Getting to know your customers can help figure out how best to sell to them. Acquiring information on things like what problems they have and what solutions they require allows you to better match the products to what they actually need. Also you can better determine the tone of marketing messages and the best price point to sell products at.

There are a number of different ways that you can acquire new information about customers that before the era of the internet would not have been possible, or require a lot of resources. Here are the top 5 techniques you can implement to get a better insight into your customers:

1. Study web analytics

By using your web analytics you can access hordes of data that when analysed correctly can reveal a lot about what your customers want and need. When investigating the web analytics ask yourself questions such as:

• Where is most of the traffic coming from?
• What common phrases are used to find my website?
• What length of time do they stay on each page?
• Are there any patterns to user behaviour?
• What do the patterns indicate about the buying process?

These are just some of the questions that you can consider and there are many more. For example, knowing where your customers came from can help you figure out the right approach to sell to them. For instance, if you’re selling a parenting guide and you notice that most of your visitors came from women’s magazines on family life, then perhaps your marketing should sway more towards women.

Also figuring out the top keywords that are used to locate your webpages can help you understand what potential customers need. Let’s say that you are selling chainsaws of a particular size, and don’t have an extra large on your list. However, you notice that many of your customers are searching for this particular model of chainsaw size, so the natural thing would be to add it to your online catalogue.

2. Use surveys

One of the most powerful ways that you can get feedback from your customers is surveys, and there are a number of tools that can help you with that. Are you under the impression that surveys are typically avoided by customers and you won’t get much of a response? Well, when the survey campaign is executed correctly and the audience is properly motivated you can get response rates higher than 85%.

The great thing about surveys is that you can ask anything you want. Making the questions simple and to the point will increase the completion rate. However, if you want to know what they feel about a series of products you’ve released then simply ask.

Surveys can be implemented anywhere from the thank you page after a transaction is complete, or on the sidebar of your website. Also you could increase the completion rate of the survey by offering the potential customer something in return. This could be a free ebook or something that motivates the user to complete the survey.

3. Conduct interviews

You can take the survey idea of asking questions a bit further and conduct interviews. This could be done via live chat or phone. Getting into an in-depth conversation with a potential customer allows you to get a deeper insight into what their point of view is.

The great thing about an interview is having the ability to ask questions on the fly as you get answers. So if a potential customer gives an answer on a particular disadvantage of a product, then you can ask further questions surrounding that disadvantage.

Interviews obviously require more time and resources to implement than surveys. However, it can be a lot more powerful and effective in helping you figure out the mind of your potential customer.

4. Leverage social media websites

Nowadays social media allows businesses to connect and have open lines of communication with their customers. The top players are Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, and each of these need to be utilized.

Create a business profile and post regularly, but the posts don’t have to be about your products. They can be educational or even entertainment in nature. The point is to create a buzz about your social media profile. Once you get some traction you can ask your loyal followers to fill out surveys and ask feedback on anything that you feel gives further insight into the inner workings of the potential customer.

It’s a good idea to have a content strategy so that your social media profiles are populated with content on a regular basis. This allows for higher user engagement and potential customers will feel grateful for all the content. This gratefulness can translate into higher rates of completion when you ask questions for user feedback.

5. Keep an eye on your competitors

You can also leverage the work that competitors have completed to get an idea of where there is a gap in the market. Look at their research and case studies, which might be published for all to see on their website. This saves you money and resources as the work is done for you.

There is no harm on spying on your competitors, you can be sure that competitors are already spying on you if you’re one of the bigger players. It’s a natural part of business, after all you are trying to beat the competition in order to earn that sale.

Conclusion

The 5 different tips to better understand your customers will allow you to create a plan of action and move your business in the right direction. Your business is only as good as the health of the customer base.

Therefore, ensuring that you understand your customers well gives you the insight to create or source products that will keep them coming back on a regular basis. Implement each of the techniques mentioned in this article and you’ll see that your relationship with the average customer will improve.