Ep 20. What to do with your market research: How to turn insights into content that converts

Some of your market research is done. So you’ve been listening to client calls. You’ve got your golden phrases written down. All of your testimonials have been analysed and you’ve been listening really intently at conversations to see if you can extract any amazing phrases that people are saying to you. 

But now you’re probably sitting there thinking, okay, great, I’ve done all this work, but what do I actually do with this information?

Don’t worry. We’re gonna go there.

But first, if you haven’t listened to the episode before this, which is all about market research that works for introverts, go and listen to that first, because that tells you how to actually do the market research and this is gonna be a natural follow on because collecting insights is only half the battle.

The real magic happens when you turn all of that lovely juicy data into content that’s actually gonna convert for you. And by convert I mean get you more visible, get more people in your DM saying, “Oh my God, you’re really speaking to me. Where do I sign up?”

If you’re new here. Hello and welcome to Quiet Confidence with myself, Anita Popat. This podcast is all about helping introverted entrepreneurs market their thing without changing who you are.

Let’s start with the most important thing, which is that your research isn’t just for content ideas, it’s actually the basis of your messaging.

When you know exactly the language your clients use to describe their problems and desires. You’re not guessing anymore. You’re speaking directly to what’s already in their heads, because they’ve told you what it is.

But where most people go wrong is that they’ll take a phrase like, “oh, I feel like I’m winging it”, and they’ll just stick that into a post.

And that’s not really strategic because you’re just repeating back what someone said, we can go better than that. 

What you wanna do is, instead of using that phrase, “I feel like I’m winging it” at face value, use it to inform everything about how you communicate about that particular thing.

For example, I have a lot of people on client calls tell me that they feel like they’re winging it, so although I might use that phrase in content, I also talk about things around that, like what does winging it actually mean? What does it feel like? How does it come up in their everyday lives?

So I’d create content about the feeling of not having a solid foundation of making it up as they go along.

I work with introverts, so a lot about energy management. So if you’re always feeling like you’re winging it, you’re constantly feeling like you’re chasing your tail, that takes up energy because you’re always gonna be thinking about, oh, what should I talk about? What should I do next? Um, you know, that kind of stuff.

Sometimes people might say they feel invisible in their own marketing. So, instead of using that to shape my whole messaging, I might talk about being seen, about taking up space, the difference between feeling like you’re being visible but actually being visible.

So the content addresses that deeper fear of not mattering and being overlooked rather than just the surface level. “Oh I feel like I’m being ignored”.

And when you talk about things like that, it really gets into the head of your client and they start to feel understood. And when someone feels genuinely understood, you’re naturally gonna be like, oh my God, this person really gets me. I wanna work with them. 

Right. So how do we use this juicy market research and turn it into strategic content?

This is literally my favorite bit and you probably can’t hear the excitement in my voice, but my hands are shaking around.

The first thing you need to do is look for patterns in your research.

Are there similar themes that keep coming up?

Is there particular emotions that people tell you that they’re having before they start with you?

What feelings does the work that you do with them create towards the end?

And are you talking about those feelings in your content?

For example, a lot of clients mention feeling overwhelmed, but overwhelm can come up differently for different people.

Overwhelm in my sweet spot client is gonna look different to how overwhelm looks in your sweet spot client’s world, and that’s the kind of differentiation we need to make.

So when you talk about overwhelm, just dig deeper.

What kind of overwhelm?

Is it decision fatigue?

Do they just want someone to tell them what to do?

Have they got too many options?

Have they got not enough time?

All of these would lead to completely different content approaches. 

You can also use the So What method?

So if someone says, I’m feeling overwhelmed, you keep saying so what, So What? normally five to seven layers deep until you get to the root cause of like what the real reason is. That’s the content that you want to use.

And I’ve already said it, but this is where our introvert superpowers really shine because we naturally think in layers.

We don’t just take things at face value, I mean I don’t anyway, we’re always thinking, Hmm, why is that? I wonder why they’re thinking that, or I wonder why they’re doing that?

And that really works in your favour when you’re doing market research.

You can use it to create what I call mirror content.

This is content that reflects back their experience so accurately that they think, oh my God, how did she know that?

Let’s say your research shows that your client starts projects with excitement, but then gets really stuck halfway through and never finishes them.

You could write something like, I dunno, off the top of my head. Um, you know that feeling when you start something new and you’re buzzing with excitement, you’ve got all the energy, all the ideas, you can’t wait to dive in. But then somewhere around the middle, it all just stops. The excitement fades, doubt creeps in, and suddenly that thing you are so passionate about feels like a chore.

(I mean, that makes me feel seen) if you’re sitting there thinking, oh my God, that’s me.

That’s what you want mirror content to do.

You’re not giving advice yet. You’re just reflecting their experience back to them so they feel seen.

When we create mirror content, I often say to my clients, paint the picture. I could have just said the same thing with a sentence like, oh, you start things, but then you don’t finish them.

But where’s the emotion in that?

You lose the whole, oh, you’re buzzing with the excitement. You’ve got all the energy, all the ideas, but then something happens and it all stops, like the excitement phase, the doubt creeps in. 

Imagine a movie scene. We’re writing a script for how that person is feeling.

So I really want to encourage you to think of a word and paint a picture of how that word might look like in your sweet spot client’s life if you took a two second clip of an everyday thought in their mind, a moment in time. 

You can also use your research to create educational content that addresses their actual knowledge gaps, not the ones that you think they need to know about. 

So, for example, I had a client who thought that she was being too technical in her content, but when we did the market research, it wasn’t that they were struggling with the technical side of the service.

They were struggling with knowing when they were ready for it. So instead of creating more “how to” content, she created “when to” content.

Things like three signs you’re ready for her service, or why most people wait too long to do whatever related to a service. And this content performed so much better than her previous like technical tutorials because it addressed what people were actually thinking.

Now here’s something really crucial that you may not have thought about, but your research should also inform the tone of your content, not just the topics that you’re talking about.

If your audience feels judged by other experts in your field, your tone should be really non-judgmental and safe.

If they feel overwhelmed by loads of information. Your content needs to be simple and clear, not overly comprehensive.

Or if they feel like they’re behind everyone else, you need to normalize their experience and show them that they’re not alone.

And this is where a lot of people miss the mark because they get the topic right, but the tone wrong and it doesn’t land properly.

I feel like I’ve got this right because I get a lot of messages saying, oh, your content feels so calm and easy to understand.

And that’s across my podcast and my written posts – that tells me I’m getting the tone just right for my kind of people.

Let me make this really practical for you because I always like to make sure there’s some takeaways for you.

Here’s three types of content that you can create directly from your research.

The first one is problem aware content. This speaks to the frustrations, challenges, and also the desires that your research uncovered.

Things like the real reason your marketing feels hard or why you can’t seem to find your voice online.

Second is solution aware content. So this looks at the approaches that they’ve already tried that haven’t worked, I could say something like, why following all the visibility advice still leaves you feeling drained, or the missing piece in every marketing strategy that you’ve tried.

And the third is outcome focused content. This paints a picture of what life looks like when the problem is solved. So this is using the language that they actually use to describe what they want and their desires.

When you create all of these different types of content, you bridge the gap between where they are and where they want to be.

And this is strategic because you’re not just addressing their current problem or showing them their end goal. You’re helping them see the path between the two. So you’re building your trust bridge.

And remember, you don’t have to use every insight you’ve got immediately. Your research gives you a content bank you can draw from over months and months and this is an ongoing thing.

I have a client language journal with different categories in it.

[00:08:00] Current frustrations, past experiences, future desires, the language they use, the language they avoid, and each category feeds different types of content.

And it’s a work in progress. My ears are literally always pinging when I hear a phrase, I’m like, oh, I need to note that down because market research is literally everywhere.

When I’m on client calls, when I’m on sales calls, if I’m scrolling through social media, if someone’s made a comment, if I’ve seen someone else’s content, when I’m having conversations, it’s literally all around you.

I know some of you might be thinking, okay, yeah, but what if I get this wrong? What if I misinterpret what they’re actually saying?

But like I always say, everything is an experiment. Pay attention to how your content performs. And if something doesn’t land the way you expected, that’s fine. That’s more research.

What did you miss? What assumption did you make? Maybe that angle doesn’t land and we can try a different angle.

It’s all good information.

This is actually one of the biggest advantages of doing your own research. Rather than buying into some like generic audience report, you can test, you can adjust, and you can refine because you’ve got direct access to your people.

What happens when you start creating content based on real insights rather than guesses, is that everything gets so much easier.

You stop staring at blank pages because you know exactly what to say. You stop second guessing your posts because you know they’re addressing real needs, and you stop feeling like you’re shouting into the void because you know your content’s gonna resonate at a much deeper level.

And all of this starts to feel good because your audience starts engaging more, they feel genuinely understood, and they start sharing your content because it says what you’ve been thinking, but they couldn’t quite articulate.

And most importantly, they start inquiring about working with you because they trust that you really get what they’re going through.

Take one insight from your research. Maybe it’s a phrase someone used or a pattern you’ve noticed or an emotion that keeps coming up and create one piece of content that speaks directly to that insight.

Don’t keep it surface level. Show them that you understand not just what they’re experiencing, but how it feels to experience it.

Paint that moment in time with words.

If you want one-to-one help with this, turning research into strategic content is a huge part of what we do inside my signature program, Silent Storm.

I don’t just help you find your message, I help you turn it into a content strategy that actually converts into clients. Because remember, your research is only as good as what you do with it.

So we take those insights and turn them into content that makes sure people stop scrolling and think finally someone who gets it.

So if you’d like to work with me one-to-one on that, I would love to hear from you.

Keep using your quiet confidence to make that loud impact in the world. And I shall see you next time.

Speak soon.