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How to Do Audience Research to Gain Insights Into Your Target Audience | Marketing Research Tips

How to Do Audience Research to Gain Insights Into Your Target Audience | Marketing Research Tips

by | Jan 31, 2019 | Marketing, Strategy

 

When you’re setting out to create a new marketing campaign, website, or any other promotional materials one of the most important things you can do is audience research. In the old days, this was accomplished by compiling expensive focus groups and making a best-educated guess as to what the consumer ultimately wants.

Luckily, the internet has opened up a myriad of ways for us to gain valuable insights into our target audience without spending tons of money or even having to have an existing audience.

Still, many people are not taking advantage of the free tools that when used properly can help you get that edge for your marketing to create a more compelling message that drives the desired action you’re looking for.

Here are two of our favorite “ninja” ways to research a target audience and really learn about their online behaviors, challenges, desires, lifestyle, and even the way they speak about your industry.

 

Facebook Audience Insights Tool

 

Audience insights is a great tool that Facebook offers to advertisers that utilize the platform. However, the good news is that you do not need to spend money on Facebook Ads to utilize this tool. All you need to do is set up a Facebook Ad account (which is free to set up) if you don’t already have one.

Audience Insights is great because it allows you to find out some really valuable information about the audience that you’re looking to reach. You can learn about things like:

  • Basic demographics like age, location, and gender
  • Lifestyle information like relationship status, job roles, and education level
  • Audience interests like publications, influencers, brands, etc
  • Online behavior including the devices that your audience use

All you have to do is open up the Audience Insights tool, then start adding interests, job roles, and any other information that you already have on your target audience. Then Facebook Audience Insights will show you valuable data gathered from Facebook users.

Be sure to watch the video above to learn how to use the tool and see some examples.

 

Review Sites (Amazon, Yelp, etc)

 

Another great way to learn about your target audience is by looking at online review sites like Yelp and Amazon.

You can look at not only your own reviews but also the reviews of competitors or other products/services that your target audience may use. By spending time reading reviews left by your target audience you will gain a lot of valuable insight into what their challenges, pain points, desires, and frustrations are.

The other really great thing about reading review sites is that you begin to learn the language of your audience. 

As marketers and business owners, we can sometimes fall into the trap of creating our own “sexy” language of what we think our audience wants to hear. We use phrases like “innovation” or “technologically advanced”.

However, as humans, we resonate stronger with people (or brands) that look and sound just like us. As you are looking through reviews on your products or related products, be sure to pay attention and take note of the phrases that people are using to describe their challenges or the benefits they are seeking. These will be powerful for you to keep in mind when writing copy for ads or marketing materials.

 

Conclusion

Audience research can actually be a lot of fun when you start to get real data and information that will help inspire new ideas for content, advertising, and even product development. Take advantage of these tools and let us know how it works out for you!

 

#1 Storytelling Technique for Holding Your Audience’s Attention

#1 Storytelling Technique for Holding Your Audience’s Attention

by | Jan 25, 2019 | Marketing, Strategy

 

What one thing do all of the best stories ever told, having common that you can actually take and implement in your marketing and advertising to get more results?

The world of marketing and advertising is largely focused around this question of how do we capture an audience’s attention and then maintain that attention over time.

What if I told you that there is a common characteristic shared among all of the best stories ever told, whether it’s through books, television shows, and movies that you can actually take and implement in your marketing and advertising to get more results.

 

All great stories have one thing…

 

What we’re talking about here is the importance of having conflict in your marketing and advertising. Simply put, conflict is the challenge or obstacle that needs to be overcome or the question in the viewer’s mind that they have to continue watching or continue reading to find out the answer.

It’s important to remember that conflict doesn’t always have to be this big dramatic catastrophe. Again, sometimes it’s as simple as a question that you put in the viewer’s mind.

 

Why is conflict so important for you to use in your marketing and advertising?

 

When we use conflict, we can guide our audience to where they should put their attention. This is because as humans, we usually pay attention to things that need answers or needs solving.

Here’s a perfect example. One of the most popular television shows in recent history is Breaking Bad. How boring would Breaking Bad have been if nothing bad ever happened to Walter White?

Nobody would watch the show.

 

How to implement conflict in your marketing

 

At the simplest level, start by thinking about what challenges or pain points that your audience faces that your product or service actually solves. Starting with this rather than just coming right out the gate with your features and benefits is going to make your marketing more engaging and more effective.

Even better, this is where Story comes in for your marketing and advertising.

Let’s say you’re producing client testimonials. Nobody wants to sit and watch or read somebody speaking point blank about how great your company is. But if they start with a story about a problem that they faced or something that stood in the way of them getting what they want and then how you actually helped them get there, that’s going to be so much more relatable to the audience.

This is what holds their attention because they want to stick around and find out what happens next.

What we’re doing by implementing conflict is we’re creating what’s called “open loops” in the viewer’s mind.  This is what piques their interests and keeps them engaged so they want to find out what the answer. At this point, you will start to see higher engagement rates, longer watch times, and ultimately better results.

 

Conclusion

 

So go ahead and give this a try for yourself. When you’re looking at a new marketing campaign or a piece of copy, ask yourself, what’s the conflict here? Is this enough to pique the audience’s interests and does it ultimately lead to our key message to what we’re trying to deliver? As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments. How have you used conflict in the past? Be sure to share this with a friend.