Ep 19. Stop Guessing, Start Asking: Market research that works for introverts

This episode is for you, even if you’ve been in business for years, even if you’ve done all the courses, even if you think you know exactly what your people want and need. 

What if I told you that the things you think about your audience could be wrong?

Hello and a very warm welcome back to Quiet Confidence with myself, Anita Popat. If you’re new here, this is a podcast all about helping introvert entrepreneurs market their thing without changing who you are. 

Today I’m talking about something that a lot of people completely skip when it comes to the marketing strategy, and that’s market research.

Now, before you switch off, thinking this is gonna be some dry, boring episode about surveys and spreadsheets, hear me out because I promise you it’s not. It’s one of my favorite, favorite things to do with clients because it unlocks so many aha moments and makes everything else easier.

For example, I was on a call with a new client the other day, she was convinced that she was marketing to busy new mums and she was obviously creating content about juggling toddlers and finding time for herself and all that.

And then she was wondering why her message wasn’t really resonating. But when I asked her who was actually buying from her, she sat back and she was kind of like, oh, I haven’t really thought about that. But now you’ve asked me. Most of my clients are in their fifties and sixties. So that’s a completely different life stage, and they’re gonna have different challenges to the people that she’s been speaking to in her content.

So we’re obviously gonna work together and shift her messaging to attract more of the same people who’ve already paid her for her work.

And honestly, this happens more than you think because we all make these assumptions about what our people need, what they’re struggling with, what language they might use their problems, and then we wonder why our content doesn’t land, or why your marketing feels like you’re shouting into the void.

Most of the time, like I’ve said before, we’re too close to our business to do the whole zooming out and big picture thinking, which is why every few months it’s good to just stop and revisit your market research just to make sure you’re on the right track.

And we can make market research fun ’cause it’s a lot of investigating. And as introverts, we’re actually good at this kind of stuff cause we like to get into the nitty gritty of things, right.

[00:01:50] So let’s start with why people tell me they skip market research entirely.

Well, firstly, unless you’ve got a marketing background, you simply might not even know that that’s what you need to do.

Secondly, there’s a lot of old school advice about doing surveys and holding focus groups and things like that, and that can feel really formal and intimidating.

The third reason is that you’ve probably been in business for a few years and you think you really know your audience, but the markets change. Your people change and your message has to change with them.

Otherwise, you’re gonna keep missing the mark and wonder why no one’s buying from you now.

The thing I’ve learned from working with like hundreds of business owners is that whatever stage of business you’re in, researching your audience doesn’t hurt.

You’ve probably made assumptions about your audience and I’m willing to bet that some of them are at least partially wrong even if you’ve been doing it for years.

Because like I said, people change the world changing all the time. For example, I had a lady inside Silent Storm who was positioning herself as a VA, but when we dug deeper into the type of client that she really wanted to work with, she was really drawn to the business person that was scaling and needed that strategic support from her, not just like the basic admin tasks.

So we renamed her title to something a bit more elevated than a VA. And if we hadn’t done the market research and the work on the messaging that we do inside the Silent Storm. She would’ve just kept creating content that was attracting the complete opposite of the kind of people that she wanted to work with.

And naturally once we shifted her messaging and optimized her profiles and stuff, she became fully booked with the clients that she wanted to work with, so that was a win. 

[00:03:11] So what does market research look like when you do it?

The introvert friendly way or the way I teach it inside my programs?

Um, so in the olden days I would’ve said do a survey, but honestly, that feels really old school now, and they’re not really that good for getting those deep insights because people will give you like service level answers and often tell you what they think you want to hear even if you say like, can you please be honest, you’re more than likely gonna miss that beautiful, juicy like nuance in their answers that you really want.

So instead of doing surveys, we’re gonna lean into your natural strengths as an introvert.

We know that you are already brilliant at listening, right? So here are some easy things that you can do straight away.

The first thing and easiest thing is literally just to listen.

So when you’re on client calls or chatting to people at networking events, or even when people DM you, or if you’re doing like chatty stories on Instagram and you create polls,

Start paying attention to the language people are using when they’re actually talking about their problems.

Don’t change the language to kind of describe it in the way that you want to describe it, but pay attention to that messy, emotional way that they talk about it when they’re feeling really comfortable with you.

That’s the gold that we’re looking for. So I normally keep something called a client language journal on an notion page. And I always, always have a notebook and pen next to me when I’m on calls, especially sales calls because then I can jot down like the golden lines.

And the more you do this, you’ll start to see patterns or the similar things being said again. For example, things I hear a lot is “I feel like I’m winging it” or “I just wanna be found by the right people”, or “I know I need to market, but I dunno how to do it really authentically”.

And these lines are absolute gold for me because I can use these exact words in my marketing. And I know this is how, you guys, like real people who are gonna want to work with me are describing their situation and the words they’re using is how they’re thinking and talking about it.

The thing is, as introverts, we naturally create safe spaces and people find it easy to open up to us. And because we’re good listeners, but we’re also like kind of comfortable with the pauses.

It gives people a chance to think because we’re not rushing to fill those quiet moments ’cause they don’t feel awkward. And I found that’s when people tell you like the really good stuff because they’re just feeling chilled and comfortable with you. instead of thinking that you’ve got to hold, formal interviews, just have conversations.

If you’re working with clients right now, ask them why they came to you what kind of things are they Googling and what advice were they sick of hearing or what did they think was wrong with them?

Or just, you know, like the, before they came to work with you.

As well as speaking to the people you’re already working with. I mean, you can actually invite people onto market research calls as well,

I’ve done these one-to-one and in groups, and if I’m being honest, I think I prefer the one-to-one setting because in groups sometimes you have people who talk more than others and people might not be as open as they might be one-to-one. 

So every few months, definitely yearly. I will say I’ve opened up my diary for some market research calls and I’m looking to speak to this kind of person. Make sure you list the qualities of the person you wanna talk to. So your sweet spot client.

And yeah, while it’s good to speak to as many people as you can, you still wanna speak to the people that you want to try and attract, cause they’re gonna be the most valuable conversations to help you in your marketing.

And if you don’t want to, you don’t have to call them market research calls, I’m just open about it. But you don’t need to make it into like a formal thing.

Just call them a conversation about whatever you want. The main thing is just to be genuinely curious about their experience of how they’re feeling now, what would make it better and the gap that you might be able to fill. 

Another thing I teach and is super easy to do is to literally go through your client testimonials, your case studies, any feedback you’ve received, and just really analyze the language that people are using.

What words are they using to describe the problem before they worked with you?

What transformation do they talk about?

How do they describe working with you?

And like all this market research is gold because it’s authentic language from real people who’ve actually experienced your work.

And if you’re new or you don’t have that many testimonials, you can look at competitor’s testimonials and reviews.

What are their reviews saying?

What kind of comments are they getting in their content?

And also Amazon is a gold mine as well. You can search for books within your particular topic and have a look at Amazon reviews to see what people got out the book.

Even the content and the comments your ideal clients might be leaving on other people’s posts to get an idea of like how they might be feeling and the things that they’re talking about.

And then you can use this amazing information in your content, and your client journal is like an ongoing document.

This thing never stops. I’m forever scribbling things or copy and pasting things into my journal .

This is the kind of stuff that I call the mirror talk method.

When you use these phrases within your content, that’s when you get those “Oh my God, how did you know I was thinking that?” or “You’re literally in my head”.

That’s what you want and that’s what this market research is gonna help you to do.

You’re learning how to serve your people better by trying to understand what they actually need rather than what you think they need.

[00:07:24] I know some of you are probably thinking Yeah. But Anita, I don’t wanna bother my clients with questions and I get it but the thing is, most clients and even non-clients actually love talking about their experience when you ask them in the right way.

So if you don’t feel comfortable with saying can I interview you for market research?

You can try saying something like, oh, I’m always looking to improve what I offer. Would you mind sharing what it was like before you found me or before you did this thing?

Or you can just say, oh, I’m creating some content about, I don’t know, fill in the blank.

I’d love to have a chat with you to see if I’m on the right track.

And trust me, you’ll be surprised that people genuinely want to help, especially if they’ve been following you for a while, and enjoy your content and the insights you’re gonna get are gonna be so much richer than any survey that you do because you can see body language as well, especially if you do it on a zoom call.

And more often than not, a lot of market research calls I’ve done, actually turned into clients as well.

And it feels easy.

The beautiful thing about doing market research this way is that it doesn’t feel like work, you’re just being naturally curious about the people that you wanna serve, which is something that you probably do anyway but you’re just paying a bit of extra attention to the wording and the difference this makes to your marketing is like incredible.

Because instead of guessing what might work, you know exactly what language to use, what problems to address, and even what objections to handle.

And this means that your content starts landing because you’re really speaking to what’s actually in their heads, not what you think should be in their heads. And that makes all the difference.

[00:08:40] So if you’re up for a challenge, here’s what I want you to do this week.

Pick one of the methods I’ve mentioned today, and maybe it’s paying attention to the language on your next call or networking event or going through your testimonials or even things like spending 20 minutes looking in a Facebook group.

Choose one thing and do it with genuine curiosity, go in with an open mind and just have a look at what you notice and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

And obviously if you wanna go deeper with this market research is actually a huge part of what we do inside my signature program, Silent Storm. I spend a lot of time with my clients on this bit because I think it’s just gold like I’ve just explained.

And sometimes I know it feels icky if you’re doing it for the first time. But I’m there with you all the way, cheering you on, holding your hand, giving you the best tips and advice on the market research method that’s gonna be the best suited for you.

And then we go and do the research and I help you unpick like all the data and how to create content from it.

By doing this, we’re not just guessing what your message should be. We’re basing it on real insights that you’ve got from your audience.

Honestly this is the bit I love doing. ’cause I love going through all of the raw data and piecing it together to make some really good messaging from it,

This is the part where it normally clicks to the client and they’re like, oh my God! Because they feel like they’re not winging it anymore and everything feels strategic ’cause you’re not just throwing spaghetti at the wall hoping that something sticks. You’re actually being strategic with the data that you’ve collected.

[00:09:53] Lastly, I just wanna say, have fun with it you don’t need to become someone else to do good market research.

Your introvert superpowers, like listening deeply, creating safe spaces, picking up on those nuances, they’re exactly what makes market research really effective.

So I hope this episode’s inspired you to stop guessing what your people want and to just asking and looking with genuine curiosity and with having authentic conversations.

Because you should know by now (I feel like a broken record)…when you understand your audience on this deeper level, your marketing doesn’t just get easier, you become magnetic and you start attracting people who are gonna be on the right wavelength as you and wanna work with you.

And that’s when you know you are using your quiet confidence to make that loud impact you’re here to make in the world.

As always, thank you so much for listening. If you did find this useful, please feel free to share it with your audience and tag me. I love seeing all the comments around how the podcast is inspiring you guys,

And if you haven’t left a rating or a review, I would love it if you would do that too, because it helps me get more discovered in the podcast world.

Thanks for listening again, and I shall see you next time.