Are you planning your marketing for Q4 and beyond? If so, are you doing any research to see what your customers want to buy or learn? Research can seem expensive and impossible when you’re working on a marketing plan, but for some brands, you can do it quickly and inexpensively. Not every business has a huge research and development budget. Start small!
Five easy ways to do research on social media:
1) Ask your audience questions! Do you want to know if they’re interested in a certain type of product or service? Are you curious about how much they would pay for something? Ask them! Seriously. Think about what you want to know from your customers, and start adding audience response questions into your social media content. Not everyone will respond, but you’ll get some valuable feedback. Here on Instagram, use both in-feed posts and stories to ask your questions and gather responses.
2) Use the poll features that are now available on several social media platforms. You can do polls in posts on Facebook, and in stories on Instagram. Ask an either/or question and screenshot the responses (within 24 hours on stories). This is a tiny, quick focus group!
3) Create short surveys on sites like Survey Monkey. Link to your surveys in Facebook posts or your Instagram bio. Using a Linktree in your Instagram bio gives you a way to tag more than one link in bio. Direct people to your survey links through posts and stories. Consider a small giveaway for those who complete the survey in a certain length of time and provide an email address.
4) Read your comments and direct messages! I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but I’m always surprised at folks who post and ghost. Return to your posts and engage with your followers! Read and respond to your direct messages. If people are always asking you for the same information, it’s because they need an answer!
5) Study the analytics on your social media and web platforms. You’ll be able to tell types of posts, pages and information were most popular. Use that to inform your future content and the products and services you provide.
If you’d like to learn more about marketing & PR planning, join my email list to get updates and info. Leave me a comment if these quick tips are helpful, and if there’s anything specific you’d like me to cover on Marketing Monday!