A persons digital behavior can now be tracked better than ever before. From the websites and social media platforms they visit to the mediums they use to access that information, cutting-edge software has been developed to provide companies with virtually endless data about the consumers of today.
But while this data may seem like a gold mine, numbers are just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to getting a holistic view of who your consumers are. Truly understanding the customer involves going beyond the data to determine the why behind their actions. As youll discover here, there are huge business benefits for companies that can accurately craft a more well-rounded picture of their consumers.
Why Qualitative Research?
Research typically consists of two methods of data collection: quantitative and qualitative. As the name infers, quantitative is all about numbers examining consumer behavior and distilling that information into a figure that can be cited with great precision; 90% of customers think this or one-quarter of consumers use that. This information is excellent for the collection of broad census data but is less effective at providing a picture of that consumers habits outside of whatever metric you happen to be measuring.
Thats where qualitative research comes into play. Qualitative research doesnt look for the precision of yes or no answers. Instead, it asks people what motivates their decisions in the first place.
Unfortunately, many brands still dont see the value in pushing beyond the numbers. Edelmans Consumer Marketing Study found that 51% of survey participants said it was important that brands ask about their needs, but only 10% of brands were doing it. With the market providing so much choice for customers and with brand loyalty not where it was before, companies must see this gap as an alarming failure of business practice.
Heres an example of quantitative versus qualitative looking at the shopping habits of young adults. A quantitative look at this data may ask a question like do you ever purchase from shopping malls? and give three possible answers: yes, no, and sometimes. If the responses come back as overwhelmingly no, it would be easy to go to brick-and-mortar businesses in shopping malls and tell them they wont be capturing the millennial market anytime soon.
But qualitative research will likely show that the no answer is just one part of the story. People are complex in their decision making, and the chances are that theres a lot of gray-area information behind those black-and-white quantitative answers.
By following up with that same millennial group through a survey, you could ask questions such as why they dont buy from shopping centers, and what would make those destinations more appealing. From these answers, you can formulate marketing strategies and next steps to recapture that demographic. You would never know how to do this were it not for qualitative data.
Leading companies around the world regularly use qualitative research to grow or improve their product lines and service offerings. While Apples Steve Jobs famously said customers don’t know what they want until we’ve shown them, the tech giant has been wise enough to listen to its consumers needs. In May 2011, the company launched Apple Customer Pulse, a market–research group that reached out to customers via email with an online survey. While that research has since ended, sources say it led to design modifications such as creating Apple products with larger screens for a better video playback experience.
If youre considering collecting market–research date of your own, select a solution that gathers both qualitative and quantitative data.
The Benefit of Consumer Profiles
Once youre working with a software system that can measure qualitative data through surveys and other means, its time to interpret your new information.
An essential part of creating a marketing strategy is to build a series of consumer profiles a set of imaginary personas detailing the archetypes of your different audience groups. These customer profiles should include demographic information like location, age, and gender, but also more detailed data such as this persons motivations and hesitations when it comes to your industry, their buying habits, and how they go about making purchases.
Sometimes, the research will show that youve been spot-on with the profile you created for your customer, and sometimes it will reveal that you still have a long way to go. Audience personas can even help businesses to recreate themselves. The social-networking site Myspace is a perfect example of this. As HubSpot wrote in a post about audience personas, Myspace used audience data to switch its philosophy from a network aimed at the masses to one that zeroes in on a particular group: musicians in need of a more effective marketing tool and getting their music heard.
Just as with Myspace, having a detailed picture of who your consumers are will help your business every step of the way.
New businesses can use qualitative research to inform initial branding, product testing, and to gain insight into who their potential customers are likely to be. Established companies can use surveys to gauge customer satisfaction over time and improve and grow existing products. Customer profiles created from qualitative data can even be used to inform every communication and marketing effort. From determining the messages that resonate to the mediums those customers use, gathering survey data is an all-around win for any business.
