Introduction
Why Jobs To Be Done Insights Often Go Unused
Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) research delivers deep understanding of why customers behave the way they do. It reframes consumer needs as specific tasks they’re trying to complete – whether functional, social, or emotional. But even research as rich as this can end up gathering virtual dust. Why?
The Post-Research Gap
Many teams approach JTBD research with energy and clear objectives. But after the final report lands, priorities shift. Deadlines approach. Bandwidth is limited. Without clear next steps, even the most compelling customer insights can slip into the background.
Common Reasons JTBD Findings Don’t Get Used
- Insights feel too abstract: Teams struggle to connect themes to real-world decisions.
- Lack of ownership: It’s unclear who “owns” the outcome of the research – product, marketing, or strategy?
- No clear process for insight activation: There’s no standard way to embed findings into team workflows.
- Disconnect between researchers and decision-makers: Insights don’t always get translated into language or formats that product or leadership teams can act on.
Insight Shelf Death is Real – But Avoidable
At SIVO Insights, we often hear clients worry about “shelf death” – when good insights are available, but underutilized. It’s not because the information isn’t valuable, but because the activation side needs just as much planning as the research. And that’s true across all consumer insights work, whether it’s from a qualitative deep dive or JTBD interviews.
The key to avoiding this is deliberate integration. In other words, don’t wait until after research concludes to figure out how you’ll use the data. Instead, include activation conversations upfront, and revisit them when you’re wrapping phase one. An insight’s value increases dramatically when it informs a product strategy, a creative brief, or a roadmap decision. That’s when market research insights truly move the needle.
Quick Tip:
If your team conducted JTBD research but hasn’t touched the insights in over a month, now is a good time to start a reactivation conversation. What are your current goals? Which insights speak directly to them? Even starting with one use case can spark momentum.
How to Turn JTBD Insights Into Product Strategies
Turning Jobs To Be Done insights into product strategy isn’t about overhauling your roadmap – it’s about grounding your decisions in what your customers are truly trying to achieve. A strong JTBD framework reveals not just product gaps, but deeper opportunities. When activated well, these insights can guide what to build, how to position it, and why it matters to your user.
Start With the Job, Not the Feature
One of the most powerful shifts JTBD research enables is a move away from “what should we build next?” to “what job are we helping our customer get done?” When you focus on user goals, product decisions become clearer and more customer-aligned.
For example, if your JTBD research reveals that customers aren’t just seeking time savings but stress reduction during a task, a feature that helps them feel in control becomes just as important as raw efficiency.
Ways to Integrate JTBD into Product Strategy
- Prioritize jobs on your roadmap: Break down your roadmap by core customer jobs. Are you addressing their most important needs first?
- Revisit product positioning: Reframe how you talk about your product, focusing on the job it solves rather than the features it includes.
- Segment users by need states: Instead of demographics, try grouping users by the JTBD segments their behavior aligns with (functional vs. emotional priorities).
- Start ideation with JTBD insights: Use core jobs as springboards for brainstorms and innovation workstreams.
Example: Real-World JTBD Application
Let’s say a health-tech company learns in their JTBD research that users are not just “managing symptoms,” they’re trying to get the job of “feeling peace of mind” when health issues arise. That insight shifts strategy: rather than focusing solely on symptom-trackers, the product team might explore real-time messaging with healthcare professionals or AI-driven risk guidance to support that emotional job.
Making It a Habit, Not a One-Time Sprint
The key to success is repetition and visibility. Keep JTBD insights visible within your team’s documentation. Bring them into weekly standups, product planning sessions, and usability testing. Over time, your team naturally begins anchoring discussions around user jobs, not internal checklists.
Final Thought:
Turning JTBD data into action is an ongoing process. With clear team alignment and small habit changes, it becomes part of your culture – helping ensure your products resonate with real consumer behavior and unmet needs.
Ways to Use JTBD Insights in Marketing and Messaging
Jobs To Be Done insights aren’t just for product and innovation teams – they can provide a powerful foundation for marketing strategies as well. Once you understand what “job” a customer is trying to accomplish, your messaging can speak directly to that need, making campaigns more impactful, relevant, and aligned with real consumer behavior.
Craft Messaging That Reflects Motivations
JTBD research reveals much more than demographics or preferences. It uncovers the deeper “why” that informs customer decisions. Marketers can use this layer of consumer insight to craft copy and campaigns that reflect true motivations – not just surface-level product features.
For example, instead of highlighting that a running app has tracking capabilities, a marketer informed by JTBD might position the app as a tool for “building consistency” or “staying motivated during life transitions” – real jobs uncovered through research.
Refine Your Value Proposition
By mapping your brand’s offerings to the core jobs people are hiring solutions to do, you can refine your value proposition in ways that resonate. Use JTBD insight to:
- Identify which needs are underserved by current market messaging
- Spot emotional or functional gaps in how your product is positioned
- Uncover fresh angles for promotional content
This alignment helps brands move beyond features and benefits to storytelling that intersects with true customer progress.
Segment Marketing Campaigns Based on Jobs
Traditional segmentation often focuses on age, geography, or past purchases. But what people need – their jobs to be done – can cut across these lines. One product may serve different jobs for multiple customer groups based on context or life stage.
Try grouping consumers by the jobs they’re trying to accomplish instead. This JTBD-based segmentation helps tailor creative, calls to action, and even channel strategy to the realities of each audience’s underlying purpose.
Bridge Marketing and Product Strategy
Marketing teams often operate downstream from product teams. JTBD insights offer a shared language that can connect these functions. When both teams speak in terms of customer motivations, they can align positioning, innovation, and communication more easily – resulting in stronger go-to-market strategies.
JTBD isn't just a research deliverable – it's a strategic mindset. Integrating these insights into messaging helps marketing teams speak the same language as their customers, reinforcing trust and driving connection.
How to Share JTBD Insights Across Teams
Once your Jobs To Be Done research is complete, one of the most important steps you can take is to ensure the insights are shared – and understood – across the organization. JTBD insights are most powerful when they’re not siloed, but instead embedded into everyday decisions across departments.
Turn Research into Accessible Formats
JTBD frameworks can be heavy with detail. To make them practical for cross-functional teams, translate the findings into simple, relatable formats such as:
- One-page job summaries
- Persona-style “job stories” (e.g., “When I ____ , I want to ____ , so I can ____”)
- Visual journey maps that highlight pain points and triggers
Make these easy to find – host them on shared drives, integrate into onboarding, or pin them on internal dashboards.
Use JTBD in Team Meetings and Planning
Bringing customer insights into routine discussions helps them stick. Encourage product, UX, marketing, and sales teams to reference JTBD in:
- Quarterly planning reviews
- Campaign or feature launches
- Brainstorms and ideation sessions
- Customer journey mapping workshops
Over time, referencing the JTBD framework builds shared understanding of what your customers are truly trying to achieve – not just what you're delivering.
Create Cross-Functional JTBD Champions
Designate team members in each department to take ownership of applying JTBD insights. These champions can help embed the thinking into team processes, answer questions, and update frameworks as you learn more from ongoing user research.
This approach doesn’t require a full reorg. A few engaged individuals can create a ripple effect that brings insights to life in day-to-day work.
Highlight Real Wins from Applying JTBD
Tangible success stories help insights stick. When teams use JTBD to unblock a feature, refine messaging, or improve user experience, celebrate it. Share a short case study or internal story showing how a deep understanding of consumer needs made an impact.
When insights are seen as drivers of positive outcomes – not just static documents – teams begin to turn to them proactively. Fostering this mindset makes it far more likely your Jobs To Be Done findings will remain active and useful long after the initial research ends.
Tips to Avoid 'Insight Shelf Death' After Research Ends
One of the most common challenges after any market research project – including Jobs To Be Done – is “insight shelf death.” That’s when well-crafted findings sit unused, tucked away in folders instead of fueling real decisions. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here’s how to keep your JTBD findings alive and actionable:
1. Anchor Insights to Real Business Decisions
Insights gain staying power when they’re directly tied to outcomes. Identify upcoming decisions – from product roadmaps to message testing – that your JTBD insights can inform. Actively ask, “How does this support a key job we've uncovered?” during planning conversations.
2. Make JTBD a Living Framework
JTBD isn’t a one-time exercise. As you launch new products or track changing consumer behavior, revisit the framework. Are the original jobs still relevant? Have new unmet needs emerged? Treat your JTBD thinking as something that evolves with your users.
3. Encourage Cross-Team Collaboration
Siloed ownership is a recipe for shelf death. Integrate JTBD into performance marketing briefs, UX hypotheses, innovation sessions, and customer service training. The more places it shows up, the more likely it is to drive real-world outcomes.
4. Visualize Success Metrics
Create simple success indicators connected to JTBD adoption, such as:
- Number of product ideas tied to specific jobs
- Marketing tests inspired by JTBD language
- Customer satisfaction scores linked to job resolutions
These metrics help show progress while demonstrating the business value of insight activation.
5. Schedule Check-Ins and Refreshes
Don’t treat JTBD documentation like a final deliverable. Schedule quarterly or biannual reviews to ensure it’s still aligned with the market and your strategy. These sessions can be a great way to realign cross-team priorities, too.
Clear, actionable JTBD insights offer long-term value – but only if teams commit to using them. A small culture shift toward visibility, ownership, and application makes a big difference in avoiding insight shelf death.
Summary
Jobs To Be Done research holds powerful insights into what customers truly need – and why they make the choices they do. But too often, these findings are underutilized after the research wraps up. In this guide, we've explored why JTBD insights sometimes go unused, and practical ways to apply them in product strategies, marketing messages, and cross-team collaboration. By embedding JTBD thinking into your workflow, sharing it widely within your organization, and creating habits that keep it alive, you can turn one-time research into long-term strategic value. No insight should gather dust – especially not ones that bring your customer needs into focus.
Summary
Jobs To Be Done research holds powerful insights into what customers truly need – and why they make the choices they do. But too often, these findings are underutilized after the research wraps up. In this guide, we've explored why JTBD insights sometimes go unused, and practical ways to apply them in product strategies, marketing messages, and cross-team collaboration. By embedding JTBD thinking into your workflow, sharing it widely within your organization, and creating habits that keep it alive, you can turn one-time research into long-term strategic value. No insight should gather dust – especially not ones that bring your customer needs into focus.