Whether you are a new entrepreneur starting out or if you are an established business and you are looking to evolve with the development of a new product or service, researching your market is vital to ensure you are creating a service or product that suits perfectly to your target customer's needs, goals and lifestyles. Good research into your market ensures you are able to serve your target customers to the fullest and achieve quality results, meaning more profits!
Away with the paper forms and questionnaires and in-person word of mouth to communicate what exactly your target customers want. Social media is becoming the next best method when it comes to performing market research. You may think social media is just for promotion and networking however when used in the right way social media is, in fact, an excellent platform to conduct research into your market and know exactly what your target audience wants.
ONLINE is where everyone is today and millions of people globally use social media. So the world awaits you with the tap of your phone or computer! With great consistency, you can make your social media presence an excellent platform for market research which is more convenient and doable for many of us.
First of all, KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.
What platforms are they most likely to be on. Would it be Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin or Twitter or a combination of these channels?
Though to reap the rewards and gain as many quality results as possible on social media it is very important that you build yourself a regular active social media presence on all your chosen channels, FIRST.
The more active and consistent you are with your presence the greater the conversations, and engagements you will receive and the greater your following will be. Also, get your followers and connections to share your posts, your social channels and content so that you maximise your reach and raise your chances of being seen further. Be consistent with your presence by posting 5 times a week.
Once you have a social presence with a good-sized following (from 50 to 100 followers at least) you are then able to conduct research into your market on social media.
So What Kind of Research Methods on Social Media can I use?
The diversity of the types of content you can use on social media gives you a number of ways you can conduct research into your market.
I share my top five methods you can use to conduct research in your market, these include:
1. POLLS
Polls are a fantastic way to ask your audience what they want to see more of or what are their preferences. You can also offer a variety of options and ask them to select their ideal choice.
If you are running a social media presence on Facebook and/or Instagram and Twitter or Linkedin, you can use the poll option to ask your questions and keep a record of the results you achieved.
For effective results, run your poll across the course of 1 week.
You can also repost your poll to remind audiences of your poll in case not everyone in your community has seen it.
2. DISCUSSIONS
I love discussions as they are a great way to start a conversation with your audience and really find out more about them and their needs. In relation to the nature of your business and your expertise, start a discussion on their core challenges or what preferences they have and outcomes they would like to achieve from a certain product or service.
3. FEATURING PREVIEWS OF YOUR PRODUCTS
Pre-featuring your products or services in advance is far better than waiting till the launch. Great resukts happen when you start sooner! That way you will already build up momentum and audience anticipation.
Base postings on your new product and share some updates on the launch or development so that your audiences are part of the action too. Ask questions or ask feedback or ask for their thoughts!
You will find out more than just feedback but you will be on your way to building up that list of pre-order sales!
4. CREATE LIVE VIDEO FEEDS
Whether it is on Instagram, Facebook Live or Linkedin Or Twitter Live, creating a live video update is always a good way to communicate to your audience live on the spot. You can talk about the company updates happening in your business and ask what is it they would like to see in a new product or service.
Introduce your new product or service in development. Ask for their thoughts and feedback on your new product? What they would like to see? Where can they see more details about your new service or product? Where can they pre-order? You will be amazed at how many responses you will receive on the spot. I recommend saving a recording of your live video for reference!
5. CREATE POSTINGS BASED ON TOPICS OF YOUR SPECIALITY and identify what is preferred by your audience
Another way to know what areas interest your audience more is to create content based on your expertise and all areas of your speciality. For instance, if you are a wellness coach and you specialise in nutritional all-natural health solutions, from providing healthy all-natural beverages, meals, snacks and desserts. If you base content across all 4 areas and realise that the content with the most engagements is from beverages you know that your audiences would like to see more products around beverages. Creating dorse content from your areas of speciality and knowing what area your audience prefers will be of great help to find out what your next product or service will be to cater for their tastes and needs.
Overall, with the diversity of the types of content you can create on all your social media platforms you CAN perform effective market research solely on social media. The secret to achieving effective quality results is first of all build up a consistent active social presence so that you generate a larger following. However, to ensure you attract the right people all comes down to HOW you present yourself. Also, make use of the relevant keywords and hashtags so that you attract the right people from your target market into your social media circles.
With many of us working remotely today, (especially from the aftermath of the pandemic) and with everything happening online with millions using social media, with consistency, quality and dedication you CAN elevate your business forward to the next level through the world of social media, including conducting great market research. Social media is a fast, convenient, interactive yet fun way to connect with your audiences on the spot, in your own unique style. Conducting your market research using social media gives you the freedom to be completely yourself which is what audiences appreciate- authenticity!
Have you conducted market research using social media before? I love to know your stories and feedback in the comments!
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If you are unsure where to start and would like to start elevating your business to the next level and start building up the presence you need online, connect with me and let's have a 1-1 free strategy session. Contact me at www.namitakabilas.com
To Your Success & Growth!
Namita