We need to be agile and flexible when we interact with our customers through market research, to minimize burden and biases. This will involve changing the way we ask for information (length of engagement, length of recruiting) and gaining additional perspective on how dynamic or static their perceptions are.
Collecting customer insights might feel like searching for a needle in a haystack, but if you know where and how to look for it, you can separate the signal from the noise. Here are sources for customer insights:
1. Turn to online panels with shorter, more frequent engagement
This type of research forum recruits people who are always available to participate in a study, and asks for small pieces of information over time. For example, instead of asking a physician to participate in a 45-minute online survey, the physician can answer questions in five- or 10-minute increments over the course of a week. The questions asked are engaging and are often completed closer to the moment in time that they are asked about, which reduces burden and bias.
2. Leverage social media analytics
Social media analytics is the process of tracking online conversations in order to gain a better understanding of customer beliefs and behaviors. This data can be used to discover opportunities for product development, brand positioning, reputation management, and competitive insights. Social media analytics can also be used to fill a temporary gap in qualitative interviews.
3. Infer customer perspectives from your field teams
Now that customer-facing teams are not in the field as much, we have more opportunities to ask them questions and get to know them better. This can be done through one-on-one phone or video interviews, or even by setting up focus groups. This way, we can get a deeper understanding of customer beliefs and behaviors.
When considering who to ask for customer insights, we should not limit ourselves to only those who work in sales. Other customer-facing roles such as nurses, ambassadors, or those supporting patient programs are also good sources of this kind of information.
I’m asking you to think about whether there are ways we can set up our field teams so they regularly share customer feedback, objections, and behaviors. This would help now and in the future.
4. Tap into the collective knowledge of your organization
When we think about all the medical experts working for a pharmaceutical company, for example, it can be daunting. However, it is helpful to talk to people like members of the medical or clinical team to get a better understanding of things like how patients progress through their treatment, or what kinds of patients might be interested in a new medication. Sales and marketing colleagues often have a lot of knowledge that can be helpful. For example, they might have recently learned about different therapeutic areas and medications while working in different parts of the company. When we are trying to answer a specific question, we should look for the right internal experts, even if that means talking to people in different parts of the company or in different markets. This is a time when we need to work together and share whatever useful knowledge we have internally.
5. Mine past market research
A custom primary market research study is not usually limited to answering the key business questions that led to the study being commissioned. Most studies provide additional information that can be useful in understanding the customer and their behavior. There may be some insights in qualitative research transcripts or deliverables that could help the team make a decision. Prior quantitative research can also be helpful in developing an initial customer segmentation.
6. Listen to internal sources of customer voices
Your customers are trying to tell you something, and you should listen. Many medical organizations have recordings of phone calls from patients, which can be used to understand why patients discontinue use of products and where there are gaps in patient management. This data is often more difficult to interpret than simply asking healthcare professionals, but it can be very useful in understanding your customers.
7. Online reviews
Customers’ online reviews are the most authentic source of information about how they feel about your products and services. Use them to identify what customers perceive your brand to be doing well, what needs improvement, and what they find better in competition.
This means that you should be looking at your reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, the Better Business Bureau, Glassdoor, and other similar websites. For software or SaaS products, some of the popular ones include G2, Capterra, Clutch, Trustpilot, and TrustRadius.
How to use customer insights from online reviews:
- Learn the little things that stand out to customers and harness those in your customer service.
- Stay on top of complaints and product/service shortcomings.
- Understand the terms your customers use to describe their problems and needs and incorporate those into your copywriting.
8. Competitor’s reviews
Gathering insights about your audience from competitor’s reviews is a good way to learn about your customers. You can find these on social media sites and in online forums where there may be groups of people using the same product.
Watch for opportunities that your product can take advantage of. Use what you learn to improve how your product is presented and positioned. This will result in more customers since your product will exactly meet their needs.
How to use customer insights from competitor reviews:
- Identify their shortcomings and position yourself accordingly.
- Find out what strengths they have that you don’t (find our SWOT analysis template here!).
- Get ideas for features or gestures that resonate well with your audience.
9. Website data
With Google Analytics and Search Console, you can gather a wealth of insights about your customers, including:
- Behavioral data: what keywords they were searching when they found your site, what paths they’re taking on your site, which pages they’re exiting on, what content they’re most interested in, and more.
- Demographic data: age, gender location, interests, devices, and more.
- Campaign data: which pages are driving leads and sales, paths to purchase, and more.
How to use customer insights from website data:
- Identify keywords and topics to target with your content.
- Find out which pages they’re exiting on that may need an exit popup or call to action.
- See what landing page copy drives more conversions.
- Identify which channels generate the most success and allocate resources accordingly.
10. Competitor website data
Even though you can’t get as much information from a competitor’s website, there is still a lot that you can learn by using tools like Semrush and Ahrefs.
How to use customer insights from competitor website data:
- Identify a strategic product messaging and positioning in your market.
- Get ideas for keywords to target—paid and organic.
- Find potential domains to target for link-building.
11. Preferences and purchase activity
Tracking the purchases made by your customers provides you with information about which products and services are most popular, both overall and among individual customers. This information can be obtained by tracking purchases in your CRM system or by using an ecommerce platform. In addition, if you maintain an email list or any other platform that uses customer accounts, you can create preference centers to capture even more insights.
How to use customer insights from preferences and purchase activity:
- Identify seasonal patterns and stock accordingly (A must, according to our marketing trends list).
- Personalize communications and marketing campaigns.
- Identify products and services to build on.
12. Customer surveys
Since the days of door-to-door marketing, businesses have been using surveys to gather feedback from customers. Today, there are online survey tools that make it easy to collect survey responses via email, social media, and apps. Surveys can be designed to collect point-based, multiple choice, or open-ended responses, or any combination thereof.
Some good questions to ask in your survey include:
- How did you find out about us?
- What did you like the most?
- Ease of ordering
- Customer service
- Pricing
- Packaging
- Other reasons
How to use customer insights from surveys:
- Understand the general sentiment toward your business.
- Identify strengths to harness and weaknesses to improve.
- Find out if starting a referral program would be worth your investment.
13. Customer interviews
In customer interviews, a researcher conducts a conversation with a customer in order to gather information. This is in contrast to customer surveys, which are sent to several customers at once. Interviews can be conducted in person, over the phone, or via video call.
You can discuss things like:
- How did you come to know about us?
- What made you choose us over other alternatives?
- What feature does your business use the most?
- What do you think could make our product even better?
Ways to use customer interviews
- Identify nuances and micro moments you can improve.
- Build your relationship with customers.
- Get ideas for new features or offerings to add to the roadmap.
14. Success stories and case studies
Other forms of customer interviews include success stories, testimonials, and case studies. While the above focuses on customer feedback, this one is about the story of how they used your business to solve their problem. These are public-facing materials written, video, or audio form.
Here are the typical questions a success story seeks to answer:
- What problem were you facing? What were the consequences?
- How did you find us and why did you choose us?
- What product or service did you use to solve your problem?
- What were the results and benefits?
How to use customer insights from success stories:
- Provide during discovery calls and sales pitches.
- Post them on your website for visitors to browse.
- Create and sell persona-specific use cases.
15. Partnerships
Most products and services in the digital economy require integration with other services and applications.
How to use customer insights from partnerships:
- Find creative promotions and giveaways to run.
- Discover adjacent topics to cover in your blog posts.
- Get ideas for add-ons and features.
16. Social media
Social media is a great place to get feedback from customers, both positive and negative. You can passively monitor comments and posts, or actively solicit feedback through posts and polls.
The insights you can glean from your social media analytics can be very useful in understanding your customer base. However, it is important to keep in mind that the people who follow you on social media may not necessarily be representative of your overall customer base.
How to use customer insights from social media:
- Get a feel for the language your customers use.
- Understand their perspectives on an emotional level.
- Find out product preferences and interests.
Points to Ponder
The solutions mentioned above are more effective when used together instead of individually. Although none of these alternative sources of customer insight will be as good as primary market research customized for the company, these solutions can still be helpful in the meantime.