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As marketing professionals, you might already be aware that market research via social media isn't perfect. 

It is difficult to use social media data as a  representative sample, and it's simply not the right alternative for small firms. It is, nonetheless, still a vital one for major enterprises. 

Why? 

It contains your most ardent supporters. It's also a unique source of frank consumer opinion.

80 percent of social media posts are about ourselves, and those thoughts and beliefs—expressed individually and in groups—are not interrupted or skewed by participation in a formal research or company-run focus groups.

10 Ways to use social media for market research 

On social media, customers yearn for interaction with brands. 

Buyers say they spend 20–40 percent more on firms that communicate with them on social media. 

Again, active participation isn't required for every social media market research. 

GE Life Sciences evaluated 500,000 protein-related comments on social media to see how customers talked about protein purification. 

The information helped them improve content generation, adjust website terminology to the customer's voice, and fine-tune their search approach. Now, for market research to be effective, consider the following aspects:

1. Consider data-centric assessment points

You can use social media for market research in the following ways:

• Get real-time feedback on your customers' perceptions and experiences.
• Inquire about possible product enhancements from customers.

If you wish to, you can utilize the following methods:

• Get detailed feedback.
• Target a certain demographic within or outside of your social media audience.

A few advantages and drawbacks stand out. You'll be able to collect information more quickly. Nearly half of all social media users utilize multiple platforms on a daily basis.

As a result, businesses can immediately obtain new information. You can also save money on research. With the proviso that your audience isn't a representative sample, most in-app social media features collect market research data without the costs associated with research panels. 

However, it is not for everyone. Expect social media to be a poor source of market research if your accounts don't have hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of followers.

If you get 20 responses to a survey, that quantitative input is just as likely to lead you as it is to lead you astray. Focus on qualitative methodologies that will allow you to construct rich client personas with a minimal number of replies.

2. Understand your target audience

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The beauty of social media is that it enables two-way discussions between brands and their customers, allowing them to get to know their customers on a more personal level.

Consumers can use Facebook networks, for example, to get to know one another, celebrate personal milestones, and share challenges.

Peloton is known for building large communities where cyclists may get support and encouragement from their peers, while Peloton learns more about their audience.

Consider expanding your community management plan to include platforms like Instagram, Reddit, or Twitter to better understand your audience. 

Respond to your consumers' questions or publish discussion topics to give them a cause to interact with your company.

Ensure you never miss a message from someone in your community, which will help you further develop those relationships with your audience.

3. Keep an eye out for collective responses 

People who use social media are prone to impulsive conduct, and they often mimic other people's behavior, which can lead to people copying others' acts on social media and lowering data accuracy.

Social media market research has two advantages for those who can take advantage of it: You collect data while also establishing a relationship with your consumers. 

Allowing clients to express their feelings strengthens an emotional link, and customers who are totally connected to your firm are 52 percent more valuable.

4. Use qualitative data

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Social media lends itself to three qualitative research approaches:

• Quantitative content analysis (likes, comments, and shares). Although the number of Likes is a vanity statistic, evaluating the rate of consumer engagement on social media might indicate the desirability of a marketing message or product.
• Listening to others on social media. Gather passive customer feedback or track public perceptions of your brand or competition.
• Polls/questions. Directly ask questions on users' social media feeds to encourage them to share their thoughts and feelings.

5. Check how customers use your products using social media handles

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Customers will not hesitate to tag or reference your brand when they want you to know something. To see how people actually utilize your goods and services, search for your brand and the name of your product on social media channels like Twitter or Instagram.

Reddit is another gold mine of relevant conversations and forums for your business or items.

Again, TikTok is a strong tool for raising brand exposure, as evidenced by the marketing data. TikTok has been downloaded over 2 billion times worldwide to date. TikTok is also the world's seventh most popular social media platform.

If you've set up a TikTok account and started generating videos—you must be wondering what next. How can you get more views? Of course, making videos is the first step in establishing a TikTok presence, but now you need people to view them!  Unum's Guide will teach you how to optimize your content so that you can get more TikTok views.

6. Understand what customers do not like about your brand

To be honest, you probably won't have to look very hard to find out what customers detest about your company or products. 

Check your social inbox for direct messages that provide constructive criticism in addition to searching for branded keywords and phrases.

This is also a wonderful way for social teams to get input from sales or customer support teams, who hear directly from customers about their preferences.

7. Know what customers like about your brand

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You can get good feedback on your brand in a variety of methods. You may utilize social media to search for branded keywords and phrases; you can also look through the reviews area on sites like Facebook, TripAdvisor, and Google.

You should keep an eye on what customers are saying about your competition as well as what they are saying about your brand. 

With the help of Attest, you can measure your brand health, awareness and track campaign performance to gain certainty around the ROI of marketing activities. Brand awareness templates from Attest will contribute to the growth of your brand without any guesswork. You will get actual feedback from consumers about how they think, act and buy. 

8. Get insights into what buyers want from your brand

Consumers frequently use social media to express their desires for brands in the future. 

A physical business may receive a request for a future location, while a coffee shop may receive requests for a specific roast or drink to be reinstated on the menu.

Your inbox is one location where you're likely to find client feedback. You can even classify and sort messages as they arrive by kind, making it simple to route product requests to the proper departments.

Simply asking for feedback on what your customers want to see from your company is another approach to get it. You'd be amazed how many people answer with their ideas to a question posted on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook.

9. Keep track of recent trends

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Trends have a big impact on a brand's social strategy and how they connect with their audience, as unpredictable as they may be. Jumping on the correct trending subject on social media at the right moment can help boost brand visibility and consumer interaction.

For example, nostalgia marketing is a growing trend among customers, and major businesses like General Mills are tapping on people's yearning for a childhood throwback in their most recent commercials.

Check out the explore tab on platforms like Twitter and YouTube to see what's trending, or use a tool like Google Trends to see what's gaining popularity. You can spot industry trends and subjects that are important to your customers.

You may use listening to identify the most regularly used keywords and terms by your target audience, as well as similar topics that are frequently referenced with any terms you're currently tracking.

10. Use the right content

With millions of posts published on social media every day, brands must be selective about the content they share to catch the attention of their target audience. Examine your current material to identify what themes or content formats support your performance objectives.

Consider investing more in video production if video in-feed posts generate more impressions than text posts and raising awareness is your primary goal. 

Alternatively, if you want to start a discussion, see what posts with a lot of engagement (like comments and shares) have in common.

Finally, it's never a bad idea to directly ask your audience what themes or social content they'd like to see from you in the future.

Start by looking at the native analytics and data report tabs for each social channel to locate the material that resonates the most with your audience.

Break down the different types of content you've published and see which ones performed the best. To get more particular information, sort by impressions, engagement, and clicks to see which formats and themes work best on which networks.

Conclusion

Even if you've never looked at the most popular social networking platforms—Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram—have information about your clients. While such data may not reflect a representative sample of your whole consumer base, it does provide a source of unfiltered feedback from ardent supporters.

Social media is a valuable, public source of market research material if you want to understand their reasoning, opinions, and motives for buying or not buying your product.

Let us know in the Comments section below if you use social media any differently for your market research. 

Author bio

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Atreyee Chowdhury works full-time as a Content Manager with a Fortune 1 retail giant. She is passionate about writing and helped many small and medium-scale businesses achieve their content marketing goals with her carefully crafted and compelling content. She loves to read, travel, and experiment with different cuisines in her free time.