The Digital Practitioner: customer psychology

Showing posts with label customer psychology. Show all posts

Monday, 19 February 2018

Using Information From Surveys to Stay Informed and Keep Ahead of the Game

Unknown February 19, 2018 0

Gathering market research data is an excellent way of identifying a target audience for your product or service, but understanding and acting upon it is the key to your success.

Market research falls into two broad categories - primary and secondary. Primary research describes the process of gathering information from customers directly, by conducting online surveys or organising focus groups or one-to-one interviews with carefully selected individuals from within your target group. Secondary research more involves picking up information acquired by others, by trawling the blogs and websites of other businesses, even competitors, and absorbing the data that they have.

Adapting to Customer Expectations

Online surveys are an excellent means of compiling vital information from your potential customers which enables products and services to be more finely tuned to their expectations as well as to possibly changing demographics. The proliferation of companies offering online research to businesses which seek important information, both from their target group and sometimes from the wider public, provides an alluring range of options and choices of approach and methodology. For those who would prefer not to outsource the information-gathering process there are options such as Survey Monkey, which allow businesses to design and manage their own surveys. Either way, as method and technology become more sophisticated with the development of better software, businesses are increasingly able to identify with precision the customer base which they are keen to interrogate.

As well using surveys to identify potential customers, many businesses will also employ them as a handy way of keeping up with trends and spotting any movements in customer expectations. Equally they are a useful tool for quality control, teasing intelligence from existing service users about satisfaction levels and how a product or service measures up against its opposition at any specific moment in time.

The Importance of Understanding Your Customers

Survey companies such as YouGov and Ipsos obtain their information from the public by offering a small financial incentive to their own members to complete questionnaires on specific topics. Of course there is the danger that particular demographic groups may be over- or under-represented amongst their users, for instance it would be reasonable to assume that, all else being equal, those on a higher income would be less in need of the usually modest financial inducements offered than those who are otherwise unemployed or in low-paid work. The competent provider will be able to redress this imbalance through the screening process at the beginning of every survey.

Knowing who your customers are, the nature of their expectations, the quality of your competition and the level of satisfaction that exists with your own service or product is vital to any business that aspires to stay ahead of the game.

Phil Andrews is a freelance English-language content writer specialising in articles, web content and blogging. He is the author of The Best Year Of Our Lives, a historical fiction novel set in 1976 about a group of young people growing up in a restless West London suburb beside the River Thames.

by: Phil Andrews
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9868948

Tuesday, 13 February 2018

Social Media-Not?

Unknown February 13, 2018 0

traditional marketing

It is now standard operating procedure for business owners and other self-employed professionals to have a visible presence on one or more social media platforms, in addition to a website. We've internalized the assumption that there is no way to launch or sustain a viable business without an active online presence spread over an array of platforms. The reality is that most of us in business are afraid to dial back the social media and so the practice continues. We fear that if we don't participate, competitors will eat our lunch and customers will abandon us.

Many of our colleagues and competitors spend rather a large amount of time tweeting, posting photos to Instagram and videos to YouTube, friending and linking with 500 or more "connections." But really folks, what is the demonstrable ROI of this activity? How does social media build and enhance your brand, generate leads, or result in sales?

Those who sell services depend on referrals that are based on trust and reputation. How can those attributes be communicated electronically to strangers? Beyond a certain point, I respectfully submit, social media activity results in little more than a creative way to waste time and money.

Alan Weiss, president of Summit Consulting and author of numerous books, including Million Dollar Consulting (2009), has for several years offered to split his (large) consulting fee with anyone who shows him how to acquire a client purely through social media or any other online channels. To date, there have been no takers.

Still, I've observed that in certain businesses and organizations, social media and website marketing can yield a good ROI. Performing artists, clothing designers, restaurateurs and professional organizations come to mind as excellent candidates for Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram to provide outreach and engagement with past, present and future patrons.

On the other hand, there are social media and website holdouts and at least a few are making a good living. Maybe they possess valuable competitive advantages, such as excellent word-of-mouth, which is always the best form of advertising, and exceptional skills?

Among that group I am friendly with two interior designers who have more clients than can be handled (in three or four cities, mind you) and the owner of a small neighborhood breakfast and lunch restaurant that is nearly always packed. Moreover, three of the six most successful Solopreneur consultants whom I know do not even show up in Google searches.

In a 2016 survey of 350 U.S. businesses with 10 or fewer employees and annual revenues of $1,000,000 or less, 46% have no website. Of that group, 12 % rely on Facebook and other social media platforms in place of a website. Lack of demonstrable benefits, cost and the time required for online updates were the most frequently named reasons for opting out.

I do not advocate that Solopreneurs and business owners close down your online presence. Rather, I recommend that you consider the ROI of your social media marketing investment, integrate with your traditional marketing and advertising strategies and confirm that what you feel are the correct social media metrics actually measure activities that benefit your organization.

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Kim L. Clark is an external strategy and marketing consultant who brings agile skills to the for-profit and not-for-profit organization leaders with whom she works. Please visit http://www.polishedprofessionalsboston.com to learn how your organization can achieve mission-critical goals when you call on Kim.

by: Kim L. Clark
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9869599

Friday, 5 January 2018

Going Smaller With Lead Generation This 2018?

Unknown January 05, 2018 0

Small Business

Going Smaller With Lead Generation This 2018?

There are only a few days left before 2017 finally comes to a close. You might have noticed that there are a lot of articles-more so than usual anyway--about incoming marketing trends and methods for 2018, some of which may include B2B marketing and lead generation.

Amongst the sea of predicted oncoming trends, we've found a certain suggestion that is definitely worth noting, and perhaps even applying in your lead gen methods next year:

Going Smaller.

It is well known in the B2B marketing field that events and conventions are gold mines for getting leads.

According to a lead generation research report by marketing blog Chief Marketer,

"... live events tied with SEO as the second most effective channel for producing the highest ROI leads."

Putting this into consideration, one of the site's writers also a marketer, notes that their efforts in local business lead generation were much more effective when they did not join in large events. They actually found that it was more efficient to host small events on their own.

The writer states that:

"Instead of trying to get in front of as many prospects as possible, what if we just got in front of the right prospects, where we controlled the environment without any competitors in the room?"

When you think about it, it does make sense. Having a mindset of "quality over quantity" is important when it comes to B2B marketing. It is not about how many leads you get; it doesn't matter if most of them can't be converted in the end, anyway. What is important is finding the right people.

Imagine this scenario:

You're a marketer for a software development company. You go to a major event and manage to snag a hundred leads. Feels great right? But in the end, after contacting all of them, only ten of the leads decide to avail your services. It seems like you worked so hard for so little, right?

Now picture this next scenario:

What if you organized a small convention for your company? Only fifteen people attend, and it feels like you've failed miserably in advertising. But alas, they all agree to enter into a deal with you. The small number lets you promote your services with a more personal touch, since you have more time to spend with each lead.

In which situation did you gain the most from? Which was the more efficient method for you?

Scaling down your efforts and targeting a smaller but more relevant pool might actually work better for you. After all, you'll be aiming straight for the people that are the most likely to sign a contract with your business. What's important now is that you analyze your data more closely in order to make your lead targeting more precise.

But this philosophy doesn't have to apply only in events where you have to do the promoting in person. You can also do this in, say, social media. Among all the social media channels, LinkedIn by far has the most promise for B2B lead generation. So instead of casting a wide net on different sites like Facebook and Twitter-the latter of which doesn't have a great track record in B2B-why not focus more on LinkedIn?

Going smaller may seem counteractive if you want to get more business, but it's actually the opposite. It makes you less likely to waste time on ineffective leads, and helps you improve your targeting game with local business lead generation.

by: Donald Smithon
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/9855331