With online marketing, business websites, review sites, and social media, there is an abundance of data about our customers. The question is how to use this information to better formulate our online marketing plans and better serve the customers. We can use tools such as Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools to gather the quantitative data [the numbers], but we need to go a little further to gather the qualitative data [how they perceive us].
There are several forums we can use to begin to gather the information. The first and perhaps the most important is to have an open channel of communication for the customer to reach our businesses. I like to achieve this one of two ways. Either have email contact information on your website and in all online directories, or have a customer comment form on your webpage. For an example, you can check out Contact Innovative Ad Solutions LLC and view our form on the bottom of the page. These are great ways to let customers contact us directly, but there are many more opportunities to gather information on the internet.
When we blog, it is important to have a comment section so that customers and internet users can respond to what we have to say. It gives the customer an opportunity to put in their two sense. Often we receive basic comments such as "great post", but many times they go further and react to what we have to say. This offers an abundance of information. Make sure to read each and every one of these comments. They allow you to understand how the customer thinks. Make sure to take notes and respond to the comments and try to start conversations. The more in depth the conversation goes, the more opportunity we have to learn.
Social media is another source of qualitative data. Facebook offers analytics that shows who likes our comments, posts, and businesses. They also show who is talking about our business. Read what they have to say and again respond to it. Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest also give us information about what our customers think. When they post to our business pages, read what they have to say because not only is this information coming to our business, but it is going to all of our followers and their friends. Make sure to respond to any negative comments and talk about how you will fix these issues.
Online review sites also offer an abundance of information to us. Many of these sites such as Angie's List, Yelp, Google, Yahoo Business Listings, and Yellowbook.com are places that potential customers look before using our businesses for the first time. Past customers post about their experiences they have already had with our businesses and that is why it is so important to review these sites. Many times there are positive reviews where we can learn what we do right, why the customer is happy, and how they use our services. Other times there is negative information; this is the most important to understand. By seeing our past mistakes, we can learn from them in the future. Better yet, it shows the customers we care.
All of the qualitative data is more difficult to gather than quantitative because there is no formula we can use to gather the information. It takes time to sort through all of these comments, record them, analyze them, and then implement changes to our online marketing plans. It is well worth the effort. These comments offer us the opportunity to be inside our customer's head and learn how they think. Through analytics, we can learn why we have been successful and by finding out what our past customers were looking for and why we were successful, we have a better chance at converting new online users into customers. Additionally, their comments might show a new use for our product that we had not previously thought of.
The best part about this qualitative data online, is that it offers us the opportunity to engage in two way conversations with our customers. I have talked about this many times in the past. When customers feel they have a voice and that you take their comments seriously, they are more likely to stay with our businesses even if we make some mistakes. Use email, social media, review sites, and blog comments to start conversations. Through this mutual understanding and analyzing these comments, we can better gear our online marketing plans towards our key demographics. If you haven't been analyzing this data in the past, it is time to start. Not only will it help you to have a more efficient online marketing plan, but it will help you to understand your business in ways you never have. If you need help, Innovative Ad Solutions will offer all the advice and assistance you need.
