Customer Research is the Key to Successful Customer Engagement Management
Customer Research: Unlocking the key to successful customer engagement management
If you’re a marketer and customer success is on your radar, then customer research should be up there too! With the ever-changing landscape of consumer behavior comes the need to stay ahead and get an edge – and to do this successfully, you must have a deep understanding of your customer base. Researching customers doesn’t have to be a chore. If done in small but meaningful steps this research, sometimes known as ‘voice of the customer research’, offers opportunities to engage with customers and uncover valuable data and insights that inform any customer engagement marketing plan. Dare I say, you might even have a little fun?
The Research Regarding a Customer Covers Many Areas
In this post we are going to explore four key areas of customer research that will help you get to know your customers better. Taking the time to gather these deep insights will illuminate how and where you can be of service. Armed with this deeper understanding you can get creative and think outside the box to generate engaging and helpful products, marketing campaigns and experiences to keep your customers coming back for more. Let’s dive in!
Customer Persona Research
Who are your customers?
Can you identify any commonalities in your customers’ demographics, behavior, interests, goals, and pain points? A customer persona typically includes details such as age, gender, education level, occupation, hobbies, values, and purchasing habits. By developing a detailed customer persona, you can tailor their marketing strategies and messages to better resonate with their target audience,
What pain points are your customer solving with your product or service?
This seems obvious, but making some effort to dig in and understand exactly what pain points your customers are trying to alleviate by using your product or service will illuminate new ideas for how and where you can be of service. Armed with this deeper understanding you can get creative and think outside the box to generate engaging and helpful products, marketing campaigns, and experiences to keep your customers coming back for more.
Customer Behavior Research
How are customers interacting with our product or service currently?
To truly build lasting relationships and to keep your product relevant, you’ll want to dive into understanding how your customers are using your product or service today. Understanding their preferences such as whether they prefer to call in for support or use a chat on your website; or do they like receiving automated reports versus running reports on their own. Does your product need to connect to other products they use? Perhaps they’re doing something that seems silly to you, but it turns out to be a workaround because there is a gap in your feature set. Now that you know, you can address it.
This line of thinking will inspire great product or service development as well as fuel engaging relationships with clients. Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions. You’ll get valuable insight into how you can help your customers see the value and you’ll learn how to fit more naturally into your customer’s world.
We all know there’s a reason behind every action and understanding the “why” can open new possibilities! By getting customers to think about their goals they may discover untapped ways of utilizing our product or service. With an open mind and a blank whiteboard in hand we can help them explore these options – so let the brainstorming begin!
Customer experience research questions include:
Do we have any customers experiencing difficulties/outages or other issues with our product or service?
Are any of our customers dealing with a bump in the road? We want to make sure they know we’re here and ready to help! Identifying customers’ unmet needs is a must in this cutthroat economy – pain points are the perfect place to start. From product performance issues to lackluster service and unsatisfactory experiences, acquiring an understanding of what causes your customer’s discomfort can lead to happier customers who spread their satisfaction with you far and wide! And as we all know great reputations increase profitability faster than any other kind of ad campaign money can buy. Even if something went wrong, an apology accepting responsibility coupled with how it’s been addressed plus preventative steps moving forward can go far. Customer experience research is a great way to get in front of potential issues and turn them into wins.
Customer Retention Research
This is a process of gathering data and insights on factors that impact customer loyalty and retention. Customer retention research involves analyzing customer behavior and feedback to identify the reasons why customers stay with a brand, as well as the reasons why they might leave. It can also involve studying the customer journey and touch points to understand how to better engage and retain customers over time. The insights gained from customer retention research can inform businesses on how to improve their products, services, and customer experience to better meet the needs of their customers and foster long-term loyalty. By prioritizing customer retention research, businesses can improve customer satisfaction, reduce churn, and drive revenue growth.
Tactics for conducting customer research
Now that you know how important customer research is and you’ve got an idea of what information you’re looking for, how will you get it? Luckily, there are plenty of tools available to help! Surveys offer an opportunity to capture feedback on customer preferences in real-time. Surveys can be conducted through various channels, such as email, phone, or social media, and can provide valuable insights into customers’ needs, preferences, and frustrations.
Analyzing existing data such as purchase history or website analytics allows marketers to peek into customers’ past behavior. Customer feedback can also be gathered through online reviews and customer support interactions. Lastly, focus groups and interviews let them dig deeper still by uncovering needs and motivations straight from shoppers themselves – giving invaluable insight needed to stay ahead in today’s market.
Putting Insights to Work for Better Customer Relationships
If you’re looking to build loyal, trusting relationships with your customers, a customer engagement strategy is the way to go. Start with research and reflection utilizing surveys, conducting a focus group, or even interacting on social media. You’ll reap the rewards of building your marketing efforts from a place of deep customer understanding. Need an extra hand getting started? Ah-Ha has got this one covered! Check out our customer engagement marketing capabilities.