How do you get the information and data you need to create a marketing campaign or validate a new service?
MARKET RESEARCH.
If you knew conducting market research for small business could help you increase your clients, convert them, and keep them loyal to your brand – wouldn’t it be beneficial to build in market research into your marketing strategy?
49% of companies report that increasing customer acquisition is their primary objective. (Ascend2, 2020; information found on HubSpot)
If using market research can increase your audience reach which can then lead to…
- Higher conversions
- Increased revenue
- And brand loyalty
It can also help your business hone in on your fierce factor (aka Unique Selling Point). Helping you to stand out in your industry and attract more of your ideal clients.
READ: 3-Step Formula to Create a Powerful Brand Message for Small Businesses
In this post, we’re going to share 3 questions to ask during market research for small business and how they can help you define your fierce factor further!
What is market research FOR SMALL BUSINESS?
Market research is the process of gathering data, information, and insight into your target audience and ideal clients. This research is then used to decide and validate new products or services, what your audience/ideal clients need, and the best way to serve them.
When you have market research, the information will tell you certain factors, such as…
- What your audience needs
- How they want something delivered
- What they’re willing to pay for the service
- What are the deciding factors to purchase
- And a whole lot more!
We want to focus on how conducting market research calls can help you determine what makes your business stand out from the competition!
A market research call is usually getting on a call with audience members or ideal clients to receive first-hand feedback from them.
There are 3 questions you DEFINITELY need to ask during these calls to help determine your fierce factor and how to position yourself as the best option for your ideal clients.
Question 1: What about our brand drew you in and had you stay?
Why this question?
Usually, when doing market research for your small business, you’re the one asking all the questions to try to understand your ideal clients but who says you can’t flip the script?!
This question is a great ‘script flipper’ and gets the ideal client or audience to share their likes/dislikes in a way that doesn’t sound so stale! This definitely gives you deeper insight into who is your true ideal client and not someone who ‘could’ be ok to work with.
What will this information share?
By asking this question, you’ll be able to see different patterns based on the types of ideal clients or audience members you have market research calls with.
This will help you see what parts of your brand stick out and connect with your potential clients!
How to use this answer for your marketing:
Use this answer to revisit your website copy and content marketing game! You can use the answers from this question to:
- Include more of what draws your ideal clients in, in your content
- Share behind the scenes that match with their answers on social media
- Update your website copy to include the keywords they used!
READ: 5-Step Market Research Process (That Isn’t Boring or Daunting!)
Question 2: Why are you interested in XYZ service with us?
Why this question?
This question flips the script on your ideal client, again, to understand how their thought process was before reaching out to ask you to work together.
Usually, we’re so eager to work with someone we are always the ones ‘selling’ our services. But by flipping the script on a market research call, we can have a client “sell” us back our service which is great for content and copy!
What will this information share?
By asking this question you’ll get to know your ideal clients’ thought process before making a purchasing decision, what they considered, what went into their research, and what features/transformations they’re looking to get out of your service.
How to use this answer for your marketing:
All of that information we just mentioned can be used in:
- Website copy
- Sales pages and sales content
- Social media content
- Emails
- And blog posts!
You’ll be able to anticipate your ideal clients’ needs WAY before they realize they need them, making you stand out in the industry!
Question 3: What are your biggest goals in the next 3-6 months and why do you believe this service will help you?
Why this question?
We LOVE asking this question during our small business market research calls! Understanding what our ideal clients’ goals, dreams, and visions are for the next 3-6 months helps us to determine if our business fits into their life and is a part of the life they want to have.
We ask the follow-up question to hear it from the ideal clients themselves, why they think our services will help them achieve those goals.
What will this information share?
All of this information helps to validate or ‘debunk’ any beliefs, assumptions, or ideas we had about our ideal clients and how we *think* our services can help them.
Instead of assuming, this question gives us the answer straight from them!
How to use this answer for your marketing:
These answers can then be re-worked and included in:
- Website copy
- Sales pages & launch sequences
- Social media content
- Blog posts
- And emails!
Whenever a converted lead and past client tells us that it seems like we read their mind – it’s because we actually have (sortof). We took the answers that made the most sense to the types of ideal clients we want to work with, added in their answers to our marketing material, and attracted them through copywriting strategy.
READ: How To Do Different Types of Market Research for your Content
How to determine your fierce factor?
A lot of the questions we see in regular market research calls and surveys are generic. Things like…
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Annual income
- Profession
This is great to have on hand, but we believe if you want to create a real community through your content and business, it needs to get deeper than that.
These questions dive deeper into the thought processes, psychology, and goals of your ideal clients. They will also give you more robust answers than the generic ‘age’, ‘gender’, ‘location’, and so on.
From your answers on market research calls, you can now cross-reference and see what your strengths and weaknesses are to figure out what *actually* is your unique selling point – all from the validation of your audience!
Wrap Up & Conclusion
The three questions to ask during a market research call to figure out your fierce factor (aka unique selling point) are:
- What about our brand drew you in and had you stay?
- Why are you interested in XYZ service with us?
- What are your biggest goals in the next 3-6 months and why do you believe this service will help you?
You’ll not only be able to better understand your ideal clients, but you’ll also have a better understanding of what makes your brand stand out from others.
What types of market research for small business do you usually do? Calls, surveys, polls? Let us know in the comments below!
Enjoyed this post? You might like these, too:
5-Step Market Research Process (That Isn’t Daunting or Boring!)
How to do Different Types of Market Research for your Content
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