Before you begin spending your hard earned money on your marketing, I suggest you obtain some data first. This will help you figure out exactly what message to use in your marketing and also provide some direction on what marketing channels are best.
Survey Your Customers
It’s always a good idea to keep your finger on the pulse of your customers’ right? Of course it is. Have you thought about surveying them? Before you administer the survey, think about what information you want to get from the survey and ask those questions. I think you will be surprised at what your customer’s are motivated by. The more informed you are about them, the better off you will be.
Ask Questions
When you conduct a survey, it is very important that you don’t ask your customers every question under the sun. Keep it short, keep it simple, and only ask the questions you want answers to. Here are some questions I have used in the past the where effective. When trying to find out how to better market to customers. Of course, I am assuming that the basic demographic information is already known.
- What is the social media channel do you use the most? Why?
- What communication delivery method do you check most frequently per day? (email, social media, phone, text) Why?
- What device do you spend most time in front of? (Smartphone, tablet, desktop or TV?) – Why?
- What type of information do you consume the most online? (news, sports, tabloid, work related, general lifestyle, online shopping/browsing)
- What times of day are you most likely to browse websites and consume non-work content? (6am-10am, 10am-2pm, 2pm-6pm, 6pm-midnight, midnight-6am)
- What search engine do you use the most? Why?
- What smartphone are you using? – Why?
- Do you read blogs and online articles? (yes, no)
- Do you see blogs and articles as credible? (yes, no)
- What online email service provider do you use? Why?
- What 3 websites do you visit most often each week besides online email? Why?
- Do you conduct online research on a product prior to contacting the company?
- Do you listen to the radio?
- Do you watch primetime TV?
- Do you read magazines?
- Do you consider yourself a light, moderate or heavy app user?
- Do you share photos and videos on social media?
- Do you prefer to buy online or in person?
- Do advertisements help to persuade you to make a purchase?
- Have you ever downloaded a product eBook in return for submitting your name and email address?
- Do you watch videos online?
Once you decide to survey your customers, you will then have a very good snapshot of the type of person they are, what media they consume, the times they consume it and also some of their personal preferences. All of this information will help you to decide how to develop a marketing strategy that will elevate your brand above and beyond the completion. It all starts with understanding the customer first.
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Scott MacFarland
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