“Advertising people who ignore research are as dangerous as generals who ignore decodes of enemy signals.“
– David Ogilvy, Founder of Ogilvy Group
No business can survive without performing adequate customer research. This is because research is key to identifying the traits of your target audience. What’s the point of running a business if you don’t know the likes and dislikes of your customers?
Here are some questions you should seek answers for from research:
- Are my services good enough to meet the expectations of my customers?
- What kind of services do my customers have access to?
- What is the pricing I should offer my services at?
If you wish to march ahead of competitors by grabbing a significant customer base, then this article is for you! Featured below are 6 tips to help you understand your customers better.
1. Send online surveys to current and prospective customers
Prepare a questionnaire with important questions you would like to ask customers. Make sure it’s not too long though!
Make the questionnaire interactive and fun to complete – nobody likes filling out a dull questionnaire! Upload the questionnaire on sites like Survey Monkey and send the link to customers – you will receive quality feedback that will help you understand them better.
2. Invest in paid research
If you seek, you will find research analysts who are willing to reach out to your target audience on your behalf. Through a series of phone calls and e-mails, these experts will provide you with data that can help drive your business forward.
This form of research is usually expensive but worth every penny if the data comes out right. These researchers have access to the right people in the industry and that’s why their analysis is beneficial.
3. Make the effort to perform keyword analysis
Which keywords does your target audience use to search for businesses similar to yours?
Perform a detailed keyword analysis and come up with keywords (including long-tail ones). These keywords will give you an idea about what they search for online. Use these keywords in your site’s content to make it optimized to its full potential.
4. Engage with your audience on social media
90% of your target audience is on social media sites. It’s time you followed pages similar to your business. Study how they interact with customers and pursue a similar strategy for your business. The focus here is not about increasing likes but engaging with audiences.
Listen to their feedback (both good and bad) and incorporate it in your business.
5. Perform competitor analysis
How well do you know your competitors? Keep a tab on competitors who are ahead of you. Study how they interact with their customers. You will get invaluable lessons on customer retention from well-to-do competitors.
Also, study the keywords they rank for. And try to rank your website for the same keywords as well!
6. Analyze the top blogs in your domain
Do you know which blogs rank high in your domain? If your answer is no, it’s high time you found out! A popular blog always features articles that will be of use to its readers. Follow these blogs and the style of articles featured in them.
We recommend you launch a blog of your own and use the insights weaned from competitor blogs to your benefit.
Find the tips featured in this article interesting? We wish you luck in learning more about your customers.
