With over 20 years in marketing and communications, I know the value of market research. ?When I worked in large organizations, we hired agencies to provide specialized research services. But when I was in smaller businesses, we didn?t have that luxury. In fact, I didn?t have any budget for research, so we did it ourselves. This was often time-consuming work that often got put on the backburner to deal with emerging issues.
Thankfully social media has made it much easier for small businesses to do their own market research. The following four tools are just some that I have used and could easily be applied to nearly every small business.
1. ?Leverage membership in existing groups like Facebook and Linkedin or even through blogs to gain valuable insight into what topics are hot. Being an active listener you can find emerging themes, and if there is one specific issue that has everyone?s ear.
For example, if you own an art gallery and you want to know what people are interested in, you will have first-hand intelligence to the buzz. ?Or, perhaps there are new and emerging artists that are all the rage.? You may want to feature them before anyone else scoops them up. ?In both cases, this information is both real-time and specific to your interests.
2. Conduct Facebook surveys to reach out to your followers and ask them specific questions ? keep the same questions so that you have consistent data. One of the benefits of doing this type of research versus a focus group is that neither the facilitator nor any other members of the focus group will unintentionally influence the participants. You can have your survey be anonymous or with a customer name attached to it.
For example maybe you want to determine whether or not you should carry a new product.? While it seems like a good idea, you just aren?t certain that your customers will want it. ?You can develop a simple questionnaire that you can send to all your followers/subscribers or those who have ?Liked? your Brand Page. ?By reaching out to your customers you are demonstrating that their opinion matters and you get to hear from them first-hand what they think about the product.
For more information on how to set up your survey, visit Facebook?s survey page.
3. Use Pinterest to determine what photos are being pinned from your website. ?This can be an invaluable tool. Learn what is popular and by default, what is not. ?Learn what is resonating with your customers through your visuals.
It is quite easy to do: simply go to your browser and type: ?http://pinterest.com/source/YOURWEBSITEHERE.com/.
4. Use Twitter Hashtags to search and track relevant conversations. ?You can use hashtags to monitor conversations about competitors, different product lines, events and more. ?You can use existing hashtags or set up your own. ?They are simple to use.
For example, if you are hosting a conference and you want to know what the buzz is both leading up to and during the event, you could create a hashtag specific to your event. ?Once you do this, be sure to share it with your organizers, sponsors, delegates, etc. ?It could be as simple as #conferencename2012. ?By simply searching your event hashtag, you can monitor all the chatter. ?If you notice a problem emerging, you can be proactive and take action.? You can then share the solution using the hashtag, letting your delegates know that you were listening. ?You can also use the hashtag to monitor post-event conversations and use that intelligence for lessons-learned.
These are just four examples of how you can use social media for real-time market research. ?What are some other channels that you use and what have been your results?
To learn more, download our ebook?How to Transform Your Small Business With Social Media.
Tags: Facebook, hashtags, Linkedin, measurement, Pinterest, research, small business, SMB, surveys, twitter
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