Producing content can be a great technique for increasing business and getting involved with your brand’s community. However, if you are not listening to what your audience is asking or wants to hear then you may be doing more harm than good. As simple as listening to your audience sounds, there are a handful of great tactics that you as a business owner or content producer can use to really hone in on how people are talking with your brand and what they would like to hear from you. Here are a few ways to really open your ears to your audience.

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Let’s get Social

So the first and most obvious form of listening is going to be your social media channels, so let’s start there. Whether you have a Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or just a blog for your company, take the time to go through the posts you are publishing and see who is engaging with them.

Look for comments about your posts –

• Are there any questions that pop up repeatedly?
• Can you create content to answer those questions?
• Are there people that constantly share your posts?
• Are there questions on their personal pages that you could answer?
• Use what you find through these social channels to help you create content to better serve your customers.

Will you be releasing a product soon? Be sure to have a few extra people available to update and respond to social media feedback. It will be a critical time for your business and customer service can play a huge role into the success of a product release.

Your competitors may be talking about the issues that your customers are interested in. Check their social profiles to be sure you are covering all your bases.

• What types of issues are their customers facing?
• Are their customers having issues with a problem that your product addresses? Create content that brings those issues and solutions to the forefront.
• Look for what type of content garnishes the most engagement from your competitor’s audience.

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So Much in Store

Having a store where people buy your product can be quite the blessing when looking into what your audience wants to hear from you. With the direct face-to-face contact, you (the owner) has the opportunity to ask customers how they feel about a new product or feature. If you want a more subtle approach, try using these tactics to better understand the audience that comes in to buy your products.

• When a customer buys a product, be sure to ask if they have any questions about the product.
• If it is not their first time purchasing your product, ask how they use the product and what’s the best part about it. They might have an answer you wouldn’t expect and potentially the newest marketing plan for your product.
• Tell people in your store about a new feature you added to your product. Take a poll (whether in-store, online or after purchase) and analyze the response. If it is positive, then be sure to highlight the feature a little more in your content.
• Ask your customers what they would want to see changed in your product. Remember this is going to be how the product would help them specifically so look for a pattern of how to improve what you are offering.

You can’t please everyone all the time. But, knowing what your customers are looking for, have issues with and would like to see improved will help you to not only create content that will resonate with your audience but also help you to improve your product to better serve your customers.

Not so Obvious Ways to Listen

We have covered what most people already know, and hopefully, a few more conspicuous ways to find out about your audience needs. Now let’s take a look into how you can go “outside the box” a little to really get the scoop on how your customers feel about your brand and your product.

• Pick up the phone. This is not always going to be an option, but if it is, take the time to reach out and ask how your customers are doing and how they like your product. This will give a personal touch and let them voice their concerns and often praises to you directly.
• When contacting customers, be sure to have a short list of questions ready. You don’t want to be caught off guard, but most often when someone has a bit of feedback they will be happy to keep the conversation going.
• Hold a product demo. Reach out to people in your community to come out and watch your product(s) in action. Make a day of it and (if possible) allow your customers to use or sample your products. Be available to mingle with your customers and ask questions while they use your products.
• Do you have a product you have yet to launch? Run a contest to demo your product before anyone else. People love to have the first go at things. If you would like a bigger turnout, send an invite for everyone who enters to be there.

You use products every day, some of which you would probably like to see changed a little to fit your specific needs. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone came right out and asked you? Now that you have an audience for your product or business you should be doing just that. Take time to not only listen in but reach out to see what your audience wants and the questions they would like to have answered. If your content team is stretched thin, give us a call and we may be able to help create just what you need.