Use Insights to Tap into Your Customers’ Emotions
How can I come up with an insight about my customers?
How do I know if I really have an insight?
Why are insights so important?
Let’s say there’s a new company called SebastianSelects.com, which offers online styling advice and outfit rentals.
One of Sebastian’s first clients is a young woman who needs an outfit for an important interview. Based on her blonde hair, Sebastian chooses a conservative grey dress. But Sebastian didn’t do enough homework.
If he had, he would have realized the customer wanted to look creative and edgy. Or that she was bored with her hair and was dying it pink that night.
Sebastian would have chosen her outfit based on insights about her instead of facts like her hair color.
And that’s what your marketing should do, too: Use insights about your customers, not just facts or observations.
A customer insight is all about the “aha” moment. To get to that moment, you need to spend some time doing research on your chosen subject.
While you’re researching, you should look for data points...or, in human terms, solid information and truths. Then you look for ways all that data connects together.
For example, Sebastian’s 3 data points might have been: The job interview is for a position in a creative field, the employees there all dress casually, and his customer is bored with her style and looking for a change.
If Sebastian put those points together, he might get hit by an “aha” moment, or insight: The customer needs an outfit that not only matches the job she wants, but also the new life she craves.
To find your own “aha,” you have to question everything. A lot. Ask yourself: Why, What, Who, Where, and When.
Why do customers choose your company over your competitors? Your product or service probably isn’t the only reason. Your company represents a set of values that attracts people with a similar mindset. What are these shared values?
What benefits of your product or service do customers really like? Its simplicity, its looks, how it makes them feel? Find answers in places customers talk to and about you: your website, your app, on social media, and review websites.
Who are your super-fans – the ones who love being part of your brand? They search for you, visit your site, have your app, watch your videos, and spread great word-of-mouth about you. Keeping them in mind will help you find a strong insight.
Where do people find out about your brand? Online searches, current customers’ good reviews, your TV spots? These “referral sources” can help you see what part of your marketing campaign is working and who your most influential cheerleaders are.
When do customers interact with your brand? When they have a certain issue? During a certain time of day? Does an event like a holiday make them think of you? Knowing this helps you reinforce the Why and What parts of your insights research.
That was a decent amount of questions and whole lot of research. Fortunately, that research is a lot easier to do with all the digital data that’s hanging out nowadays.
People are often more soul-baring online than they are offline (like in a paid focus group). For example, think about the incredibly honest, uncensored, and unedited opinions people are willing to give on review sites.
And they enter questions into search engines that they’re afraid to ask their closest friends, even going so far as to clear their search history afterwards.
You can also use tools like Google Trends for the latest popular search topics, and SEMrush for an idea of what keywords are common amongst your competitors. You’ll get incredibly intimate, accurate data from a huge sampling of people.
Ok, you’ve asked yourself questions, done research, and connected data points. As you go for that “aha” moment, 3 things can help you a find a true insight.
First, make sure your insight’s based on a fact, or a truth about the situation at hand. For example, “Companies tend to hire people who fit in with their culture.”
Lastly, look for a source of tension, or why people can’t act on their motivation. For example, “Her current wardrobe is too conservative.”
Next, there should be a motivation for people to act. For example, “My customer wants a more creative job to help liven up her ho-hum lifestyle.”
Once you have an insight, you can use it to connect with your customers.
Let’s face it: Unless you’re amazing at long-distance hypnotism, people probably won’t buy your product just because your ad tells them to. They need a reason to care about your business.
Since an insight taps into people’s inner motivations and needs, it can help your marketing appeal to customers’ emotions and desires.
DO THIS NOW
Take the first step to finding an insight by creating a research to-do list. What do you still need to discover about your brand, industry, customers, and the culture your brand is part of?
If you’re participating in the course, go to the next section to access your self assessment.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
An insight has a fact or truth,a motivation, and a source of tension.
To do customer insight research, all yourself: Why, What, Who, and Where.
Review sites, search engines, and other digital tools are great research sources.