Through this analysis, you will have the information you need to design touchpoints that resonate with the prospects on a personal level. 

Your goal is to use these themes to design engagements that say, "I understand what's important to you, and I care." These themes are going to give you a chance to acknowledge what’s important to them, which ultimately forms the basis of trust and a long-term relationship. If you don’t believe us, review the science behind relationship building in our previous blog. 

Step-by-Step Guide to Synthesizing Your Research into Themes

1. Data Aggregation

If you haven’t already, take the additional step to compile your research into a single aggregated location, such as a spreadsheet. You want to be able to view the data points across all companies. 

Create a second spreadsheet/tab that is going to collect all your themes and the supporting data. The fields you may want to prepare will be:

• Industry

• Specific Company

• Theme

• Based on

2. Initial Review and Organization

With your data in one place, begin an initial sweep of your data. As you skim through the data, start organizing it into broad categories. These categories could be based on observable patterns, such as familiar challenges faced by your prospects or shared interests. 

Examples:

• Sustainability – Appears on multiple company websites.

• Wellbeing – Multiple companies focus on their employee wellbeing.

• Security – This is something the companies in this industry want their clients to feel.

• Technological advancement – This a challenge in the industry – how to keep up.

3. Identifying Patterns and Relationships

Now, dive deeper. Start to find recurring patterns, phrases, and sentiments that crop up across your data. Pay attention to the language used by your prospects, the challenges they discuss often, and the aspirations they express. Equally important is looking for relationships between different data points. For instance, do certain challenges correlate with specific industries? This step is about connecting the dots, revealing the web of relationships that underpins your prospects' professional lives.

Examples and the thought process behind it:

• Creativity – People in this industry are all about being creative. The work they do for their clients requires it. How could we support?

• Too much noise – One of the industries challenges these companies face is that people are bombarded by too much noise/marketing. How does their work cut through the noise? What could be sent to show these prospects we understand that one of their challenges is too much noise?

• Continuous learning – Many of the companies posted about conferences or events their teams are attending for learning. How do we support their learning?

5. Tips for Finding Themes

Translating your thematic analysis into actionable touchpoints will be the next step in the process. To facilitate, you’re going to look for themes that reflect opportunities where you can help, achievements you can acknowledge, or milestones you can celebrate with your prospects. 

• Some of the themes can be related to causes they support or hobbies and interests they’ve revealed.

• Some of the themes you capture can be specific to just one company. Your nurturing can and should be hyper-personalized to the company or person when possible, so don’t forget those individual themes. 

• You should also look for themes that will give you a chance to empathize or communicate your understanding of their work. 

• If they’re working on specific projects or maybe they’re recently completed one, make sure you capture a company specific theme around the milestone of that accomplishment. 

• You can even include personal themes on this list – Recently married, baby, etc. 

Overall, this step of synthesizing your research into themes is not simply a data organization activity. It's a strategic process that will take your raw information into actionable insights, enabling you to design touchpoints that not only capture attention but also build trust and foster meaningful relationships with those prospects. By taking a very thoughtful, methodical approach to this analysis, you set the stage for engaging your prospects in a way that shows them that you see beyond the surface and would be a trusted partner who genuinely cares. 

If you need help with analysis, we’re always happy to help. Bring your questions or challenges to one of our monthly Q&A sessions and the community will gladly help get you moving. Or feel free to schedule time to chat one on one.