Market Research

Authentic Message Creation / Branding / Customer Research / Customer Service / Engaging customers / Market Research / Online Survey — No Comments
22
Aug 12

Being the Best You Can Be for the Customer that Matters

Being the best in your small business marketplace, requires engagement with the customers that matter most to you, and enabling the formation of a long term connection. It’s a way of doing business that aligns your services and products with your best customers wants and needs.  As a result, your “brand marketing” offer will be targeted and more successful gaining new customers over time.

This approach to marketing requires that you think deeply about your customers; understand their wants and needs; consider the scenarios in which they’re most likely to purchase your service or product; and how they interact with your informational messages and content.

You need to carefully research the customers that matter.  These customers today have taken control of social media and are placing greater demand on you to engage them in a one-on-one marketing conversation. To know these customers, research must enable you to measure your “best” in whatever you do, through your customers viewpoint.

Growth of social media means that businesses must understand and optimise every interaction, both off and online. Meaning interaction with customers in a way that establishes positive, emotional responses to form meaningful relationships with your brand and message. Over time, these customers will become your best marketing advocates and promoters.

What remains certain – a strong brand message and customer relationship will create business value; and these relationships are founded on consistent delivery of a relevant business offer and good customer service.

What is constantly changing – maintaining a position as the best and the challenge in meeting customer service expectations. You can have the greatest impact on improving your customer’s service experience by ensuring that you consistently deliver what is promised and expected. Consistent delivery in meet changing customer service expectations, requires research, data, good process and constant situational reviews to ensure you continue to meet those customer wants and needs.

Taking an authentic marketing approach, developing insights into your customer wants and needs, and understanding what motivates them requires effort and investment. Figuring out what you stand for and the core marketing message you present to your target customer market as a brand, is easier said than done, but is easier with the help of a skilled marketer.

I’d love to hear your thoughts? Please feel free to leave a comment or question below.

Marketing Offer: For a short time only, Zenworkz can provide a quick survey link on your social media wall; which asks your choice of 5 key questions, to gain insight about the customers that matter, your followers and fans. It can be delivered for an unlimited number of responses, with an emailed response report. Introductory pricing $180 +GST for a limited time *conditions apply.

About the author: Teresa Bassham is the principle of Zenworkz Authentic Marketing, and is passionate about educating small and medium business professionals to research their customer market; create their authentic marketing message; attract more ideal customers; and create a marketing plan to achieve success in 2012/2013.  She runs local workshops in Northern NSW and coaches customers online and by phone – if you would like to attend the next scheduled workshops or request distance coaching online –please contact me.

Visit my website and subscribe for monthly e-News updates on all topics related marketing.

For daily Authentic Marketing updates visit and “like” my facebook page:http://www.facebook.com/Zenworkz.Authentic.Marketing

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Customer Research / Market Research / Marketing Analysis Tools — No Comments
2
Apr 12

Debunking Marketing Research Myths

Teresa BasshamThere are two myths that need to be debunked about Marketing Research: It’s expensive and it takes a long time.

Not today – The first phase of any professional market research is desk research – this is something anyone can do using the internet. For DIY researchers, the internet has two important sources of information:

  1. The websites which companies, organisations and individuals have created to promote or communicate their products, services or views;
  2. User groups that are made up of people who have an interest in a particular industry or subject.

There are tips that make searching the www easier and more targeted.  I use Google Advanced Search – you can easily look at all their tips yourself but here’s a few that work well for internet market research:

  1. By putting double quotes (“”) around a set of words, you are telling Google to consider the exact words in that exact order without any change.
  2. The *, or wildcard, can be very powerful. If you include * within a query, it tells Google to try to treat the * as a placeholder for any unknown term(s) and then find the best matches.
  3. Use the file type “PDF” because most research reports are large and are protected.
  4. Set a date range e.g. not older then 12months – and then you get the latest reports, which is important in this fast moving market environment.
  5. Finally, if you can’t find an industry report, pick and industry that services the same customer base and you will at least have some useful data about your customer segment.

What your desk research won’t tell you is “WHY they buy from you”?  You can simply talk to your best (or worst) customers to ask them. My suggestion is that you draft a list of questions and ask the same questions of every customer, to provide better comparisons, but also to validate the data. Then you need to capture this information, if you have only a few customers – not so hard – but when you have hundreds – you should look at other survey methods.

There are many free online survey cloud options, ranging from Survey Monkey, SurveyGizmo to QuestionPro.  The free service has restrictions but if you are just starting out, you will not need anything too sophisticated.  The most important action is to start understanding your customer and market.

Tip 1: Look for a free package that provides a link to the survey and that way you can post your survey link on your social networks and email out to your customer or subscriber base – ensuring that you are getting feedback from connections that know you and your products and/or services.

Tip 2: If you want to improve survey response rates, offer an incentive prize that will be appealing to your audience!

It’s so important, I am going to say it again: The most important action you can take in your business, is to start understanding your customer and market.  Good luck, and let me know how you are progressing?

Zenworkz Authentic Marketing has our own online survey tool, which is very sophisticated survey software.  Thats why I like to help my customers get clear about what information they need to know; create a survey specific to their needs; provide all the administration of the survey emails or social media posting; and producing the reports – it’s not free but it is very cost, time and results effective.  If you would like an obligation free quote – please email me: teresabassham@zenworkz.com

About the author:  Teresa Bassham is the owner of Zenworkz Authentic Marketing and educates businesses to think, create, engage and optimise their marketing effort.  She coaches customers in Marketing Strategy, both off and online; and implementation.  If you would like some free how-to marketing resources, please check her website:

http://www.zenworkz.com/

For daily marketing tips and references, connect on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/Zenworkz.Authentic.Marketing

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