What’s the one factor that sets competitive and thriving businesses apart from brand new ventures that seem to have not lasted long enough? The answer is curiosity: Curiosity is what motivates people. Curiosity about how buying preferences have changed over time. A genuine and relentless pursuit for new knowledge and an open mind that welcomes brand new possibilities in marketing equip business owners with the right mindset for success.
There are still traditional marketing methods that work to this day. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be long until these OG strategies will lose their charm and generate a mere fraction of the targeted sales. In that regard, this is the perfect opportunity to check out the latest methods of market research to up your customer acquisition and retention rates.
A great deal of present-day market research approaches are fueled by technology and the preferences of the younger demographic. That is not surprising, considering that they will be at the forefront of the future generation of customers. Also, most business-to-business and business-to-customer transactions are carried out via digital platforms these days.
Competitor Analysis
Researching about competitors in the industry is a low-key way of sizing up your toughest rivals. Competitors are authentic sources of insight and tips on how to grow your business effectively.
The world of business owners is often a cutthroat one, and assertiveness is a trait that will help you survive and overcome it. You need to know the other brands you’ll be dealing with in your chosen niche. What milestones have they achieved that you can take inspiration from? What feats have they already done that you can try to outmatch?
Ideally, your core focus should be on your biggest competitors. Visit their website and social media pages and read their content. Learn about their services and the scope of their market knowledge. Create a focus group that will subscribe to competitor services. Assign mystery shoppers to purchase products from rival brands. In this manner, you get a first-hand experience of what and who you’re dealing with.
Customer Health Score
In market-speak, a customer health score refers to collecting relevant data about your end-users or customers regarding their use of your products and services. It is akin to a chart of “wellness” points that help you measure whether your products reach your target metrics and if your customers have a fulfilling and promising relationship with your brand.
A typical criterion used in measuring customers’ health scores emphasizes how many customers use the product or service, how often they use it, and which features are maximized and favored by the majority of users. Whether it merits favorable results or not, a customer health score is a useful tool for unveiling the current status of your business-to-customer relationship. Reach out to them and identify specific imperfections or errors in your services.
Gamification
What makes market research more manageable and more feasible? Audience participation.
Encouraging your target market to participate actively in expanding your background about their demographic helps lighten the workload for your marketing team. The idea behind gamification is to create a give-and-take scenario where customers provide information necessary for enhancing your services in exchange for reward or recognition. This can be done either by making them fill out surveys, introducing a loyalty reward program, creating contests and leaderboards, or offering monetary and non-monetary incentives.
Building and Maximizing Online Communities
Online communities are pivotal in a brand’s success. If you want raw and unfiltered feedback about your brand, digital forums and groups are the best places to be. Digital communities comprise people who support a business or a product and curious individuals looking to get honest opinions before purchasing from a specific business. The public’s online discussions are powerful enough to make you can be an internet sensation overnight.
Social Media Mining
Use tools that have already been integrated into most customers’ distinct lifestyles. Social media is an excellent example. Surveys conducted on social media generate more authentic responses and are therefore more effective. A single question such as “Which online payment method do you prefer the most?” or “What do you enjoy most about our services?” potentially rakes in highly informative answers that are unique to each customer’s experience with your brand. Some businesses use custom hashtags to help make the query more targeted. Others add a touch of creativity by encouraging customers to repost the question with a photo or short video clip as their response.
Geolocation or Mobile Ethnography
Smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and laptops are integral in helping business owners create an accurate ‘face’ for their target market. Mobile devices serve as a customer’s digital fingerprint. It links companies to market-relevant information, from the types of devices frequently used to access a business website to the geolocation metrics reflecting the highest number of users. Should you choose to use mobile ethnography for your market research strategy, do indicate in your terms and conditions that identifying the devices used by your customers are among the data collected from them in exchange for using your services. Doing so prevents any potential breach of data privacy.
Eye-Tracking
The positioning, movement, and size of the pupil and the eye indicate a person’s natural reactions to external stimuli. Eye-tracking is a marketing research technique that monitors eye movement to gauge customer interest and engagement. It is best used to test whether a product design or brand advertisement is successful at piquing audience interest. One way to make this possible is by having customers don glasses infused with eye-tracking technology while they browse or inspect the products sold in a shop.
Broadening your market research knowledge and approach shows your commitment to meeting customers halfway. You want to understand what motivates and affects them in their purchasing decisions. It exudes flexibility to join the changing tides of industry and buyer demands from a business perspective. If you need any marketing assistance, feel free to reach out to me…I’m always happy to help!
Danielle Foley, Marketing Consultant/Owner
Foley Marketing Advisors