5 Steps to Find Your Customers Delivered by: Mark Eversfield

1. 5 Steps to Find Your Customers Delivered by: Mark Eversfield

2. Today’s Agenda • Understand your Value Proposition • Micro Target Your Customers • Use Databases to Find Where They Are • Explore Your Competition • Talk to Potential/Existing Customers (Primary Research)

3. What is a value propostion?

4. Step 2: Micro Target Your Customers • What kind of consumer will most likely purchase your product or service? B2B B2C • Small business can’t compete with big biz strategies • What social channels do my customers use?

5. Micro Targeting Your Customers • Information about your target customers comes from primary and secondary sources: • Secondary Data: information that already exists from various sources ie: StatsCan & BC Stats. • Primary Data: firsthand information • that you gather by • conducting focus groups, • interviews, or surveys.

6. Micro Targeting Your Customers • There are two general types of data: • Quantitative data: quantities, percentages, or numbers that results from closed questions. (What!) • Qualitative data: information about people’s feelings, perceptions, opinions, behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, and observations. It’s great for insights into your customers motivations. (Why!)

7. Micro Targeting Your Customers • Quantitative Data Includes Demographic Information • Characteristics about your target market such as age, gender, income, marital status, and occupation • Try to keep the list of important characteristics to a minimum (3) • BC Stats, Statistics Canada

8. Examples of Quantitative Data • Age • Gender • Income • Religion • Education • Type of job • Ethnicity / Race • Credit Cards Held • Number of Children • Own or Rent • Type of House • Size of Household • Household Spending

9. Examples of Qualitative Answers • Qualitative data reflects information that can’t be quantified • Experience • Preferences • Reactions • Reasons for decisions

10. Psychographic Information • More subtle and describes values, lifestyle, leisure, attitudes, self image • There are 19 psychographic social groups, 14 lifestyle groups, and 68 segments insert link here • The most effective marketing strategies use psychographics to reach the target market • Demonstrate Prizm5 and Mention Vancouver Public Library’s Simply Map

11. Micro Targeting Plan • Secondary Research • Conduct secondary research on your target market, competition, and industry. • Primary Research • Create a primary research plan • Conduct primary research on your target market, competition, and industry.

12. Step 3: Use Databases to Find Where They Are • Take advantage of free sources of data: • Small Business BC (demo success stories) • Libraries ( Fraser Valley Regional Library) • Government Sources (Stats Can’s CANSIM, BC Stats Population Projections, Data BC, Small Business Accelerator) • Sedar, the database of publically traded companies. Edgar in the U.S.

13. Secondary Resources • Google Alerts (will create later today) • Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook • Industry or Trade Associations • City Hall

14. Search Tips • Make a list of all key words for your industry or business • Identify your NAICS or SIC codes • Search from broad to specific, setting more parameters as you narrow your search

15. IBIS WORLD • Another expensive database that you can access only through Small Business BC. • This database includes Canada/USA market profiles on service-based, goods-based, and the food and beverage industry • Secondary information on your target market, competition, and industry trends

16. IBIS WORLD

17. IBIS WORLD

18. Step 4: Research on Your Competition • Use Google Spy-Fu to gauge the keywords your competition is using • “Pages to Watch” to monitor your competition’s Facebook activity (number of likes, posts, comments). • Twitonomy to monitor posts, comments, and followers on Twitter • Yelp will provide customer reviews of competitor’s service and how they handle them

19. Step 5: Talk to Your Customers • Fill the gaps in secondary research. • Find information about: your local, your type of target market, your marketing efforts. • Gather information that no one has gathered before. • Help gather information that will help you innovate to stay competitive. • Ongoing to stay client connected.

20. Primary Research For an Existing Product or Service • Important questions to ask: • How often do you purchase? • Why did you make your last purchase? • Who did you make your last purchase from? • Why? • How much are you willing to spend on this product or service. • Can you suggest any improvements.

21. Primary Market Research Plan • Key Elements of Your Primary Research Plan • Do you know why your asking questions (goal)? • What do I hope to accomplish/objectives? • How do I plan to use the results (answers)? • Slow down, plan ahead, think about detail • “What customers think” vs “improvements that should be made” • Keep it simple • 5 choices instead of 7, use simple language (watch out for jargon)

22. Benefits of a Primary Research Plan • You get more accurate information • It is easier and less time consuming to tabulate the information • You use more of the information and it provides a greater benefit • You don’t waste time pursuing irrelevant info • You make more effective business decisions • You appear professional to your future customer

23. Surveys • Survey Tips • Think of your respondent as a battery • The longer questions require more energy • More complicated questions require more energy • More difficult questions require more energy • Testing your survey for energy drain is critical

24. Surveys • Survey Design • Try to keep your survey 10 answers long. • Focus on the most important answers you need • Test your survey for clarity to understand how your words are interpreted and if the structure makes sense. • Design your survey for the mode of delivery. • Think of an incentive you can offer for customers to participate. • Make sure your survey flows smoothly. Don’t jump around.

25. Sampling Mode: Social Media • Distributing Your Survey • Twitter • Facebook • Instagram • Email • Website • QR Codes

26. Sampling Mode: Mobile Market Research • Mobile Market Research • Smartphone based surveys • Short and sweet • One or two questions • Participant doesn’t even know they are being surveyed • Free

27. Sampling Mode Face-to-Face • Tips for Face-to-Face Interviews • Listen without judging. • Find the right mix of intelligence and common sense • Good voice tone, pacing pitch, and volume. • An eye for detail while keeping how the detail is related to the whole picture. • An appropriate blend of empathy & neutrality

28. Focus Groups • What is a Focus Group? • A research tool that gathers qualitative information from open-ended questions • Information that could not be gained 1 on 1 because: • Too complex/too much time to provide useful info • Too ambiguous • Requires further explanation • People are brought together to discuss a topic: • ways to improve a product or service • features they like/don’t like • What their experience is • How the product or service fits into their lives

29. Focus Groups • Online Focus Group Advantages: • Low Cost/Free • Convenient for Participants to Engage • No travel and smaller time commitment • Openness for respondents and comfortable settings • Sessions can be recorded for accurate analysis later • Participants can communicate with moderator privately • Supporting documents can be emailed in advance of the meeting • Pols can be created on the fly

30. Focus Groups • Online Focus Group (Exploratory Data): • Set information goals in advance. • Prepare questions in advance. • Test technical procedure in advance for online meetings • The experience represents your company • Have product, ad, photos available for visual

31. Test Marketing/Product, Service Sampling • Test Marketing: • Collect data on a small sample to test consumer response to a product. Conducted before the product is released. • new product launches • Product or Service Sampling: • Give potential customers a free sample of your product to promote your product and ask for feedback. • e.g. Coke vs Pepsi

32. Market Research Books

33. QUESTIONS? Contact Us W: www.smallbusinessbc.ca E: eversfield.mark@smallbusinessbc.ca Twitter: @sbbcinsights LinkedIn Blog: “Market Research Around BC” P: 604-775-5699 | 1-800-667-2272 A: 82 - 601 West Cordova Street, Vancouver BC

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