As marketers, we spend a lot of time searching for trustworthy signals: indicators of where consumer demand is heading, what competitors are prioritizing, and how market conditions may affect our clients’ businesses. Some of the most valuable of these signals are hiding in plain sight: the quarterly earnings calls of public companies.
Earnings calls aren’t just important for Wall Street analysts. They’re free, publicly available research tools that can offer marketers a wealth of insights into consumer behavior, industry trends, and competitive dynamics. Whether your brand sells into retail, manufacturing, healthcare, or professional services, identifying the right companies and listening to the right calls can sharpen your strategy without spending a dime on research subscriptions or custom studies.
What to Expect
Every quarter, publicly traded companies like Walmart, Procter & Gamble, and Target host conference calls to discuss their financial performance. These calls typically include:
- Prepared remarks from executives (CEO, CFO, division leaders) highlighting results, challenges, and opportunities from the prior quarter.
- Q&A sessions where Wall Street analysts push for more detail on performance drivers, competitive threats, or future investments. This portion of the call can be the most revealing since the questions are coming from experts who have deep familiarity and industry context.
For investors, this is a window into the company’s financial health. For marketers, it’s a crystal ball revealing the broader consumer and industry environment.
Why You Shouldn’t Miss The Next Call
Most businesses don’t have the luxury of a six-figure research budget. Earnings calls represent a cost-effective way to “borrow” the market research of Fortune 500 companies.
Here’s how:
- Industry signals without industry reports. If you’re a flooring retailer, listening to Home Depot, Floor & Decor, or Lowe’s earnings calls can reveal which product categories are growing, what consumers are trading up or down into, and how pricing strategies are evolving.
- Regional relevance. Many companies break down performance by geography. If Kroger calls out strong Midwestern grocery performance or slowing sales in Kentucky, that’s directly relevant to local marketing decisions.
- Competitor clues. Even if your direct competitor isn’t public, someone in your vertical probably is. Their disclosures on customer demand, promotional strategies, and margin pressures can help inform your playbook.
In short: You get a curated summary of trends and consumer behaviors, crafted by executives with more data than you could realistically access on your own.
Turning Insights into Action
So how do you actually use these calls in your day-to-day marketing strategy? Here are a few practical approaches:
- Message Testing Ground: Listen to how executives frame consumer behavior—are they emphasizing “value,” “convenience,” or “premium experiences”? Mirror those themes in your messaging tests to stay aligned with consumer sentiment.
- Category Watchlist: Calls often spotlight growth or decline in specific categories. If you hear “strong momentum in wellness products” or “continued softness in big-ticket discretionary items,” use that as a signal to adjust your media mix or promotional priorities.
- Consumer Mindset Clues: Analyst questions frequently zero in on pain points: rising credit card balances, hesitancy on large purchases, sensitivity to price increases. These aren’t abstract finance concepts—they’re direct insights into what your customers are thinking and how they’re behaving.
- Benchmarking: Even if your business isn’t in retail, these calls can benchmark consumer health. A Louisville-based furniture store, for instance, might pay attention to Home Depot’s commentary on high dollar home renovation projects. If they’re slowing nationally, it may foreshadow local softness in high-ticket furniture purchases.
How to Start (Without Feeling Overwhelmed)
If you’re new to earnings calls, the volume of information can feel daunting. Here’s a starter plan:
- Pick two or three anchor companies relevant to your clients’ verticals. For consumer health, Walmart and Costco are musts. For home improvement, add Home Depot or Lowe’s. For hospitality insights, listen to Marriott or Hilton.
- Skim the transcripts or use AI before diving into audio. Many business news outlets and company investor pages post full transcripts. This allows you to scan for relevant keywords (like “consumer demand,” “Midwest,” or “pricing”).
- Block one hour per quarter. You don’t need to become an earnings junkie. Even a single call per quarter can surface ideas for campaigns, budgeting, or positioning.
- Document key themes. Create a simple shared doc or slide for your team: highlight 2–3 takeaways and note any implications for your clients or industry.
In a time when research budgets are tight but expectations for insight are high, this tactic is a smart way to add value. So the next time earnings call season rolls around, don’t just let Wall Street have all the fun—tune in, take notes, and translate those insights into better marketing.