If insights are used to drive a marketing plan and strategy, it can help in achieving objectives that are quantifiable, like increasing brand loyalty and generating more sales. There are insights to be found in various sources, like customer data, competitor analysis, as well as social or cultural trends that affect consumer behavior.

To gain insight marketers blend their personal life/work experiences with systematically collected and analyzed data sets. This is referred to as market research and should be conducted in a manner that the data provides the value of the information and can be used to guide a specific strategy of action. It is important to note that the term "insights" should not be confused with general knowledge or raw data. Insight should help improve understanding of the current and future buyers in the market, enable better decisions regarding growth strategies and identify opportunities for innovation.

Insights allow resource optimization by choosing areas with the greatest potential, and eliminating the waste of less promising areas. They let businesses measure their performance against industry standards and competitors so that they can improve over time. The insights can also aid in long-term planning by providing trends or forecasting future conditions that may affect a company's product and services.

There are a variety of types of marketing, ranging from traditional word-of mouth campaigns to social media advertisements. It could be handled by a business or a third party agency that is tasked with creating marketing strategies for their clients, such as tourism or agriculture, (B2C) or for an entire segment of the economy, such as the B2B. If your company sells power tools, you may be interested in advertising in home improvement stores and general contractors.