6 ways of using cost-effective research to drive more business

It’s been said that data without strategy can be tedious, but strategy without data is dangerous. Here are six easy ways to help you get started gathering that all-important data on customers and insights into how you can drive your business forward.

1. Start with existing customers. How much do you know your existing customers? They are usually a good place to start if you want to find new ones or build business with those you have. Ask them about what they do or don’t buy from you or could be persuaded to buy in the future. This could be a simple as phoning them up or arranging to meet for a coffee.
2. Review social media. To find out more about your customers and what interests them, Facebook Page Insights, YouTube Analytics and Twitter Analytics can all provide a wealth of insights including demographic information to help you peer into people’s lives and understand how they spend their time.
3. Google. Google analytics provides behavioural information to help you understand more around what people do online, sources of web traffic, email open rates and much more.
4. Engage groups. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and many others all have groups or boards that you can learn a great deal from. By engaging with these groups of communities it’s possible to build a better knowledge of segments’ interests, tastes and their likes.
5. Just ask. SurveyMonkey or Facebook Questions are easy ways to get out there and ask people about more or less anything.
6. Call us. We can help you, from understanding the research you already have to designing a strategy to build incremental business based upon sound knowledge.

If you’d like help with building your customer knowledge to support more effective business success, then get in touch. Peter.batchelor@lawcreative.co.uk