If you know anything about marketing, it’s that researching is how you win. One of the most effective ways to study is by using social media. This article will look at why social media market research is essential and how to do it. Also, learn how you can buy Instagram Story poll votes with BuyTopLikes.
Why Use Social Media for Market Research?
In the past, market research involved using a more controlled setting. However, marketers are quickly realizing that social media may be the place to go if you want to get some valuable market insights. Social media can:
- Show emerging trends before they hit the mainstream. This way, you can take advantage of trends and memes in your marketing.
- Your audience may express how they actually feel on social media, and you may learn things about them that a controlled environment won’t reveal. When people let their true feelings be heard, your marketing team can respond to them much faster.
- Social media gives you results faster. It’s easy to search for keywords and hashtags and scroll down a news feed to learn more about your audience.
Challenges of Social Media for Market Research
With that said, social media research has its issues. These issues include:
- People’s personas may be different than they are in the real world. For example, someone may claim on social media they would never buy a product for ethical reasons, but in real life, they’re buying the product.
- Social media algorithms can only give you one part of the picture. For instance, you may be exposed to people who enjoy your products but not be shown people who don’t.
- Social media culture evolves so fast that it may be difficult to form a marketing plan based on what you see on a social media app. Sometimes, your marketing plan will need to include evergreen approaches, not just memes and trends.
How to Use Social Media for Market Research?
Now, let’s explain some ways you can use social media for your marketing research.
1. Listen to Both the Fans and the Critics of Your Product
If you’ve launched a product, you probably have people giving their thoughts on social media. Look through Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X (Twitter,) and other platforms. Search using hashtags and keywords related to your product.
You’ll probably find photos, videos, or text posts where people share their thoughts. Some users will sing the praises, while others may have criticisms. Both are valuable. Unless your haters don’t have any valuable insights, listen to your critics as well. Listening to feedback can help you strengthen what makes your products already great and eliminate anything holding your product back.
2. Study the Competition
The next tip is to study your competition. No matter how unique you think your product is, someone else is offering something similar. Instead of running away from your competition, you should study the competition in several different ways.
3. Their Content Strategy
First, look at what your competition is posting. Does their content get plenty of engagement? If so, how can you create content that can capture that engagement as well? On the other hand, what is your competition lacking regarding their content? Can you fill in those gaps with your own posts?
4. What Are People Saying About the Competition?
Just like how you should study what people are saying about your business, you should also look at what people are saying about your competitors. Why do people like your competition? Why do people dislike it? By studying what people are saying, you can then adjust your product and strategy to be better than what the competition is offering and without their faults.
5. Ask Questions and Make Polls
Sometimes, the best way for you to use social media for market research is to post content asking your audience some questions. These questions can be directly related to your business, such as giving their thoughts about your product. You can also ask questions that seem irrelevant, such as asking how many pets your audience has when your company doesn’t offer pet products. However, these questions can help you build a customer profile.
Another way your business can thrive is by conducting polls. Polls can once again be related to your business or designed to better understand your audience. Most social media websites have some polling system you can take advantage of.
6. See What’s Trending
Most social media has a tab to tell you what’s trending. Sometimes, this trend can be a funny meme. Other times, it may be a social movement. Some websites, like X, have a more customizable trending feed where you can see what people in your target audience are talking about. This can be more useful than what’s trending abroad.
Knowing what’s trending can help you better understand your audience and boost your content strategy. By creating content related to the trend, you can strike while the iron’s hot. As long as your content is fresh and relevant, people may want to check your business out.
7. Use Analytics
Most social media websites have an Insights or Analytics tab that will tell you information about your followers and how well your posts are performing. In the analytics, you can see how old your audience is, where they’re from, when they’re the most active, and much more. Ideally, you should check your analytics often, as things may change.
Final Thoughts
Social media for market research can be a valuable way for you to gain insight into your audience so you can boost your marketing efforts. Through social media, you can hear your audience’s thoughts about your product, look at your competitors, and see what’s trending. With that said, always remember that social media doesn’t paint a complete picture. You should also use traditional marketing research as well. Cross-reference research on both fronts and create a full image of your audience. Then, you’ll be able to make a marketing campaign that will give you a high ROI. We hope this article was helpful to you.
