Last week, we talked about how you can figure-out what keywords, ads, landing pages, and other marketing material you should use (here). One of key way to do this is with effective market research. You must figure-out what your customers are likely to respond to.
There are a number of ways to do this. However, today, we’re going to focus on just one, surveys.
Surveys are great because they get feedback from your customers. You let them tell you what goes into your ads or the products you create. You don’t have to guess.
The only problem is that most people do them all wrong — limiting results.. or even sending them off in losing directions.
There are two keys to getting the most from your surveys:
1. First, make sure to ask the right questions. It’s easy to come-up with questions on the fly. However, you will often find that the responses you get don’t always give you the information you really wanted to know.
When you’re one-on-one this is fine. You can quickly adjust your question. In a survey, you’re stuck with what you started with.
For instance, a common question asked on surveys is, "How much would you pay for my product?"
A better alternative might be, "What do you think is a fair price for this product and why?" You might then follow-up this up with "What else would you like to see the product offer?"
The latter questions helps prevent the low-ball responses "free" or "$1" and gets more at what people’s true feelings are.
Here are some more tips to asking good questions:
- Ask mostly open-ended questions (not simple or "Yes" or "No" responses). You want to get at the rational the responder is using. Get at their true feelings, worries, or concerns.
- Think about potential responses from each question. This helps you rephrase your question to help get the information you want to know.
- Keep the question easy to understand and answer. If you make the customer think too much, the amount of responses and information you get goes way down. You want to ask questions that the respondent can answer quickly, such as "What are you struggling most with in your business?" You do not want him or her to think there is a right or wrong answer.
- If you don’t have an incentive to answer lots of detailed questions, then be sure to keep your survey short and to the point. Without an incentive, then maybe 5 questions is at the high end of what you should be asking.
2. Listen to what’s really being communicated. Don’t take responses at face value.
Let me give you an example. Let’s say you ask, "What do you think a fair price for my product is and why?"
The response is then "$17 because this is all I can afford."
This response could be the customer telling you a lot of things. It might be that your customers really can’t afford much at this time. They’re in deep financial pain where they don’t have enough money for the next month. So, $17 is giving-up a lot for him or her.
But, more likely, this is not going to be the case. Instead, the response is just how this person feels at this moment. He or she does not see the value in the product to justify spending more. Spending more would mean giving up something he or she values more.
However, would presenting it another way make the customer see things differently? Or, is there a problem with the product or service that just isn’t what he or she is looking for?
Simply put, don’t be reactionary to every response. Look at the big picture of the responses. This might mean that you don’t always get clear-cut answers. But, what you will get is potential warning signs or signs of potential.
In other words, don’t look at surveys as a crystal ball. They’re not. What they do instead is point you in the right direction.
Alright, so how can you get started with a survey?
The quickest and easiest way is to set-up a web form with your questions. You might create just a basic web form or use a service like Surveymonkey.com. You can then email your prospects or even use AdWords to drive traffic to your survey.
If you use AdWords, be sure your landing page is written for those that are not familiar with you, but are still in your market. For email, you may need to send multiple emails about the survey. Remember, your readers are busy. They’re happy to help you out, but you may need to ask in different ways.
In addition, keeping it simple helps a lot. If you want to have a longer survey, then you can offer a valuable incentive, such as free access to the product when it’s completed or another bonus you come up with.
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