Insight is the key to effective marketing – 6 questions to help you identify your data needs
Consistently making the right marketing investments requires data and insight about your campaigns, target audience and competition. Discover the answer to these six questions to get a head start in the Finnish market!
At first glance, the word ‘insight’ may sound slightly intimidating.
Tiina Virtanen, Head of Insight and Marketing Solutions at Sanoma, admits this but offers words of encouragement:
“In reality, all you need is a vague idea of your research need. Our experts will walk you through it in human terms.”
A team that masters both research and media will help you turn the data into actionable ideas and marketing concepts. Start with these key questions to identify your main needs for insight.
1. What does your target audience think of your brand?
Brand awareness in one market does not directly translate into awareness in another. This is why a market entry should involve research on how well your target group knows your brand and what they think of it. Even long-established brands should not rely on past awareness forever.
”It’s about using facts instead of a hunch as your baseline. Brand tracking helps you make sure your marketing is pushing you to the right direction”, says Tiina Virtanen.
Sanoma’s solutions:
- Brand Tracking compares your brand to a maximum of five competitors, observing aided and unaided awareness, consideration, ad recall and preference. This is a popular, low-effort way of tracking the development of your brand. Prices start from €2200 per round for two rounds a year or €1800 per round for three or more.
- Tailored research projects offer a chance to deep dive into specific questions about your brand’s position in the market.
2. Do your campaigns strike a chord with the right people?
The effect of an advertising campaign is hard to prove without measuring it. While sales and clicks offer one angle to the effectiveness of a campaign, qualitative metrics such as brand image should not be overlooked.
“It’s important to know if your message is clear, if it reaches the right audience, and what reactions and emotions the advertising evokes. Does your target audience like the creative execution or does it irritate them? Do the ads generate action?”
Sanoma’s solutions:
- Multimedia research sheds light on the impact of the entire campaign and the value that each added media group brings. The research can include media outside of Sanoma, e.g. OOH or social media.
- Other opportunities include measuring individual channels (digital, print, audio or TV) as well as research on TV and video solutions.
3. Are you aware of all your potential target groups?
Tiina Virtanen recalls a case in which an ad click analysis revealed a male audience the client had not previously recognised. It also turned out quite a few of them listened to Radio Rock. The logical next step was to create an audio campaign for said radio station.
Another advertiser ended up reconsidering their budget allocation when research revealed their target group had a pronounced interest for events and the music show Vain elämää.
“A closer look at your audiences can shake things up. You may uncover a new group of people or realise the consumers’ media use has shifted,” Virtanen says.
Sanoma’s solutions:
- The Audience Reporter is a tool for analysing the interests and other attributes of your own CRM audiences, those who clicked your advertising or readers of native articles. Get started with, for example, an Audience Reporter analysis of a native article for €400.
- Sanoma Segments divide Finns into eight categories according to demographics, attitudes, values, consumption and media use. They can be used to enrich your own client data, target advertising and find new ways to approach your audience.
An updated version of the segments will be released in April, so now is a great time to get in touch!
4. Do you understand the complexity of the buying process?
Studying the process the customer goes through before making a purchase allows you to recognise the critical points at which your message needs to reach them. The path to a big decision – say, buying a car – can be surprisingly complex.
“When it comes to B2B decision-makers, research also debunks stereotypes related to their media use and information seeking,” Virtanen adds.
Sanoma’s solutions:
- Sanoma has researched the buying process in various industries and the media the buyers seek information from. Tailored research projects offer a closer look at a specific industry.
5. Where do you stand among your competitors?
Industries and markets change, and a once well-known brand may not stay that way when surrounded by newcomers or rapid growers.
Industry research looks at the situation among competing brands, covering topics such as top-of-mind awareness, consideration, ad recall and the likelihood of the consumer choosing a specific brand.
“This helps you stay in the group of brands the consumer considers. If, for example, your brand awareness or consideration has dropped since the previous year, it’s time to make more measurements and evaluate your marketing actions.”
Sanoma’s solutions:
- Twice a year, Sanoma tracks brand attributes in different industries: daily consumer goods, fashion, cosmetics, sports equipment, household electronics, car dealerships, banks and so on. This provides an overview of the industries and changes in them.
The latest trackings were done in early 2026 – contact us for fresh data!
- A timely example of industry tracking is
Sanoma’s recent research on the gaming industry and Finnish players.
The Finnish gaming market will open to competition in 2027.
6. Where is consumption headed on a larger scale?
What do consumers think of the state of their finances and the economy at large? Are they willing to spend their money or hesitant in their decision making?
Sanoma collects data on Finnish consumption through a survey that gauges the growth or waning of consumption and explores how open consumers are to, for example, switching brands or service providers.
Data on the thoughts and expectations of consumers comes in handy when making long-term marketing plans.
“In addition, our marketing strategists keep on eye on larger trends. For an advertiser entering Finland for the first time, their insight is invaluable,” Virtanen says.
Sanoma’s solutions:
- The Kulutuspulssi (Consumption Pulse) survey tracks changes in Finns’ attitudes toward consumption and their purchasing behaviours in different product and service categories.
The next survey is taking place in spring 2026.
- A team of Sanoma’s marketing strategists follows local and global trends and provides insight for both Sanoma’s experts and advertisers.
As the biggest media house in Finland, Sanoma knows the ins and outs of Finnish consumption and media use. The combination of insight and marketing expertise ensures the data turns into action.
We have insight on your industry and customers. Would you like to hear more?
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