No matter the product or service your business offers, it’s highly likely the vast majority of your target audience and competitors have a presence on social media, making it the perfect platform for you to conduct marketing research.
In this article, we’ll be discussing marketing research, not social media market research. The difference between the two is market research is interested solely in market and consumer behavior. On the other hand, marketing research and development focuses on all elements of the marketing process and how you can evolve and improve your efforts. Essentially, market research forms part of marketing research.
So, let’s get into how social media can be of immense assistance.
Social Media Marketing Listening
People like to voice their opinions on social media, whether that’s about their favorite sports team, current affairs, politics, brands, and even your business. Social media listening tools give you the power to monitor millions of conversations and pick out the key themes and emotions.
These tools give you a deeper insight into your target audience than you’ve ever had. You’ll be able to create in-depth, meaningful, and data-driven personas rather than guessing who your perfect customer might be. Additionally, you’ll be able to be more adaptable and switch the focus of your marketing strategy in line with their changing interests, opinions, and topics of conversation.
Competitor Analysis
You’ve probably conducted competitor analysis before, whether looking at their products, customer service, website, or perhaps taking inspiration from their advertising. Diving into their social media, monitoring their interactions, and learning from their work is another fantastic method for evolving your marketing strategy.
However, don’t plagiarize their work or even take a very close copy. Remember, you’re using this as marketing research – you should pay attention to elements such as their tone of voice, advertising strategy, frequency of posts, and types of content.
Direct Engagement & Polls
Often, market research is seen as a burden, annoying, or a waste of time to customers. Being asked to complete a time-consuming survey or interview isn’t the top of everyone’s to-do list. However, social media allows you to acquire crucial primary research data in another way.
Social media users have made a conscious decision to open the platform – they’re scrolling and engaging on their terms. You could use polls or posts that pose questions to capture follower opinions and guide your future marketing strategy or product development.
Overall
Once you know how to do market research on social media, you can start using the data you capture and evolve it into marketing research. As a platform where people like to post their opinions, follow their friends, and engage with their favorite brands, social media is the future of market and marketing research. You can find honest opinions, information en masse, and insights you’d never have discovered before.