Is your marketing working? Is your offering and messaging connecting and resonating with your target audience? Do you know what your customers think and feel about your brand? Do you know what drives, motivates and matters to your customers?
In one of my last blogs I recommended focusing your marketing efforts on your core target audience. Focusing on one key audience is the most efficient approach for a small business with a limited marketing budget but it will only be effective if your offering, positioning and messaging is right too.
So how do you find out and understand what your customers really want from you (or your competitors)? How do you know what they are basing their purchasing decisions on and what their barriers to purchase are? How do you find out if you are delivering everything they want or are way off the mark?
In our opinion the best approach is extremely simple. You ask them. That’s it. We can all over complicate, we can sit wondering, questioning and analysing results and worrying about engagement rates. But if you want to truly understand and know what your customers’ needs and drivers are it should come directly from them – the horse’s mouth.
Businesses we’ve worked with over many years can very often be astounded and amazed by the results such a simple research project can deliver. It can provide insight that changes the whole direction of their business and how they position themselves and their brand. In fact, it very often helps develop and define their brand as well as opening a business owners’ eyes for the first time to how they are perceived.
This is why Florence & James strongly believe that consumer insight is the foundation for all commercial growth.
If your marketing is based on consumer insight it will always be more effective as it taps into the very real and emotional needs of your audience. It allows you to create an authentic and real connection with your customers and create relevant and clever marketing that will build your business. Consumer insight will help every stage of your customer journey from brand awareness right through to advocacy.
It also gives you the knowledge to know how to adapt, tailor and pivot approaches that deliver to your customers’ desires and therefore make your whole business more successful. You will learn how to talk to your audience in their language and tell them what they want to know thus producing content that works which in turn improves your ROI.
If you are interested in finding out more about how consumer research can help shape your marketing strategy and grow your business please get in touch, we’d love to chat to you.
