How and why to conduct customer research for digital products |
The contemporary consumer wants an experience that is understood by the brand in a person-to-person way. These are steps for ensuring that your brand and its products meet that requirement.
Consider the occasion you went with someone who went very good.
It felt as if the other person 'got' the other person, didn't they?
As if, before ever speaking, that person knew exactly what you thought and were also on the exact with you. They were in sync with your wants and requirements from your relationship.
Then, consider your last interaction with a business that you love.
It was probably an experience similar to yours. They appeared to anticipate your requirements and have solutions before they ever asked. Their goal was to provide as seamless an experience as feasible from the time you found them to today.
Yes, sometimes competitors will offer you cheaper deals, but if you're similar to 70% of the population that you are, price alone isn't enough to tip your hand and convince you to leave your tried-and-true brand.
No, you, as is the case for three of four customers would be willing to spend more for a company that has delivered consistently high quality over the duration of your partnership.
Do you want to build that same sense of trust with your clients? Worried that it might be a secret art known only to business professionals?
Then take heart, because there's no need to worry.
The key is being aware of your clients better than your competitors, and this is much simpler than you think.
Today, we'll talk about how you can conduct successful market research using a small budget. However, before we dive into this we'll look at the stakes.
Once you've got a well-researched product, start selling your digital offer for free with !
Why effective customer research sets companies from the competition
Have you heard of the phrase "it's a buyer's market"?
Typically used to describe jobs and real estate market shifts to buyer-centricity where the amount of supply is greater than the demand of the product. In these types of markets where the buyers are in charge rather than the company, that has their pick from the many.
In reality, around 338 new websites get created each minutes. There's plenty of rivals competing for your customers' attention. However, although it may sound like a daunting task, it's actually a great aspect.
For consumers, it means they don't have to contend with poor experiences and poor product offerings. For businesses, it implies they are able to stand apart from the sea of similarity by offering more rich, more seamless interactions and interaction with their customers.
And, if you do set yourself apart with stronger involvement, your customers will be willing to speak up for them , whether they're in the B2B or B2C crowd.
As the graph shows, this isn't one that most businesses are successful in achieving.
B2C businesses fare better than B2B However, 47% of consumers say they wish brands did better at engaging customers.
It is clear that there's a gap in expectations from customers and the experiences they receive, which can only be mended with effective customer research.
Do you really imagine a better solution to meet the requirements listed above without understanding the person who are behind these demands?
74% of consumers wish to be treated as individuals and not specific niches.
33% of clients believe that a company must be able to anticipate their needs ahead of when they need to.
70% of your audience expects the personalization in your marketing messages to cater to them and only them.
These statistics aren't exclusive to customers who reside in the United States, by the way, though they are most impressive within the U.S.
72% of customers from the UK say they will not look at a brand until they demonstrate that they understand and value the customers in a person-to-person way.
What's the is that the end of the story?
Wherever they are the customers don't like businesses that treat them like general invoices.
They want you to be able to comprehend their feelings, sympathize with them as well as develop products and services to meet their demands as people.
And the only way to do it is to dig deep and do your homework on your public.
Do that and you'll stand above the rest of the pack.
Do not do this and you'll blend into.
To begin it's possible to use a number ways to study your target audience. However, there's one you shouldn't skip.
(The first, obviously.)
#1. Write down your research and marketing goals from the start
The process of recording your goals might seem like a superfluous step, however, it's the basis of your study, and while all other research methods are able to be combined and matched depending on your preference This one must be your first.
Why?
Two reasons.
The first an investigation that was conducted in 2005 that examined the relation with goal-setting and whether or not the goals were recorded. In groups where people recorded their goals as opposed to those who kept them in their head, the performance increase was substantial.
Take a look:
Another reason to set and documenting your goals is less about researching and more about conserving your resources.
If you know what you want to accomplish then you can cut out the unnecessary and concentrate the crucial information you need for understanding the audience you're targeting and their demands.
When your goal is aimless, you're more likely to expend hours and cash trying to sort through the vast ocean of data that you'll find during your research.
This isn't just speculation, by the way.
The process of establishing and capturing the goals, procedures, research, and the strategies that arise from those are crucial to a successful operation of a modern-day product. Marketers who set goals are 429% more likely to report success over those who abandon their plans to nature.
This is likely why, for firms that are hiring marketing that the most important skills that a prospective hire could demonstrate is managing projects as well as data analysis and the capacity to gain insights from data about customers.
For setting these goals The SMART framework is still the most popular method of framing and testing your goals.
If you've not been aware of the acronym this acronym, let us explain how it is broken down:
Let's run through a quick instance.
Say that your starting goal is to know your target viewers. While that meets the first requirement -- namely, specificity -- it's not quantifiable, time-based, or attainable without further details.
Therefore, if you return to the drawing board You could change the goal you have set to be something like this:
Your audience will know the most pressing issues with online marketing tools prior to creating your latest book.
This is a great idea because it allows us to:
Limit the scope of what we're seeking during our investigation
Determine the significance of the research to the need of the business
Pick a deadline to finish the job
Use the information in a meaningful way in order to develop new products
All of which answers the concerns raised to the SMART system through providing specificity and measurability. It also provides achievability the ability to be relevant, as well as time restrictions.
If you prefer a more aesthetic method, the graphic below gives a fantastic overview of the individual sections and other points to keep in mind while you work through your goals.
OK. Now that you're armed with your goals and understand why customer research is so crucial, you can take the next step.
Monitoring competitor products.
#2. Review product reviews carefully to get high-level summaries
Here's what I mean.
If you want to learn more about who could benefit from the books, look to existing products in the marketplaces. Particularly, you should look at books that excel in the same niche to find useful information. .
Here are some of the reviews that have high ratings on Amazon, UX Strategy: How to Design new and innovative Digital Things that Customers Want . A quick look at the reviews, and look for themes in these reviews.
This is what I saw:
All of the reviews mention the ease of access it provides for newcomers.
Two of the three reviews the critiques highlight how illustrations and examples relate to actual situations.
Every review points to the richness of the text and also the detail level of the ideas contained within it.
From this I'm guessing that the readership for the same book is looking for something that's accessible to new readers, relates concepts to real examples, and is detail-rich.
Let's see if it stands up to scrutiny when I check out another book that is in the same vein with a equivalent number of reviews. The Design of Everyday Things The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded edition .
From these reviews, we may notice:
Many customers have expressed their displeasure with the publication's layout and organizational. Many users have criticized its ineffective (if it is ironically) layout choices that could indicate issues with organization especially for those who are new to the field.
While the book's first reviews highlighted the author's use of actual examples and insights reviewers were less receptive to the same thing in this edition.
Inattention to particulars damaged the credibility of the writer to the customers.
This second aspect is intriguing because it offers us an an opportunity to dive into the depths of our research -- provided that it aligns with the goal that we've set -- and also compare the various products. Which book did well while the other did not?
And, moreover how do we make sure our products land at the correct end of this broad spectrum?
At this stage, we aren't in a position for us to create any material since all of our data is just a bit of interpretation, but we've got a clear idea of what to look out for when we're putting together our products and is a fantastic addition when we do find quantitative information.
That's, in turn, what we're doing next.
#3. Make use of keyword research in your research
They help you connect to people and understand your customers' needs by analysing the number of searches as well as the click-through-rate (CTR) behind keyword.
They've helpfully made a visual showing their rank against other SEO software , and while anyone who recommends themselves must be taken with a grain of salt, I've been able to confirm my own experiences using all these tools and their respective rankings.
So, why do you think keyword research is a great method to gain customer insight?
Because volume tells you how many people are interested in it, and phrasing tells you what the people are seeking during different phases of the buyer's journey, the most frequent questions they have about the subject, and what kind of content is popular with them.
However, in the meantime there are two points you want to remember when doing keywords research:
Volume isn't an accurate measure for SEO in the real sense, however, it can be useful for customer data as it lets you know how customers look for what they want.
Keywords are then searched for and filter based on the intention of the person who is searching. The Rankbrain is the brain that's responsible for the process of determining intent, actually quite good at what it does -- better than humans and therefore you should trust its recommendations.
Rankbrain is a trustworthy source of information because it evaluates keywords in the same way we were measuring reviews: based on the level of satisfaction the user has .
Combining the suggestions of its authors with the insights we gained from the product reviews is the most effective of both- organic and inorganic -- minds.
Integrating your insights from qualitative sources using Rankbrain's quantifiable insights is not just an easy way to work, by that, it's an effective form of marketing that relies on data.
A solution that accomplishes one of two main goals that is providing you with the ability to make more decisions based 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 by analyzing the data you collected from the prior stage.
For instance, if customers are constantly looking for free solutions to the problems that you're trying to address and have expressed their displeasure with the cost in reviews of products, then the market may not be lucrative enough for you. Or it could require you to overcome other objections to force the customers to purchase.
Conversely, if they're regularly looking for easy solutions and praised competitor products for their convenience, you may have the opportunity to supply customers with the same product with a small cost -- with a well-designed solution that is able to meet their requirements.
Of course, there's only one way to guarantee your marriage of quantitative and qualitative data is that is perfect after you've made them work, and that's with this final tip.
#4. Use surveys and real conversations to finish it off
The entire process up to this point is about building and proving assumptions.
This final step However, it's about taking them apart and challenging them.
In simple terms, if are looking to deepen the research of your target audience -- which you must There's no better option for having real-time conversations and interaction with them.
Surveys are a great way to take some of the anxiety away by putting the required data for you. They're also among the most simple and higher-value means to have those interactions.
The tech companies understand this better than most. According to Research Now, now Dynata is 76% of companies in the tech industry report that insights gleaned from surveys studies were very or extremely valuable to their projects.
They're not just great for conducting research with customers before development, by the way.
Surveys and polls are recommended by experts to keep customer engagement high after you launch, too.
You show that you care.
They provide insights that no other form of study can.
Just asking for feedback can make your customers more likely to stay loyal to your brand.
Another important advantages from using surveys to conduct market research include the capability to determine the sentiment of consumers as well as create lead-generating research, and measure the demand to your goods.
Just make sure that the surveys you conduct are brief and to the point. In general, a survey of market research ought to take less than fifteen minutes The shorter your survey can be the more likely you are to see people fill out your survey.
Better yet, if you are looking to elevate your research to a higher level and get 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 almost double the average response rate for online and email surveys.
This is beneficial for a few reasons. Perhaps the most crucial is by asking over webcam or in person in person, you'll be able pick up on cues you'd otherwise miss in a static online survey.
It is true that only 7 percent of the communications can be dictated through the real words used. Other 93% of communication comes from nonverbal cues like facial expressions, body language and voice tone.
Additionally, by meeting an individual face-to-face with you, you'll have the opportunity to dive more deeply into their worries and thoughts than a simple answer box would allow.
In addition, the more in-depth you get to understand your customers, the closer in understanding your clients as individuals. This, if you'll recall -- is no less than what the modern buyer wants.
Research them, then meet with them.
There's simply no better solution to meet their- and your business -demands.
It's not an easy road but a worthwhile one
Knowing your customer is essential to creating a business that outshines other businesses and offers superior experiences.
But while it's not a quick process, it's not a complicated one also.
The steps are fairly easy, actually:
Begin by setting your objectives and then documenting the goals. This process is important more than people believe it is.
Read product reviews of companies that are competitors to discover the themes and feelings surrounding your prospective customers.
Turn to keyword research to learn the things people are looking for in your field and what they are looking for it.
Use surveys later to discover the reasons they look for those same items. The more direct information you get from customers, the more valuable.
The best way to do it is top it all off with actual conversation. There will be more insight, higher response rates, and that much closer to knowing your customers.
Doesn't sound difficult, does it?
This is because it is an effective method of determining customer needs, and it's a wonder why more brands don't capitalize on the research of their customers.
Then, the loss is your opportunity.
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