Why and how to do market research in digital products? |
The contemporary consumer wants an experience that is understood by the brand at a personal level. Below are some steps for making sure your business and products do just that.
Consider the time you were in a relationship that ended very good.
It was like the other person 'got' you, right?
It's as if, even before speaking, they knew exactly what you thought as if they were on the exact level as you and perfectly in sync with your wants and desires from the connection.
Then, consider when you last interacted with a company you truly love.
You may have had the same experience. They appeared to anticipate your requirements and have solutions before you asked. They also made sure that you had the most seamless experience feasible from the time they were found to the today.
Yes, sometimes competitors will offer you cheaper discounts, but if your as 73% of the population , the price point will not be enough to earn your hand and convince you to leave your tried-and-true company.
As is the case for three of four customers would be willing to spend more for a company that's delivered consistent excellence over the duration of your partnership.
Are you wondering how to build that same sense of trust with your clients? You are worried that it is something that's only known for the elite of business?
Don't worry, this isn't the case.
The key is being aware of your clients better than the competition and it's easier than you think.
We'll discuss how to do effective customer research on a shoestring budget. But before we dig into that we'll take a look at what's involved.
How effective customer research can set companies apart
Have you heard of the phrase "it's a buyer's market"?
Typically used to describe jobs and real estate, markets shift to buyer-centricity where the amount of supply is greater than the demand of the product. When these markets are in place buyers rather than the company which has the choice of the litter.
In reality, around 350 new websites develop every hour. There's plenty of rivals competing for your customers' attention. But even though it might seem daunting but it's actually a good idea.
It's good for consumers because it means they won't be faced with dismal experiences or products that aren't up to par. Businesses, this means they can set themselves above the ocean of similarity by offering more rich experiences, more fluid interactions and interaction with their clients.
In the event that you distinguish yourself by a higher level of interaction, clients are eager to advocate for your company , whether they're in the B2B or B2C crowd.
Unfortunately, as the chart below shows, it's not a mark many businesses succeed to hit.
B2C companies are more successful over B2B businesses however, 47% of consumers say that brands can do better at engaging customers.
In either case, it is clear that there's a gap in customer expectations and experiences, which is only able to be bridged with efficient customer research.
After all, can you think of any other method to satisfy the requirements listed above without knowing the people who are behind them?
74% of people wish to be treated as individuals, not as specific niches.
33% of clients believe that a company must anticipate their needs prior to when they need to.
70 percent of your audience will expect your marketing messages to cater specifically to them and only them.
These statistics aren't exclusive to clients who reside in the United States, by the manner, even though they're among the highest within the U.S.
72% of the people within the UK declare that they wouldn't consider a brand unless they can prove that they know and care about the customer at a personal level.
So, bottom line?
No matter where they're located, customers aren't satisfied with companies that treat them as regular invoices.
They are expecting you to get to know them, empathize with them, and develop products and services to meet their demands as individuals.
and the most effective way to achieve it is to dig to the depths and research regarding your potential viewers.
You'll stand in the crowd.
Don't do it, and you'll be blending into.
For starting out, there are a variety of ways to research your target audience. However, there's one you shouldn't ignore.
(The first, obviously.)
#1. Write down your research and marketing goals right from the beginning
Documenting your goals may feel as an unnecessary step but it's the foundation of your research even though other research methods may be mixed and blended to suit your fancy, this one has to be your first.
Why?
Two motives.
The first an analysis from 2005 examining the relationship with goal-setting and whether these goals were written down. In groups where people wrote down their goals versus those who kept the goal in their head, the performance uptick was significant.
Look it up:
Another reason to set and recording the goals you want to achieve is less research and more about conserving your time and resources.
If you're clear on what your goals are, you'll shave off waste and concentrate to the essential details you require to understand your audience and their marketing requirements.
When your goal is unfocused, it's more likely to spend hours and money trying to filter across the endless sea of data that you'll find when you conduct your research.
It's not just a supposition, by the by the way.
Documenting and setting the goals, procedures, research, and the tactics that emerge from these are crucial to a modern product's success. Marketers who set goals have 429% higher likely to be successful over those who abandon their goals to the wilds.
Which is probably why among companies that hire marketers that the most important qualities that an applicant will demonstrate are the management of projects, data analysis, and the ability to derive insight from customer information.
For setting these objectives The SMART framework continues to be the most popular method of framing and testing the goals you have set.
If you've not been aware of the acronym this acronym, let us explain how it breaks down:
Let's run through a quick illustration.
The first step is to know your target viewers. While that meets the first metric -- particularity, it's unmeasurable, time-based or achievable without more details.
So going back to scratch, you might amend the goal you have set to be something like this:
It will be easier to identify your readers' main three issues using online marketing tools prior to creating your latest ebook.
This is an excellent objective because it assists us in:
Find out what we're looking for during our investigation
Find the connection of the research to what the company needs
Choose a date and time to complete the task
Make sure that the data is quantifiable for creating new products
All of which answers the concerns raised in the SMART system, by providing accuracy, measurability, achievability, relevancy, and time constraints.
If you're more interested in a visually-oriented method, the graphic below provides a good overview of the individual sections and other points to keep in mind while you work through your goals.
It's all good. After you're equipped with your goals and understand what makes customer research so crucial, you can proceed to the next stage.
Spying on rival products.
#2. Look up product reviews in order to get high-level summaries
Here's what I mean.
If you're interested in learning more about the people who will benefit from these books, you can look at current products available in the market. Specifically, look at products which excel in this market to discover valuable information. .
Below are a few reviews that have perfect reviews at Amazon, UX Strategy: How to Devise innovative Digital Things that Customers Want . A quick look at the reviews, and check if there are any themes in these reviews.
What I observed was:
Every review mentions the ease of access it provides for newcomers.
Two out of three of the reviews highlight how the examples and demonstrations relate to real-world situations.
Each review is a nod at the depth of the book and the detail level of the ideas contained within the text.
On this basis I'm guessing that the target audience for a similar book seeks out something accessible to new readers, relates concepts to real instances, and provides a wealth of details.
Let's see how it stands up to scrutiny when I check out another book in similar vein, with similar amount of reviews. The Design of Everyday Things Redesigned and Expanded Edition .
From these reviews, we could find:
The majority of customers are unhappy with this book's layout and organization. Many users have criticized its ineffective (if it is ironically) designs, which might point to organization issues especially for those who are new to the field.
The first book's review focused on the author's use of insights and real-life examples, readers were not as enthusiastic about similar elements in this book.
The lack of attention to specifics ruined the credibility of the author to the customers.
The second point is especially fascinating because it provides us with an the opportunity to dig deeper -- provided it's in line with the objectives we set -- and compare various products. Which book did well while the other did not?
In addition how do we assure that our products are at the correct end of the spectrum?
In this moment, we aren't in a position for us to create any material because all our information is purely interpretive, but we've got a clear concept of what to keep an eye out for while creating our product as well as a useful supplement those who do come across quantitative data.
Which is, incidentally, what we're doing next.
#3. Use keyword research to guide your search
They can help you connect to people and understand your potential customers by analyzing the number of searches and click-through-rate (CTR) of keyword.
They've made a visual showing their rank against similar SEO tools as well as, while any person recommending themselves should generally be treated with caution. salt, I can corroborate my own experiences using all these software and their rankings.
So, why is keyword research a good method to gain customer insight?
Since volume indicates the number of people who are interested in the subject The way you phrase it will tell you what the people are seeking in different phases of their buying journey. the most frequent questions they are asking about the topic and what kind of content appeals to them.
While you're at it, however it is important to remember two aspects you want to remember when doing the research of keywords:
Volume isn't an accurate metric for SEO in the real sense, however, it can be useful to gather data on customer satisfaction because it reveals how people look to find what they're looking for.
Keywords are then searched for and filter based on the perceived intent of the person searching. The Rankbrain is the brain that's responsible for determining intent, is actually very good at it far better than humans -- so you can take its advice as a given.
Rankbrain is a trustworthy source of data because it evaluates keywords in the same as we measure reviews. Based on the level of level of satisfaction the user has .
Combining the suggestions of its authors together with the knowledge we gained from product reviews provides the most effective of both- organic and inorganic -mind.
The combination of your qualitative knowledge with Rankbrain's quantitative insights isn't just a simple way to work, by this, it's the most data-driven type of marketing.
A solution that accomplishes one of two top goals -- providing you with the ability to take more informed decisions on data and enriching your data with the most complete information to help professional marketers.
Whatever instrument you employ, however, the key is to search for patterns in the data, and draw insights using the information that you have gathered from the prior stage.
For example, users are consistently seeking free solutions to the issues you're trying solve, and complain about the price in review of the product, this niche might not be profitable enough for you or you may need to overcome other objections to force customers to buy.
If they're constantly looking for quick solutions, and highly rated competitor products for their convenience there's an opportunity to provide them with a similar solution -- at a fee that includes a well-designed solution that is able to meet their requirements.
Naturally, there's only one method of ensuring that your marriage of quantitative and qualitative data is made in paradise after you've created them This is the last tip.
#4. Utilize surveys and conversations to finish it off
The entire process up to this point is about building and proving assumptions.
The last part involves taking them apart and challenging the idea of challenging them.
In simple terms, if would like to dig deeper into the study of your audience and you ought to -- there's no substitute for having real-time conversations and interaction with them.
Surveys can take some of the burden by gathering the data in one place for you and are one of the easier and more valuable ways to conduct those interactions.
The tech companies understand this better than most. As per Research Now, now Dynata is 76% of technology companies report that insights gleaned from surveys studies were very or extremely beneficial to their work.
They're not just great for conducting research with customers before creation, either.
The use of surveys and polls is recommended by industry experts to keep customers participation high once you have launched, too.
You show that you care.
They can provide insight unlike any other type of research can.
Simply asking for feedback makes people more likely to stay faithful to your brand.
Another notable advantages from using surveys to conduct market research are the capacity to determine the sentiment of consumers as well as create lead-generating research, and determine the need of consumers to your goods.
Be sure to make your surveys are short and to the point. In general, the survey you conduct to conduct market research must last not more than fifteen minutes , and the shorter the survey the more likely you are to get people to complete the questionnaire.
Even better, if would like to push your research to a higher stage and achieve higher completion rates, don't send a survey over email.
You can take it either in person or via an online gathering. The response rate average for in-person surveys is nearly twice the average response rate of online or email surveys.
This is useful for many motives, but the most crucial is when you ask questions via webcam or even in person in person, you'll be able discern signals you might have missed in an online survey.
After all, only 7 percent of all communication can be dictated through actual words spoken. The other 93% is through nonverbal signals like facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice.
Plus, by having someone face-to-face, you'll have the chance to delve more deeply into their worries and emotions than an response box could allow.
The more you dig, the closer you'll be to understanding your customers as individuals -- which will, in case you're not aware that it's nothing lower than what the contemporary consumer demands.
Do your research and talk to them.
There's no other method to fulfill their- and your business -demands.
It's a long road, however, it's a rewarding one.
Understanding your customers is the first step to build an enterprise that stands out from the competition and delivers better experiences.
Although it's certainly not a simple process it's not difficult, either.
The process is fairly simple, actually:
Begin by setting your objectives and capturing your goals. This process is important higher than most people think it does.
Look at product reviews from competitors to identify themes and sentiments around your potential customers.
Utilize the research on keywords to find out the things people are looking at in your business and how they look for it.
Then, use surveys to understand the reasons they look for those same items. The more specific information received from your customers the more valuable.
The best way to do it is top it all off with real interactions. It will give you more information as well as higher responses rates and that much closer to knowing your customers.
Sounds easy, right?
That's because it is, which makes it an unanswerable reason why manufacturers don't take advantage of their customer research.
Then, the chance to win is their loss.
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