What if there was a way to outshine your competitors, and you didn’t have to do it yourself? What if the upfront cost was worth it in terms of brand building, conversions, brand loyalty, and thought leadership? It’s not only possible; it’s a viable option for your business today. Audience research is THE best way to gain a competitive advantage and set yourself apart. Here’s how.
No Longer Part of the Crowd: Your Brand Shines
Throw a stone, and you’ll find a brand that’s doing the most to be hip, flashy, and trendy. While they may capture attention right now, it’s not the most sustainable approach for the long term. And just because customers are doing a “moth to the flame” thing with you doesn’t mean you’re connecting with them and establishing a relationship. Many people like to stare at pictures of Chris Hemsworth, but they’re not spending their time building a relationship with him (even if they wish they could).
- When you conduct audience research, you learn what your audience wants.
- You learn your audience’s why.
- You learn what problems your audience faces and your brand’s solutions.
- You learn what your audience needs to connect.
- You learn what circumstances need to happen for your audience to convert.
You get the pieces you need to build a brand that impacts the long haul. You’ll have a competitive advantage because your relationship with your audience will have more depth, trust, and consistency. When your audience needs a product or service that gives them the life they want to lead, they’ll turn to you, and Chris Hemsworth will be left on read.
Create Long-Lasting, Lucrative Relationships With Your Audience
When you create sustainable relationships with your audience, relationships that last over the years, economic shifts, life changes, job changes, and more, you build something extraordinary: brand loyalty. And brand loyalty is 100% a competitive advantage. If your audience is loyal to you, they’re going to choose your products or services over somebody else’s.
People are more likely to be loyal to brands they feel really get them. They want to be heard, understood, to belong, and be successful. The best way to understand your audience’s core needs is to listen to them. We suggest conducting a customer survey to stop the guesswork and gather insights that lead to brand loyalty.
Tell A Compelling Brand Story
When your marketing initiatives are infused with data-backed audience insights, it’s much easier to tell a brand story. People LOVE a good story, and not every brand tells a good story.
Stories engage people. Stories speak to people on a deeper level. Stories compel people to action.
Your objective is to understand your audience (wants, needs, challenges, goals, and dreams) so that you can center them in your brand story and tell that story over and over again throughout your content marketing.
Think of the stories that have engaged you in recent years. It’s a Saturday. You wake up, eat breakfast, let the dogs out, and then 12 hours later you realize you’ve been on the couch, elbows deep in Netflix, and that you really need to pee. Tiger King. Squid Game. Anything Shonda Rhimes produces. Humanize your marketing. Make it about the people (your audience), and use data gathered from audience research to gain a competitive advantage.
- When you tell a compelling story, people listen.
- When you tell a compelling story, people follow your brand.
- When you tell a compelling story, people tell other people about your brand.
- Outpace the competition by telling a much better story than they do.
Pull-Ahead: Develop Thought Leadership
If you really want to take your brand to the next level, shoot for the stars. Leverage audience research to develop thought leadership. You can be both an authority on your audience and an industry authority, which will set you apart from your competition.
Every bit of engagement, whether it’s from your audience, PR networks, or industry peers plays a vital role in supporting your brand and your business. Because not everybody does audience research, you stand to learn fascinating and valuable insights into your audience, information that gives you a competitive advantage. Use your expertise and experience to share your take on the data.
Thought leadership inspires. And inspiration is a powerful drug. If people look to you for the next great idea, a novel perspective, guidance to take their next step in life or business you add oomph to your business structure. Oomph your competitors don’t have.
To be clear, when we say “oomph” we mean more attention, more opportunities, more conversions, and better audience relationships. All thanks to audience research.
Win the Research Game, Starting Today
Bar none, conducting audience research is the gold standard for achieving a competitive advantage. Not everybody is doing it. Not everybody can. That’s where agencies (ahem) that specialize in audience research come in. If you implement outsourced audience research into your budget, it will not only save you money in the long run but also provide you with insights you need to breach the gap between sales and marketing, build a brand made to last, differentiate yourself from your competition in meaningful ways, and reach your business goals sooner.
Are you ready to stand out from the crowd? Let’s talk.
