10 Methods for Effective DIY Market Research (Part 1)
Many of my clients approached me earlier this month wondering how to keep customers and find new ones in these hard economic times. What better way than to ask your customers? You need to understand a customer’s wants and needs in order to keep them purchasing from you. Surveys are a good way to cultivate that information from them.
Here are the first 4 ways to do maximize the power of your survey:
Create a strong reason for conducting the survey. The reason or objective may be that you want to know from your customers which new products or services to carry in your store. Once you have your objective, then you can create questions that help you find the answer(s).
Chose a survey software company. You can write and produce the survey yourself, but I highly recommend hiring a marketing research specialists. These writers have the “know how” to craft questions that will produce the answers you need to make valuable business decisions. Once you have the questions written, I would use:
- www.SurveyMonkey.com – my fave until I found www.iContact.com
- www.iContact.com – survey tool built into their email marketing software
- www.EZSurvey.com
- www.Zoomerang.com
Keep the survey short and sweet. People are so very busy these days and highly value their time. Be respectful. Ask no more than 12 questions, make the survey easy to answer and to return. It also helps to reward the respondents in some fashion. For example, a flyer talking about the importance of dental care in dogs or cats would be great for this month. February is Pet Dental Month.
Mix it up. You want to do this for two reasons. One, respondents get bored answering the same question type. And two, you may receive an answer you would like more in depth knowledge of for measurement. Here are the most commonly used question methods:
- Closed Ended – Best used for when you need to measure something. “How much do you spend on pet food on a monthly basis?”
- Multiple-Choice – Best used for when there is a list for the respondent to choose from. “Do you own a dog, a cat, both or neither?”
- Numerical – Best used for real numbers. “How old is your pet?”
- Open-Ended – Best used for when you’re “hunting and gathering” for information. “What new flavors would you like to see for our ABC Dog Treats?”
- Likert Scale – Best used to assess a person’s feelings about something. “Based on a scale of 1 to 10, and 1 being severely dislike and 10 being very much like, how would rate the following…”
About the Author Dara is a brand identity and marketing design strategist at 7 Lucky Dogs, a leading consultancy in marketing to “pet parents”. Through customized marketing and brand identity packages, 7 Lucky Dogs helps you discover what makes your company, product or service different from your competitors. We then translate this differentiation visually into a logo, product packaging, an E-commerce site and promotional materials to reflect those unique attributes. We make our clients look credible and memorable to their prospects while they increase their bottom line. As the owner of 7 Lucky Dogs, Dara is passionate about helping independent pet businesses stand out in front of their competitors and attract more clients. She blends business smarts with creativity with over ten years of design experience with formal education in both graphic design and marketing.
