Why and how to do market research in digital products? |
Modern consumers want a brand that understands them on a personal level. Here are the steps to making sure your business and its products meet that requirement.
Remember the last occasion you went in a relationship that ended very good.
It just felt like that person "got" the other person, didn't they?
It's as if, even before speaking, they knew exactly what you thought and was on the same wavelength as you, perfectly on the same page with what you want and requirements from your relationship.
Then, consider the last time you interacted with a business that you love.
You may have had an experience similar to yours. They were able to anticipate your requirements and have solutions before you asked. They also made sure that you had an as smooth and seamless experience as feasible from the time they were found to the present day.
Sure, competitors might occasionally come your way with cheaper offers, but if you're similar to seventy-three percent of people , the price point alone isn't enough to tip your hand and convince you to leave your tried-and-true company.
As is the case for three out of four customers would be willing to spend more for a company which has consistently delivered excellence throughout the duration of your partnership.
Are you pondering how to build that same sense of loyality with your customers? Worried that it might be a secret art known only for the elite of business?
Don't worry, there's no need to worry.
The key is being aware of your clients more than your competition, and this is much simpler than you imagine.
Today, we'll talk about the best ways to conduct effective consumer research with a tight budget. But before we dive into this we'll take a look at what's involved.
Why effective customer research sets companies from the competition
Have you ever heard the phrase "it's an e-commerce market"?
Typically used to describe real estate and employment the market becomes more buyer-centric where the amount of supply is greater than the demand of the product. When these markets are in place, it's the buyer, and not the business which has the choice of the litter.
It's true that around 350 new websites develop every minute. There's a lot of competition vying for consumers' attention. But although it may sound like a daunting task but it's actually a good aspect.
It's good for consumers because it means they won't be faced with poor experiences and poor product offerings. For businesses, it means they can set themselves distinct from other businesses in the sea of similarity by offering more rich, more seamless interactions and interactions with their customers.
And, if you do stand out with more involvement, your customers will be eager to advocate for your company regardless of whether they're from the B2B or C2C market.
Unfortunately, as the chart shows, this isn't a mark many businesses succeed to hit.
B2C companies are more successful than B2B, but still -- 47% of consumers say they wish brands did better at improving engagement.
In either case, it is clear that there's a gap in expectations from customers and the experiences they receive, which cannot be fixed without effective customer research.
Do you really imagine a better way to meet these demands without understanding the person who are behind these demands?
74% of customers would prefer to be treated as individuals, not as specialties.
33% of clients think that businesses must anticipate their needs prior to when they can.
70% of your target audience expects the personalization in your marketing messages to cater specifically to them and only those who are.
The statistics don't just pertain to clients in the United States, by the way, though they are among the highest in the U.S.
72% of consumers in the UK declare that they wouldn't look at a brand until they demonstrate that they understand and respect the needs of their customers in a person-to-person way.
What's the bottom line?
Wherever they are, customers aren't satisfied with businesses that treat them like regular invoices.
They expect you to understand their feelings, sympathize with them as well as develop products and services which meet their requirements as individuals.
and the most effective way to achieve it is to dig deeply and conduct your research on your audience.
You'll stand above the rest of the pack.
Skip it and you'll blend with the crowd.
As for getting started it's possible to use a number of ways to research your market, but there's one that you can't avoid.
(The first, obviously.)
#1. Record your research and goals for marketing at the very beginning
The process of recording your goals might seem as if it's a redundant step but it's the foundation of your investigation even though other methods of research may be mixed and blended according to your preferences, this one has to be your first.
Why?
Two reasons.
The first an investigation that was conducted in 2005 examining the relationship between goal achievement and if those goals had been not written down. In groups where people recorded their goals as opposed to those who kept the goal in their head, the performance rise was notable.
Look it up:
The other reason behind setting and recording the goals you want to achieve is less the research aspect and more about preserving your time and resources.
If you know the goals you have in mind and you know what your goals are, you'll cut down on waste and concentrate the crucial details you require to understand your target audience and their requirements.
While if your goals are aimless, you're more likely to spend time and dollars trying to cut out the plethora of data you'll come across in your search.
It's not just a supposition in any method.
Setting and documenting your objectives, process as well as the research strategies that arise from those are crucial to a successful operation of a modern-day product. Marketers who establish goals are 429percent higher likely to be successful than those who leave their goals to the wilds.
This is likely why, for companies that hire marketers , the top abilities that prospective employees can demonstrate include project management, data analysis, as well as the capability to draw insights from data about customers.
For setting those objectives, the framework SMART is still the best option for defining and test your objectives.
If you've not been aware of the acronym, here's how the acronym can be explained:
Let's go through an easy illustration.
The first step is to understand your customers. This is in line with the first requirement -- namely, particularity, it's unmeasurable, time-based or achievable without more details.
If you go back to the drawing board it is possible to change your goals to include something similar to this:
You'll understand your audience's most pressing issues with online marketing tools prior to designing your next book.
This is a great objective because it assists us in:
Narrow down the scope of what we're seeking during our investigation
Determine the significance of the research to what the company needs
Pick a deadline for the completion of the task.
Make sure that the data is quantifiable in order to develop new products
This all answers questions posed to the SMART system through providing specificity as well as measurability, accuracy, relevancy, and time constraints.
If you're more interested in a aesthetic approach, the graphic below is a great overview of each part and other points to keep in mind as you run through the goals you want to achieve.
It's all good. Now that you're armed with your objectives and know what makes customer research so important, it's time to proceed to the next stage.
Watching rival products.
#2. Look up product reviews in order to find high-level overviews
Let me explain.
If you want to learn more about who could benefit from the books, look to already-available products on the market. In particular, take a look at the products which excel in this area to gather useful information. .
Here are some of the reviews of a book that has high reviews at Amazon, UX Strategy: How to Devise Innovative Digital products that people want . In a quick glance, you can check if there are any topics in these reviews.
This is what I saw:
Each review has mentioned how accessible it is to those who are new.
Two of the three reviews the critiques highlight how examples and demonstrations relate to actual situations.
Each review is a nod to the depth of the text and also the detail level of the concepts in it.
From this it's possible that the readership for the same book would be looking for something easy to read for newbies that connects concepts with real examples, and is detail-rich.
Let's see if it is able to stand up when I try out a different book in the same style with comparable amount of reviews, The Design of Everyday Things Redesigned and Expanded edition .
From these reviews, we could be able to observe:
The majority of customers are unhappy with this publication's layout and organizational. Many users have criticized its ineffective (if not ironically) layout choices that 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 actual examples and insights readers were not as enthusiastic about the same in this product.
Inattention to particulars damaged the credibility of the writer to the customers.
The second point is especially intriguing because it offers us an the chance to go into the depths of our research -- provided that it's in line with the objectives we have set and compare items. Why did one book excel while the other did not?
In addition what can we do to make sure our products land in the right place on that range?
At this stage, we do not have enough data to begin generating materials as all of our data is only interpretative, however we have a good idea of what we should look at when making our materials and is a fantastic addition when we do find quantitative evidence.
That's, in turn the next thing we'll be doing.
#3. Use keyword research to guide your research
They can help you connect to people and understand your customers' needs by analysing the volume as well as the click-through-rate (CTR) that are behind the keywords.
The company has put together a graphic that displays how they rank against comparable SEO suites , and while anyone who recommends themselves must be considered a pinch of salt, I can corroborate my own experiences using all these tools and their respective ratings.
So, why does keyword research make a perfect technique to gather customer information?
The volume of interest tells you how many people are interested in this topic The way you phrase it will tell you what the people are seeking at different stages of the buyer's journey, the most common questions they are asking about the topic and the type of content that appeals to them.
However, in the meantime it is important to remember two aspects you want to remember when doing keyword research:
Volume isn't an accurate measure for SEO in the real sense, however, it can be useful in analyzing customer information because it reveals how people browse to find what they're looking for.
Keywords are then searched for and filter according to the apparent intent of the user searching. The Rankbrain The AI that is responsible for making decisions about intent, is very good at it and is better than human beings -- so you can take its advice as a given.
Rankbrain is a trustworthy source of data because it measures keywords the same as we measure reviews: by the degree of level of satisfaction the user has .
The combination of the ideas and the information we gleaned through product reviews gives the most effective of bothorganic and inorganicmind.
Combining your qualitative insights using Rankbrain's quantifiable insights is not just an easy method of working, but by this, it's the most data-driven type of marketing.
One that achieves two of the most important objectives by offering you the capacity to take more informed decisions on data and enriching the completeness of the data that professional marketers need.
Whatever instrument you employ, however, the key is to search for patterns in the data and derive insights by analyzing the information that you have gathered during the earlier section.
For instance, if users are consistently searching for no-cost solutions to the issues that you're trying to address and have expressed their displeasure with the cost in product reviews, the niche isn't lucrative enough for you or you may need to overcome other objections to force customers to buy.
In contrast, if they're always seeking quick solutions, and highly rated competitor solutions for convenience, you may have an opportunity to offer the same solution -- at a fee that includes a well-designed product that can meet their demands.
Naturally, there's only one way to guarantee the union of quantitative and qualitative information is a match that is perfect after you've created them by following this last tip.
#4. Make use of surveys and actual conversations to finish it off
Everything we've done to now is about building and proving our assumptions.
This last step involves breaking them and challenging them.
Simply put, if you want to go deeper into your audience research -- which you must -- there's no substitute for real conversations and interactions with people.
Surveys are a great way to take some of the stress off by collecting the required data for you and are among the most simple and better ways to carry out the interactions you need.
Technology companies know this better than the majority of companies. As per Research Now, now Dynata is 76% of tech companies claim that the insights they gained from studies were very or extremely valuable to their projects.
These aren't just to conduct research on customers prior to product design, but also for product development.
Polls and surveys are suggested by experts to keep customer satisfaction high following the launch of your website also.
They demonstrate that you care.
They provide insights unlike any other type of research could.
Just asking for feedback can make customers more likely to remain committed to your company.
Other significant advantages of using surveys for market research include the capability to measure consumer sentiment as well as create lead-generating research, and measure the demand for your products.
Be sure to make your survey is short and straight to the point. It is a good idea to make the survey you conduct for market research should last not more than fifteen minutes And the more concise the survey your survey, the more likely you are to get people to complete your survey.
If you are looking to elevate your research to a higher level and get higher completion rates, don't send a survey over email.
Do it on the spot or in a web gathering. A typical response rate of in-person surveys is almost double the response rate for online and email surveys.
This can be advantageous for several motives, but most important is through webcams or face-to-face in person, you'll be able pick up on cues you'd have missed in an online survey.
It is true that just 7 percent of the communication comes from real words used. The remaining 93% comes through nonverbal signals like facial expressions, body language, and tone of voice.
Furthermore, when you meet an individual face-to-face with you, you'll have an opportunity to dig more deeply into their worries and thoughts than a simple response box could allow.
And the deeper you go, the closer you'll be to truly understanding your customers as people -- which is, as you'll remember that it's nothing less than what the modern consumer demands.
So research them and then speak to them.
There's only one way to satisfy their -- and your business -requirements.
It's a long journey, but a worthwhile one
Knowing your customer is the first step to build a business that outshines the competition and delivers better experiences.
While it's not a quick process, it's certainly not complicated neither.
The process is fairly simple in reality:
Set out your goals by deciphering them and then documenting your goals. This step matters a lot greater than what people usually think it does.
Look at product reviews from competitors to identify the themes and feelings surrounding your potential customers.
Utilize keyword research to learn what keywords people search for in your field and the way they search for it.
Utilize surveys to understand why they look for those identical items. The more direct information received from your customers the better.
The best way to do it is make it even more enjoyable by incorporating real interactions. It will give you more information as well as higher responses rates as well as a greater chance of understanding your customer.
It sounds easy, doesn't 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.
But then -- their loss is your opportunity.
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