Why Using Social Media For Market Research is Smart: 4 Winning Strategies For Your Company

Using social media for market research

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It remains to be seen if 2012 will indeed be the year if the social media bubble finally bursts. Analysts predicted this notion of “digital/social exhaustion” more than two years ago and yet the numbers are climbing in regards to social media usage. According to a recent Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project study, 66% of online U.S. adults use social media. More than two-thirds of adults are conversing online, posting reviews, and recommending products or services to their networks.

Traditional market research typically consists of mailing out customer surveys, conducting phone interviews and holding focus groups. While I’m not suggesting you alienate these methods, there is a huge opportunity to learn more about your customers or competitors through their online conversations. Social media monitoring can provide you rich, social analytics that you can track over time to determine your customer or potential customer’s habits, interests and even what is being said about your brand altogether.

Four Ways to Use Social Media as a Tool For Market Research

Search

This can comprise of brand reputation monitoring, keyword search and online mentions about your company or industry in all mediums.

E-focus

This is one of the easiest ways to crowdsource your customers for product feedback. What better way to utilize your brand’s online community than to let them be apart of your market research. Be careful to not come across too commercial or promotional when talking to the public.

Trends

Social media gives you insight into consumer behavior that you can use to detect growing trends or movements within your target customers. Use the data you collect to identify new opportunities to position your company in a new market or a different customer base.

Competitive Research

Not matter what your business is you have to know WHO your competitors are. With the current economy, many start-ups are popping up in various industries and it’s up to you to know who could be potentially taking away market share. Social media tools can help you understand your competitor’s business, their partners, employees and maybe even their business model! Many of these companies are surprisingly very open about sharing “insider” info online via tools like LinkedIn.