The Engaging Brand

Using Mobile Surveys for Immediate Customer Insights

Mobile surveys is something that intrigues me -  so I asked Mark Penson to share his insights into mobile surveys (watch out tomorrow for our interview on The Engaging Brand podcast).

Here are Mark's views on gaining valuable customer insights.

Forget Email Surveys: Use Mobile Surveys for Immediate Customer Insights

Paper surveys have probably been around since papyrus. We’ve always been interested to know what others were thinking, right? We’ve all seen the surveyors at the grocery store, armed with clipboard, pen and paper form, intercepting folks lugging bags out to their cars to ask about products and services. In-home surveys came via parcel post, in over-stuffed envelopes with any manner of surveys, from private businesses to the city collecting opinions about new urbanization plans.

As PCs became more popular, so did online surveys. But while they improved ease of distribution compare to paper, email surveys still left a lot of qualitative room for improvement. People are busy when they’re online at work, and doing any number of things on their home computer that have nothing to do with waiting to take a survey. Alas, harried shoppers, people sorting their mail and over-worked employees are not ideal survey candidates. After all, the more reasons you give them to avoid your survey the less likely you are to get valuable feedback—if you get any feedback at all.

 

Email surveys aren’t keeping up with the times

When email surveys don’t automatically land in a recipient’s junk mail folder, they’re often ushered there by the very person it was intended for—hardly the interaction the surveyor intended. It’s no wonder that email response rates are off the wrong end of the charts these days, and getting further afield. When responses do come in, the value of the information is limited. Why? Because of the lag between the interaction with the brand and the customer actually answering the survey. The business has to collect the email address, get the email to the right department or outside resource to add to the database, and then work it into the survey stream. If the email address is an accurate one, and if the survey doesn’t land in the trash, an email survey often lingers for days before the recipient gets around to answering it.

This lag works against the collection of time-sensitive consumer insights like wanting details of a customer’s experience to a car dealership or a bed-and-breakfast. Or soliciting the nuances of a meal or event. The value of the insights, and the details consumers can recall decreases as the time between their experience and answering your survey increases. It’s logical, but for too long has sufficed as the norm. Clearly, email surveys’ role in collecting viable, valuable consumer feedback to inform marketing and other functions is limited at best. At worst, it’s a waste of time and money. It’s time for a new norm.

 

Use people’s mobile devices to ask them about your brand—while they’re experiencing your brand

Fewer and fewer people leave their homes without a smartphone or tablet these days, which means these powerful, familiar computers accompany them down the store aisles, into car dealerships, bed-and-breakfasts, restaurants and events too. A modern, convenient mobile survey, quiz or contest during this experience can feel like a natural part of the experience itself. Without even an app to install, mobile surveys and quizzes use familiar swiping, keyboarding and taking photos that consumers do countless times a day with their mobiles. And deliver once hard-to-collect, in-the-moment insights—in real time.

Consumer research has for too long been too serious. It needn’t be. With mobile surveys, you can collect invaluable insights by engaging your audience with a fun challenge, quirky quiz, contest or simply the prospect of publicity. You don’t need their email or cell phone number, just a provocative proposition.

 

How to learn from customers, prospects or attendees as they experience your brand:

Make it easy for them to use their mobile to scan a QR code or enter a URL:

• Printed on packaging and or POP signs
• Projected onto a screen during seminars or conferences
• Printed on event signs, tickets or program materials
• Included inside packaging on directions or warranty/registration information

Compel them to give their input by:

• Using hosts at events to invite attendees to take your survey
• Telling respondents they’ll be entered into a prize drawing
• Making the invitation and quiz informal, fun and entertaining
• Letting people know they’ll learn their score at the end
• Promise a coupon or gift for completed quiz (a great way to collect additional contact info)
• Installing a tablet or PC on a kiosk and ask your customers to take your survey

Make the survey or quiz fun, not boring like most email surveys:

• Keep it short. People will quit or will get bored after 7 questions
• Incorporate photos and videos into your questions
• Encourage respondents to take personal photos of your product in their homes
• Brand your survey with your company logo, background image and colors
• Use emoticons or other graphics instead of a numerical scale to indicate satisfaction

 

Customers don’t mind sharing opinions if doing so is convenient and potentially rewarding

Many studies confirm that customers are willing to tell about their experiences with brands. This willingness shouldn’t come at a price of interrupting work or diverting them from tasks they’re already engaged in. And if you think the information you seek is valuable—and in-the-moment information certainly is—happily reward those who respond. Rewards can come in the form of valuable coupons or discounts, free products and even their appearance with your product or at your event on your Facebook or Pinterest pages.

The days of passive, days-later email surveys that most people couldn’t be bothered with are over. Using the mobile devices nearly everyone has, you can engage and learn from your customers and prospects as never before.

Tomorrow The Engaging Brand podcast will be an interview Mark Penson is CMO of Survey Anyplace. I will discuss these concepts and how to use app-free mobile survey tools customized for gamification, to get real-time insights from their customers.

 

Get Rid of Marketing Misspend Once and For All

Do you know how your customers make a decision to purchase what you offer? (Tweet this)

More importantly, do you spend time thinking about it?

For a high return on marketing investment we need to think about what the customers need to make the purchasing decision. 

The information will depend on the level of investment they are making; you research more for a house than a chocolate bar.

The information will also depend on why the customer wants to purchase it; do they buy for need, for status, for enjoyment?

Once we know how our customer approaches their purchase, we can think about creating content that guides them to the decision. (Tweet this)

From this base, we can then choose the right social media tools; we can write and distribute the best content marketing and connect our marketing activity to the needs of the consumer.

The questions we need to ask ourselves are

1) How do people approach purchasing from our business sector? More research, more recommedations, more word of mouth, more impulsive etc etc

2) How can we develop a marketing strategy that reflects that approach and guide consumers through that purchasing cycle?

And finally....

3) How can we show them we are the right people to use? (Trial, no quibble returns, taster etc etc)

4) How can we move them from research to purchase? Do we offer a compelling call to action?

We tend to think that people have A need - Google it - and buy...and for some distress purchases that may be the case!

But in reality, for many of our businesses there is a longer purchasing cycle whether we recognise it or not.....

So if I were to ask you how much time have you given to how your customers decide upon their purchase and how much time has been invested in choosing the right tools and creating the correct content....

...what would you say? 

Who Else Wants a Thriving Business?

Marketing is about creating reasons for people to consider purchasing from you. 

That's what makes it tricky.

1. We have to know the reasons.
2. We have to understand if the reasons are the right triggers from the consumer's perspective. 
3. We need to craft the reasons to reflect that consumers perspective, not in slogans but in context.
4. We have to share the reasons.
5. We have to measure how well the reasons resonated.

Wow, that seems to be a lot to do.....but then look at the first three of these steps.....

Isn't that what business is about? Isn't that just common sense?

If we can't find time to do that.....are we truly wanting to be in this business?

Now let's look at (4) if we don't want to share those reasons - are we truly wanting customers?

Finally think about (5) if we don't want to know if they way we share actually resonates again - do we just enjoy wasting time rather than building a strong, loyal customer base?

In coaching sessions or during a workshop, I often hear "I just don't have the time?"....

Why not? If you don't know the reason you are in business, if you don't know what triggers the customer to purchase, if you don't want to share those reasons or connect with customers...the question is this....

Do you actually want to be in business at all?

 

3 Questions to Make Your Marketing Easier

Marketing can be hard. Marketing will be hard if your business foundations are not in place.

Businesses need to be extremely clear about three questions

1. Why are you in business? What made you start your business?
2. What problem are you trying to solve or what pleasure are you wanting to deliver?
3. Who is your target market?

When marketing is hard the answers become

1. To make money. Not that this is not a worthwhile cause but this should be the outcome not the goal. 
2. To sell widgets. The product is the form not the function - what does your product/service deliver?
3. Everyone. If you try and please everyone you will please no-one. 

When marketing is seen as a way of spreading ideas rather than selling your wares then it also becomes easier. Easier because if you have the basis of 'why' from understanding your business, then marketing is a way of demonstrating, explaining and spreading your ideas to improve the life of your customer.

Marketing is a vehicle for ideas. If your marketing is hard, ask whether you are clear enough about the idea behind your products/services/business?

Marketing is not about YOU. It is how YOU demonstrate that it's about the customer. (Tweet this)

To help little Bob has put together this graphic for you to ask yourself, ask your team and even maybe for the bravest...your customers

Why Stories Work in Social Marketing

Cast your mind back to your childhood.....remember how important stories were in your life?

Cast your mind back to the last night out with friends.....how many stories did you tell each other?

Stories are the way that people share experiences and make personal connections with each other. When I think about my Dad, he was fabulous with stories...not just telling them but he always asked questions when he met someone new. He asked questions to give people the chance to tell him a story......tell him their story, that way he could find something or someone that he could build on to create a connection. 

Stories have that effect; listen at a networking event to people meeting for the first time over coffee, they do the same.....

Brene Brown has a wonderful expression about stories

"Stories are data with soul"

And in that sentence lies the key reason....they add soul.

When I think back to learning history and learning about World War 1, I can hardly remember all these years later any of the lessons from school....

But what I do remember is my grandad talking to me about being a soldier and on the front line. He showed me the horseshoe of his horse and told me about how this horse had saved his life...losing his own in the process. I remember the tears in his eyes when he was remembering lost friends, the pain of war....Suddenly the facts that I had learned came alive.....soul was added to that raw data.

I felt closer to Grandad. I felt I understood him a little bit more....I even loved him a little bit more because of his pain and how despite those horrific memories he had always been the most positive person that I had...and ever....known.

Social marketing needs stories...not thousands of words....but lots of soul. The problem comes when stories are used as a way of giving data....without the soul. That is like my history lessons compared to those fireside chats whilst devouring my Friday night Fish and Chips with Grandad.

You can't force stories; stories come from listening to customers, from living your brand. Stories don't emerge from a department; stories are created through the experiences of people.

Everyone has a story. Every brand has a story. Each part of your social marketing is like a chapter or a paragraph of sharing that story. 

Why You Need A Date Night To "Be" Social

Doing social media is tiring. Being social is tiring.

Whenever you have to "be" something it is tiring; ask any child who doesn't want to go somewhere and "be" polite!

Imagine if you didn't have to "be" anything...imagine if social media was just something that you do rather than something that you tick off a list. The joy....

Two lessons here...

• "Being" social is harder than living a social life. (Tweet this)
• Everyone can be social in the right social context; If it is hard you lack passion not time. (Tweet this)

The result is that some people love social marketing. Why? Because they have found the perfect match....

What they like being social about, in the social context they enjoy are both in sync. They don't have to "be" anything.....they are social.

If you are finding it draining, if you are finding it hard to think of ideas......if you are finding it hard being conversational.....you are not in sync. 

To be sync ask yourself - "Is it social media not working or is it a lack of real passion for talking about your subject"

Sometimes we need to re-find our own passion.

We are so busy doing our job that we forget why we love what we do....(Tweet this)

Social marketing can be the trigger to rekindle your love for what you do....if you find "being social" hard....book time for a date night with your topic and remember why you change people's lives, how you can change people's lives and what value your can offer to the world....

  

3 Signs You Will Succeed With Social Media

You work hard to create value for customers, you spend your time creating value...and then....the first review or comment is negative. All that time, all that effort and no one appreciates it....

Three traits every content marketer needs are

1. Separation. The ability to see what one person says...is not the opinion of everyone. You are not the content...you add a little of yourself to the content as an ingredient not as the whole being. 
2. Thick skin. The ability to take on board feedback, process it and improve. Social is not personal, social means having a personality and having a personality will mean some will flock towards you, others will run away. Thats OK! 
3. Warm heart. A warm heart ......

  Shares like no one is looking.

Gives not to receive but for the joy of giving.

Looks through the anger and searches for a nugget of truth.

Connects to help a person not increase a number.

Asks not what is in it for me but how can I help.

The irony is the mix between thick skin and warm heart; the bridge is the ability to separate yourself from your content.