Using Market Research to Improve Customer Experience (with examples)

In an increasingly competitive landscape, customer experience is often what sets brands apart. And improving customer experience ultimately means more sales and growth.

Providing a great customer experience, and doing so consistently, is easier said than done. But the first step is gaining a thorough understanding of your customers, and how they perceive all aspects of your brand. Here are three ways you can leverage market research to deepen that knowledge and improve customer experience.

Cultivate Empathy to Understand Your Customer Base & Market

Understanding your customer base and market is an important foundation, as no great work can be accomplished without great knowledge. And while we all know the basic metrics (age, name, income, gender, etc.), a truly useful customer profile goes far beyond that.

Cultivating empathy helps you understand what makes customers tick. What problems do they face? What are their preferences, attitudes, pain points, and hobbies? And what trends do they follow? All of these play a pivotal role in decision making.

You can gather this information by analyzing behavioral data from website and app usage, social media, and in-person observation. Social listening also provides valuable insights by revealing which topics your customers care about most, and what they really think of your brand – no holds barred. 

Let the Customer Talk: Open-Text Feedback in Surveys

Customer surveys have always been an effective tool for gathering customer experience insights. After all, the information comes straight from the source. The drawback is that surveys often ask closed or multiple-choice questions, narrowing the scope of the answers. By adding a limited number of carefully chosen open-text feedback options to your surveys, customers feel empowered to voice their opinion in more detail.

Stop Guessing & Use Real Data

Great customer experience strategies are based on real data, not guesswork. It’s tempting to go on gut feeling when it comes to favorite features, product packaging, or which colors will sell the most – but without actual data, you could end up wasting a lot of time and money. 

Sales figures from stores, website analytics from online platforms, engagement rates from social media, customer feedback etc – take this into account to rate & improve your CX.

Customer feedback loops are a great way to use this data and avoid guesswork. 

Customer feedback loops are an iterative tool which involves gathering data and feedback, and then making changes based on that feedback. As you analyze the impact your actions have on customer retention, sales and other KPIs, continue to adjust and tweak, refine and improve. Rinse, later, repeat.

Align Your Customer Experience Strategy Across Channels

Like most brands, you probably communicate with your customers via multiple channels. But it’s not enough to simply “be everywhere”. Your entire customer experience must be consistent, no matter where the interaction takes place: in the physical store, on their smartphones, or in an email, etc.

90% of consumers with multiple devices switch several times before they complete a purchase. Since they are constantly connected, your customer experience needs to be as well. No matter which device they jump to, your brand identity must remain consistent.

Creating an integrated, omnichannel customer experience means being customer-centric. Use data to create solid buyer personas and use that information to see how you can make their experience smoother.

Curious how Voccii can help you get the insights you need for a standout customer experience? Contact us today for a free consultation.