What if you could take all the guesswork out of creating your next product or offer?
What if I told you that you could find out exactly what your customers want to buy from you before you produce a thing?
If you feel like developing a new product is a bit of a crapshoot, or you’ve had that heart-sinking experience of pouring your blood, sweat, and tears into a marketing campaign that didn’t pan out, I have good news for you:
There are only three places you need to go if you want to avoid all that guessing and suffering, where your customers will tell you, in their own words, exactly the problems they need solved and the questions they need answered.
You don’t even have to ask! You just have to listen.
Employing Social Listening
It used to be that observing your customers and starting a dialogue with them about their desires, frustrations, and problems was expensive.
You needed to time, money and resources to do research and development, and then even more to get your message out onto broadcast-style mass marketing. It cost a lot of time, money, and energy to take a new idea to market in a way that it could actually be successful.
Of course, this is no longer the case. With social media and the connected age, it’s now virtually free to observe and interact with the people you want to buy your ideas.
But most businesses are entirely focused on what they can say with social media instead of its most potent use: listening and observation. Your potential customers are out there generating tons and tons of content. Are you paying attention?
Three Places to Listen
Joining in conversations and then listening very carefully to what’s being said are the first steps in creating a product your customers can’t wait to buy.
If you imagine the web as a hallway in a hotel, you’ll see that there are dozens of places you could press your metaphorical ear to the door and eavesdrop on conversations. But which ones are going to give you the insights you need?
I have three main places I like to go to quietly observe my potential customers and find out their problems, questions, and aspirations:
1. Google
Of course, Google is the king of searching for anything, so you can always start here. Specifically, type in your topic or keywords and search for blog posts from other businesses. You can read the posts if you like, but I suggest jumping directly down to the comments section. There, you can see what people liked and didn’t like, and what questions they have that are going unanswered. You can do the same with forums (like Reddit and Quora) and videos on YouTube.
2. Amazon
Not just a store, Amazon is a search engine for content. Enter your topic into the search box and a list of books will pop up, each with another set of comments for you to mine. In addition, check out the “Customers who bought this also bought…” box. It’s driven by a powerful algorithm that makes connections about what other topics your customers might associate with your business.
3. Social Media
Once you stop broadcasting on social media for a few minutes and start listening instead, you’ll see what a wealth of information it holds. Try checking out communities and business pages in your niche, again looking more at what the customers are saying than the business owners. On Twitter, you can follow a hashtag or join a Twitter chat to get real time insights into what your customers are thinking.
With all of these resources, you want to look for the questions, frustrations, and desires that highlight a gap between what exists and what the customers need. Ask yourself:
- What are common questions that the people in this conversation ask?
- What frustrates them about their current situation?
- What are their goals and desires?
- What are the underlying problems and desires for these questions, frustrations, and goals?
Keep a log of what you find. Then, when it’s time to create a new product or offering, you will have the details you need to create exactly what your potential customers are yearning for.
This kind of research pays off in huge dividends down the line when you can not only create a product that solves a specific problem or need your customer has, but also when you can market it to them in their own words.
Of course this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to knowing exactly what your customer wants. These tips will absolutely help you make amazing customer discoveries. But if you want to attract more of the right people and connect with and delight your customers, you need a plan. Learn more at quietpowerstrategy.com/program.
About the Author:
After spending the last 7 years coaching entrepreneurs and investigating exactly what it takes to make a business successful, Tara Gentile created Quiet Power Strategy®, a collection of hands-on training and support programs for ambitious, fiercely intelligent, and warm-hearted entrepreneurs. She’s the author of several bestselling books, including The Art of Earning and Quiet Power Strategy. Tara’s work has been featured in Fast Company, Forbes, Design*Sponge, DailyWorth, and many others. Find out how you can earn the customers, cash, and influence you crave at quietpowerstrategy.com/program.
Note from Claire: In addition to being a die-hard fan of all of Tara’s work, I’m also an affiliate for her Quiet Power Strategy: Foundation course, which means that I may get a commission if you decide to sign up via one of the links above.
This is soooooo helpful! Thank you.
So glad you found it useful, Kathryn! I’ll make sure Tara hears so. :)
Those are the great ideas but some times there are other problems as well like inflation and the consumer index change due to which the customers are not able to buy that thing for which a company is using its blood, sweat and tears.