Informing a strategic pivot with market research

ORGANIZATION: Landed
WHEN: SUMMER - FALL 2022

In the summer of 2022, Landed was unable to secure new funding for its flagship down payment program for essential workers because of the effect of rising interest rates on homebuying nationwide. The organization needed to pivot quickly, so we looked to repackage five of our other (non-down payment support) products as a "Homebuying Navigator" service. I was asked by the CMO to conduct qualitative market research to understand how best to position the new offering.

I interviewed 16 essential professionals nationwide to understand their attitudes toward personal finance and homebuying.

After crowdsourcing intros to 16 essential workers, I conducted interviews with each over the course of two weeks. I asked them about current financial products they use, their needs, expectations, and feelings around homebuying, and their overall reaction to the five repackaged products.

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My analysis found that the initial response to the new offering was highly favorable, with all five products rated 4+/5. Access to a vetted real estate agent network was seen as the least important of the five, while serious anxiety about finances was almost universal within this sample. These findings were consistent with general population (quantitative) survey research the team had done in parallel.

RESULTS

Based on these findings, we developed a messaging framework that emphasized how Homebuying Navigator was free for essential workers to access, while deprioritizing access to the agent network relative to other products, features, and benefits.

Within one month, the team went from having no research, to standing up a new landing page for Homebuying Navigator with messaging validated by customer research.

Read the research synopsis →

Brand Identity & Messaging: ROI