How do brands know what their audience thinks or expects? By asking them, of course! That's the role of an insights expert like Katrina Noelle, founder of KNow Research . She joins Will Francis on the podcast to explain how that asking is done, and all that happens from that initial point of contact through to the all-important final insights - and even pearls - that come from the process. They chat about how market research has changed over the decades (short answer - customer expectations), tools for social listening, AI as friend or foe, and the importance of clean, reliable, and secure data. She offers advice on tools you can use, and adopting a mindset of listening to your audience at a myriad of sometimes surprising touchpoints. The Ahead of the Game podcast is brought to you by the Digital Marketing Institute and is available on our website, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube. A full transcript of this episode is available on the DMI website, where you'll also find all our other episodes on our extensive digital marketing library of ebooks, toolkits, podcasts, webinars, blogs, and more! Join for free today  You can learn more about Katrina on her Twitter. If you enjoyed this episode please leave a review so others can find us! Katrina's top 3 tips - Marketing Insights 1. Don't jump in and start doing research. 2. Write down a list of "I wish I knew" before doing any research 3. Place at any customer touchpoint an opt-in to sign up for participating in research.