#GetToKnowYourCustomersDay takes place on the third Thursday of every quarter, and the next one is happening on the 16th of July 2020.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about your customers and clients: what they want, what they need, what they love about your business, how they think you could improve.
Of course, you should care about your customers every day of the year, but this is a good opportunity to remind yourself of who your business serves. Give your customers the best experience and they will keep coming back for more.
Here are five ways to learn about your customers on #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay!
1. Check in
Getting to know your customers can simply mean checking in and asking how people are. Connection is a vital part of marketing now and people like to know that you care.
Of course, to really show you care, you need to check in with your customers more than four times a year, but this could be a good time to start!
If the weather’s sunny, why not post a lovely photo on your social media pages and ask people what they’re up to on this gorgeous summer’s day? Or send a newsletter to your subscribers with no sales message, simply to say that you hope they’re keeping well and perhaps share something positive with them.
Whatever you do, remember to take the time to respond to anyone who replies, even if it’s a simple ‘I’m happy to hear that, Joan!’. Carrying on the conversations helps demonstrate that you care.
2. Set up a survey
What better way to get to know your customers than to ASK them what you want to know? A survey can be a simple way of finding out information that can help your business. You can learn anything from the demographics of your audience (age, location, sex, etc.) to their likes and dislikes, to their views of you and your business.
Survey Monkey is a popular choice, but I like Google Forms, which is simple to set up and easy to collect data from.
When putting together your survey, take some time to think about:
- What information you want to gather and why.
- Will the information be useful to your business?
- How are you going to use the information to improve?
- How long will the survey be? The longer, the more information you can gather, but more people are likely to complete a shorter form.
- Do people get anything for filling in the survey? Are you offering entry into a prize draw to everyone who completes it? Even a small prize can encourage more people to take part.
- How are you going to reach your audience with your survey? Newsletter, social media, a hard copy in an office?
- What is your timeline? Setting this will help you ensure you don’t collect the information then neglect to do anything with it.
3. Look at your stats
Even without direct contact with your customers, there are ways to get to know them!
You should have some way of tracking your audience’s engagement. Whether that’s through Google Analytics, social media insights, or Ads tracking, you have a wealth of information at your fingertips for getting to know your customers.
Looking through your stats can give you a great feel for what your audience is doing and how people respond to your content.
Is your social media audience of a certain age? That can help you tailor your marketing to a specific group.
Do your website visitors favour a certain page or type of product? Use that to offer other similar options, investigate why certain products are more popular, or push those products to attract new customers who are likely to be interested in the same. This information can also highlight if something’s not working on your website.
4. Run a poll
Similar to a survey, a poll is a quicker way to gather information. Though the results you get won’t be as in-depth as a full survey, you’ll likely get a bigger response.
People like to offer their opinions and they like to do it quickly and easily. So if you want to know something about your audience that can be asked with a simple question and answered by one of a few short responses, then a poll could be the way to go.
An example: when I was renovating my holiday cottage, I only had space for EITHER a washing machine OR a dishwasher. I knew which I preferred, but I wasn’t necessarily the target audience. So I put out a Facebook poll asking my followers which they would prefer on a holiday to Keswick in the Lake District. A washing machine was by far the most popular option, so that’s what I installed.
In this instance, I knew I couldn’t have both, so I found out which option would be most useful to most of my future guests. You can apply the same logic to your business.
Some other poll examples include:
- I’m adding a new pudding to my restaurant menu. Which desert would you prefer to see?
- I’m redesigning my website. Which is your favourite look?
- If I run a giveaway, what would you most love to win?
5. Listen and act
When getting to know your customers, don’t just ask questions that you know the answer to. And don’t phrase questions to get the answer you WANT rather than the answer you NEED. Maybe you know that your products are top-quality, but what do people think of your customer service? Perhaps your website is very easy to use but people would like to be able to easily reach you on the phone.
If you want to genuinely use this opportunity to develop your business and improve your relationship with customers, then you need to be open to feedback. Try not to take any criticism personally, talk about it, find out how you can improve and, most importantly, TAKE ACTION. There’s no point taking the feedback, making a note of it, and then hiding it a way in some folder deep in your computer.
Perhaps you can implement change immediately, perhaps it will take weeks, months, or even years, but if you can demonstrate a genuine desire to improve and show the actions you’re taking, you’ll build priceless trust with your customers.
So there you go! Five simple ways you can connect with your customers on #GetToKnowYourCustomersDay!
For help with customer support and social media community management, feel free to get in touch for a no obligation chat!
You might also enjoy:
